Cutubka 02 · Bogagga 13–26
Reerka iyo SaaxiibadaFamily and Friends
Magacaw dadka qoyskaaga, sheeg intay yihiin, oo weydii qoyska qof kale.
- Waan magacaabi karaa xubnaha qoyskayga.
- Waan sheegi karaa inta walaalo ah ee aan leeyahay.
Yoolalka cutubkan
- Communicative goal — Describe your family and ask about someone else’s
- Lexical chunks — Ten ready-to-speak family phrases
- New skill — Describing family members and asking about theirs
Qaybaha cutubkan
- 2.1Describing your familyKey Language13
- 2.2More ways to describe your familyFurther Examples14
- 2.3Describing family size and positionHow to Form14
- 2.4Structure 2 — family membersHow to Form15
- 2.5Complete each sentence with the correct word or phraseExercise15
- 2.6Listen to Hodan describe her family, then tick true or falseListening16
- 2.7Build nine sentences from the chart and say each one out loudSpeaking17
- 2.8Asking about someone else’s familyKey Language17
- 2.9Somali family words and their English equivalentsVocabulary18
- 2.10Draw a line to match each Somali word to its English meaningExercise19
- 2.11Draw your family tree, then describe it out loud to a partnerSpeaking19
- 2.12Shadow the family conversation in three stepsShadowing20
- 2.13Complete these phrases from memory, without looking at your notesExercise21
- 2.14The Somali–global parallel: four words with specific equivalentsVocabulary21
- 2.15Write one sentence for each pair, following the patternWriting21
- 2.16The shadowing replay log, then write what you noticedShadowing22
- 2.17Continue the dialogue for six to eight more linesWriting22
- 2.18Write four to six sentences explaining ‘Adeer’ and ‘Abti’ to a foreign friendWriting23
- 2.19Introduce a family member out loud to an imaginary foreign guestSpeaking23
- 2.20Cultural bridge: two words for uncleReading25
- 2.21Mini-story: “Two words for uncle”Reading25
- 2.22Think and discuss these three questionsSpeaking26
- 2.23Unit 2 completeUnit Conclusion26
Ku celiRevision
2.1 Describing your family
YukiHodan, tell me about your family.
HodanSure! We’re a big family. I have two brothers and one sister.
YukiDo you have any brothers or sisters all living at home with you?
HodanYes, all of them. I live with my mother, my father, and my grandmother.
YukiYour grandmother too? Are you the oldest child?
HodanNo! I’m the youngest child. My brothers are older than me.
YukiThat’s lovely. My family is small — it’s just me and my parents.
HodanWe’re really close. We eat together every evening.
YukiMy family is small too, but we’re really close.
HodanSmall families can be very close! And we’re all together at Eid — all the family comes home.
- “We’re” is a contraction of “we are”. It sounds more natural in speech than “we are”.
- “Do you have any…?” is a polite way to ask about family members. Use “any” with plurals.
- “I live with my…” is followed by a family word: mother, father, grandmother, and so on.
2.2 More ways to describe your family
AbdirahmanWe’re a big family. I have five brothers and two sisters.
TomWow. I’m the youngest child — I have one older brother.
MaryamI live with my mother and my ayeeyo — my grandmother. We are three in the house.
LiamI live with my parents and my older sister back home in London.
AmaraWe’re really close. My mum calls me every single day.
HodanIn our family too. We talk together every evening after dinner.
LiamWe’re all together at Christmas. All twelve of us come back to my grandparents’ house.
HodanIt’s the same for us at Eid. We’re all together at Eid. Everyone comes home.
2.3 Describing family size and position
- Structure 1 — family size and closeness: the subject, then “to be”, then the description.
- “We’re a big family.” · “We’re a small family.” · “We’re really close.”
- “I’m the oldest child.” · “I’m the youngest child.” · “I’m the middle child.”
2.4 Structure 2 — family members
- Structure 2 — family members: the subject, then “to have”, then the family member.
- “I have two brothers.” · “I have one sister.” · “I don’t have any brothers.”
- Use “have” to talk about family members. Use “to be” to describe the family, or your position in it.
- “I don’t have any brothers” uses “any” in the negative. “I have two brothers” uses a number.
- “We’re really close” means the family spends a lot of time together and supports each other.
2.8 Asking about someone else’s family
AbdirahmanTell me about your family, Amara.
AmaraOf course! We’re a big family. I have three brothers and two sisters.
AbdirahmanDo you all live together in Lagos?
AmaraYes — my parents, my brothers and sisters, and my grandmother too. We’re really close.
AbdirahmanWe’re the same! I live with my parents, my siblings, and my grandfather.
AmaraReally? What does your father do?
AbdirahmanHe’s a teacher. And your father?
AmaraHe’s a doctor. Family is everything to us. We’re all together at every big celebration.
AbdirahmanIn Somalia too. We’re all together at Eid. I think large, close families are the same everywhere.
- “Tell me about your family” is a warm, open invitation. It is not too personal in most cultures.
- “What does your father do?” asks about someone’s job. “Do” here means “work as”.
2.9 Somali family words and their English equivalents
- Somali has more words for family members than English. That is not a gap in either language.
- Hooyo — mother. Always your own mother.
- Aabbe — father. Always your own father.
- Walaal — sibling, brother or sister. One word for all siblings in Somali.
- Adeer — uncle, paternal. Your father’s brother.
- Abti — uncle, maternal. Your mother’s brother.
- Eeddo — aunt, paternal. Your father’s sister.
- Habaryar — aunt, maternal. Your mother’s sister.
- Ayeeyo — grandmother. Used for both the paternal and the maternal grandmother.
- Awoowe — grandfather. Used for both the paternal and the maternal grandfather.
2.12 The family conversation — the full script
YukiHodan, tell me about your family.
HodanSure! We’re a big family. I have two brothers and one sister.
YukiDo you have any brothers or sisters all living at home?
HodanYes, all of them. I live with my mother, my father, and my grandmother.
YukiYour grandmother too? Are you the oldest child?
HodanNo! I’m the youngest child. My brothers are older than me.
YukiHow lovely. My family is small — it’s just me and my parents.
HodanWe’re really close. We eat together every evening.
YukiMy family is small too, but we’re really close.
HodanSmall families can be very close! And we’re all together at Eid. My mum’s name is Fadumo — she cooks for everyone.
YukiMy mum’s name is Keiko. That sounds wonderful.
HodanFamily is family, wherever you are!
- Step 1 — Listen once. Do not speak yet. Just listen, especially to the rise in Yuki’s voice on “Do you have…?”
- Step 2 — Shadow. Play it again and speak at the same time as the speakers. Copy the question intonation on “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
- Step 3 — Solo. Now say the dialogue alone, without the audio. Record yourself on your phone if you can.
2.21 Mini-story: “Two words for uncle”
AmaraWho is that man in your photo?
AbdirahmanThat is my Adeer. He is my father’s brother.
AmaraIn English, we say uncle.
AbdirahmanYes. But in Somali, I have two words. My Adeer is my father’s brother. My Abti is my mother’s brother. They are different people with different roles.
AmaraReally? In Yoruba, we have the same thing! My father’s brother and my mother’s brother have different names.
AbdirahmanI did not know that. English puts them both into one word.
AmaraExactly. For us, they are not just “uncle”. They are different relationships.
- Abdirahman and Amara are in the library at Accord University, working on a group assignment. Abdirahman’s phone lights up on the table between them.
- Some things, it turns out, are not lost in translation. They just need a different word.