Amharic for children

The fidel, first words with their sound, and where to ask about weekend classes — for children growing up here, and the parents teaching them.

The ተረት book — Ethiopian folk tales

Tales Ethiopian grandparents tell, a page at a time. Read it to your child, or let them read it to you — then answer the questions and tell it back.

These are traditional Ethiopian tales, retold in our own words. Hundreds more, collected from storytellers in every region, are at Ethiopian Folktales

Read a story, then answer

Read it aloud together. Try the Amharic first; the English is one tap away. Then answer the three questions — if one is wrong, read the story again and try another.

ሰላም እና ቡቺ

Selam and Buchi

ሰላም ትንሽ ልጅ ናት።

ሰላም ውሻ አላት።

የውሻዋ ስም ቡቺ ነው።

ቡቺ ነጭ ነው።

ቡቺ ኳስ ይወዳል።

ሰላም ኳሱን ትወረውራለች። ቡቺ ይሮጣል።

ቡቺ ኳሱን ያመጣል።

ሰላም «ጎበዝ ቡቺ!» ትላለች።

Questions

የውሻው ስም ማን ነው?
ቡቺ ምን ዓይነት ቀለም ነው?
ቡቺ ምን ይወዳል?

የአያቴ ቡና

Grandma's coffee

ዛሬ እሁድ ነው።

አያቴ ቡና ታፈላለች።

መጀመሪያ ቡናውን ትቆላለች።

ቤቱ ጥሩ ሽታ አለው።

እኔ ስኒዎቹን አቀርባለሁ።

ቤተሰቡ ሁሉ አብሮ ቡና ይጠጣል።

እኔ ግን ወተት እጠጣለሁ!

Questions

ዛሬ ምን ቀን ነው?
አያት ምን ታፈላለች?
ልጁ ምን ይጠጣል?

Ask at home

Ask a parent or grandparent in Amharic, listen to the answer, then do the task. Heritage-language classes send children home with questions like these.

Mum or Dad
«የምትወዱት ምግብ ምንድን ነው?»
What is your favourite food?
Then: Write the food's name in fidel.
Mum or Dad
«ይህ በአማርኛ ምን ይባላል?»
What is this called in Amharic?
Then: Point at three things in the house, ask, and learn their names.
A grandparent
«እንደምን አደሩ? ደህና ነዎት?»
Good morning! Are you well?
Then: Next time they call, start the greeting in Amharic.

How this course is built

The order follows published Amharic courses and children's readers: the seven vowel forms and a few letter families at a time, reading only words made from letters already taught (FSI Amharic Basic Course; University of Wisconsin); short stories and folk tales followed by questions, as in Ethiopia's Grade 1–3 readers and its national early-grade reading check; English beside the Amharic, as the bilingual diaspora books do; and questions to ask at home, as heritage classes give. The Amharic is drafted and is being checked by a native speaker.