My name is Tibebu. My last name is Abebe. My name relates with my life history. Tibebu means in English wisdom. My parents gave me this name because it relates with my disability. I was born in a small town in a remote area. I was very ill when I was one month old. There was not any hospital in my birth place. It takes 8 hours drive to get to a clinic or hospital. My parents expected me to pass away. However, I was lucky to have survived. As a result, my parents gave me a unique name to say god saved our son in his wisdom.
Ethiopia has more than 80 languages. Amharic is an official language. I speak and write Amharic and Tigrinya fluently. I learned to speak Amharic from my family and write from school. I learned Tigrinya by living with Tigriay region. Also, my parent, my brothers and my sisters speak and write Amharic fluently. In Ethiopia Amharic, Tigrinya and Oromgia are spoken widely. However, Amharic is spoken by majority people. It has its own Alphabet. Amharic is spoken by several million people than Swahili in Eastern Africa region. I remember there was some debate among African Union members. Ethiopian delegation and some of African countries delegation advocated Amharic to become an official African official language.
Currently, I speak Amharic in the U.S. with my girlfriend, my sisters, and Ethiopian communities. I go to Ethiopian church every Sunday morning; the service is given in Amharic. I pray and bless God usually in Amharic.
English is my third language. I am learning to speak and write English in the U.S. by taking several classes in Mission College, by watching different TV programs, reading several books and newspapers, making new English speaking friends, and chatting online to meet different people.
Learning a language as a kid and as an adult is very different. For example, I learned Tigrinya when I was a kid in a short period of time. But, in my adult age studying English is not as easy as Tigrinya. I started to speak Tigrinya fluently within six-months. On the other hand, even though I have studied English since I came to the U.S. 7 years ago, I cannot speak English fluently. In fact, I speak English in an Ethiopian accent.
In short, I can speak and write three languages – Amharic language from my heritage and Tigrinya by living with Tigrinya speaking people and English by going to school. Amharic, Tigrinya and English each have their own Alphabet and pronunciation.
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Hello,
ReplyDeleteI stumbled across your blog and I was wondering if you might be able to me what "my family" is in Amharic?
Please and thank you! :)