FSI Language Courses
Peace Corps 91 pages 1 of 10

Acholi Exercises Workbook

Unit 1: Greetings (Mot)

Peace Corps Acholi Language Course

Exercise I.A-1: Fill in the chart below.

Situation/ Time of day Saying hello:

Saying bye:

Exercise I.A-2: Rearrange the phrases to make a dialogue.

1

ni ngo/dano gang/obuto

2 maber / lamego / ibuto 3 wacii / lamego 4 nining / itye / maber /atye 5 David / nining / irii

Exercise I.A-3: Match greeting with time of day.

Icoo maber? 3:30 p.m Irii maber, ladit? 7:00 p.m Irii maber itye ningo? 8:00 a.m Irii maber? 11:00 a.m Ibuto maber ? 5:00 a.m Ibuto maber ? 5:30 p.m

Exercise I.A-4: What are they saying?

Diana:____________________________________________

Owiny:__________________________________________

Exercise I.A-5: Translate the following sentences from English to Acholi or Acholi to English:

Example: Arii I spend the day.

  1. He spends the day. __________________________
  2. We spend the night. __________________________
  3. You (pl.) spend the night. __________________________
  4. But maber __________________________
  5. Gurii. __________________________

Exercise I.A-6: Translate the following sentences from English to Acholi or Acholi to English:

Ex: I like matooke. Amaro labolo kwon

  1. They go to Kampala _____________________.
  2. You (sg.) cook food. _____________________.
  3. We study Acholi _____________________.
  4. You (pl.) teach. _____________________.
  5. He eats chapatti. _____________________.
  6. We come to school _____________________.
  7. She works in Gulu. _____________________.
  8. I like to teach. _____________________.
  9. He wants to cook. _____________________.
  10. Mito nacinaci _____________________.
  11. En cito Mbale. _____________________.
  12. Wabitedo cumbuca _____________________.
  13. Moses pwonyo leb Acholi _____________________.
  14. Gicito i otel. _____________________.
  15. En tye ka tedo _____________________.
  16. I camo capat. _____________________.
  17. Wamito kwano buk _____________________.
  18. Gregory tiyo i Peace Corps. _____________________.
  19. Lisa gin ki Erick gitedo kek. _____________________.

Exercise I.A-7: Change the Sentence for each subject.

  1. camo labolokwon(we/he/they). a)____________________________

b)____________________________ c)____________________________ 2) kwano buk (you(sg)/ we/they). a)____________________________ b)____________________________ c)____________________________ 3) Pwonyo leb Acholi (I/you(pl)/we). a)____________________________ b)____________________________ c)____________________________ 4) tiyo i Peace Corps (you(pl)/I/she). a)____________________________ b)____________________________ c)____________________________ 5) ceto bor (far)(you (sg) /he/they) a)____________________________ b)____________________________ c)____________________________ 6) Wamito mapenic (you (pl) /she/I). a)____________________________ b)____________________________ c)____________________________ 7) tedo labolo kwon (you(sg)/I/they). a)____________________________ b)____________________________ c)____________________________ 8) cito Kampala (he/they/we). a)____________________________ b)____________________________ c)____________________________

  Two of your own

a)____________________________ b)____________________________ c)____________________________ 10) a)____________________________ b)____________________________ c)____________________________

Exercise I.A-8: Translate

  1. I don’t like pineapple. _________________________________
  2. We don’t cook. ______________________________________________________
  3. He doesn’t eat jackfruit. _______________________________________
  4. Lisa kwano leb Loka (Luganda).
  1. Pe wacito Kampala. ________________________________________
  2. pe gitedo labolo kwon. _________________________________________________

Exercise I.A-9: Make the following sentences negative.

  1. Watiyo I UNICEF. ______________________________________________________
  2. Ibuto Gulu. ____________________________________________________________
  3. Iaa ki Wyoming. ________________________________________________________
  4. George mito mapenic. ____________________________________________
  5. Lisa tye ka camo labolo kwon. _______________________________________________
  6. Michael mito kalara ________________________________________________________
  7. Mama baba ki Ocan gi cito Kampala. __________________________________________
  8. Ki puru odiko. ____________________________________________________________
  9. Wakwano leb Acholi. ______________________________________________________
  10. Icito i acucu Sipi. ________________________________________________________
  11. Innocent ocito I gang kwan. _________________________________________________
  12. Amito tedo labolo kwon. ____________________________________________________

Exercise I.A-10: Homestay Exercise:

What does your family say or do... To greet in the morning ___________________________ To greet in the evening ___________________________ When you arrive home ___________________________ When they are served food ________________________ Before going to bed _______________________________ When appreciating a meal _________________________ When appreciating work done ______________________ How do women greet? _____________________________ Is this different for Men? Children? Other women? How do men greet? ________________________________ Who looks each other in the eyes? Who doesn’t? _____________________________

These things and many others are just as important as the words when greeting people in your community.

Exercise I.A-11: Homestay Task:

Ask your family to teach you at least 5 verbs that they do regularly, for example to wash, fetch water, etc. If your family doesn’t speak Acholi, ask another family, another volunteer, your teacher or find the Acholi dictionary (information about this is at the end of the book). If they don’t speak English, this is a great opportunity to practice your pantomiming skills. Make sure you find out about verbs used for daily life in Uganda or things you are interested in.

Exercise I.B-1: Fill in the missing words from the dialogue.

Ken: Wubutu ________(1)? Lisa gin ki Gregory: Wabutu! _________ (2) in kono? Ken: ___________(3) Lisa gin ki Gregory: Dano ma gang (4) (5). Ken: Gitye (6). Lisa gin ki Gregory: Ber... Ken: Botwu(7) Lisa gin ki Gregory: ___________ maber (8). Ken: Ber... Lisa gin ki Gregory: Wapwoyo.(9) Ken: Aya an(10), ___________(11) matek. Lisa gin ki Gregory: Ngo manyen? Ken: _______________(12) peke Lisa gin ki Gregory: ________________ (13) ber

Exercise C-1: Match questions with answers.

Apwoyo neni ladit? Arii maber. Irii nining? Atye maber. Ningo? Ber. Itye maber? Ningo pe. Amoto wu! Gin manyen pe Ngo manyen? Wagamo!

Exercise I.C-2: Compound Sentences, fill in the blanks.

  1. __________________ (I am eating) labolo kwon
  2. __________________ (She is reading) Acholi.
  3. __________________ (We are going) i Trading Center.
  4. __________________ (You (sg) are liking) Masindi.
  5. kombedi (now) ________________ (they are working) i Peace Corps.
  6. ________________ (You (pl) are seeing) ente (cows).
  7. _________________ (They are coming).
  8. kombedi (now) _______________ (I am cooking) cam.
  9. diki (tomorrow) _______________ (we are teaching) cayan (science).

Learning on Your Own

Why? No matter how many hours you spend in the classroom, no matter how good your teacher, or how colorful your text book, at the end of the day it is you who has to do the learning. Learning how to learn on your own may be the most valuable skill any class can give you. This is obvious in Uganda, a country of over 30 languages and dialects. It is possible that you need one language for work, and the people in your village speak a different dialect or even a different language.

How? Interspersed throughout this language manual are assignments called Homestay or Communiy Task. They give you specific independent language learning assignments related to the language.

Setting Goals: Setting realistic goals is what successful learners do well. Use the space below to sketch your own objectives. You will be asked later to reassess your goals. Date:

Why do you want to learn Acholi?

What do you want to be able to do in five weeks?

Where do you want to be at the end of PST?

What level do you eventually want to reach in Acholi?