My First Amharic Dictionary

Book excerpt: Learn Amharic with new picture dictionary series from trusted publisher of foreign language study guides, Hippocrene Books Amharic is the official working language of Ethiopia, with approximately 30 million speakers. It is the second most widely spoken Semitic language in the world after Arabic. Unlike Arabic, however, Amharic is written left-to-right and uses a distinct script called Ge'ez script. With colorful, eye-catching illustrations to stimulate imagination and curiosity, My First Amharic Dictionary is specially designed for children ages 5 to 12. It contains more than 1,000 everyday words (from colors, animals, household items, foods and more)--each illustrated and translated into Amharic with accompanying phonetic pronunciation. The illustrations are arranged alphabetically by English so even young readers can easily search for words. Each one is labeled with clear, bold type and the commonsense pronunciation makes it easy to begin speaking Amharic right away! Recent studies suggest that children should begin learning a foreign language before age 10 for best results. This dictionary is a fun, engaging way for parents or grandparents to introduce Amharic to young children. Teachers will also find the dictionary useful for students who are learning Amharic from Kindergarten and up.