Advanced Beginner Coursebook

This book is designed for Advanced Beginner students of Bambara/Jula.

It picks up where the Beginner Bambara course ends.

Want to keep going? Check out the Intermediate Coursebook.

     

    Grammar Points Covered

    1) Sanji | Rain

    • The particle dɛ
    • Using situatives with postpositions to express sensations
    • Expressing “to need” with mago/mako or ka kan
    • Progressives with bɛ ka / tɛ ka
    • The constrastive particle dun

    2) Kalan | Studies

    • Light-verb constructions with the verb kɛ
    • Converting verbs into nouns
    • The particle kɛ
    • Making action nouns with -li/ni
    • Verbs in citation form with ka and topicalization using o

    3) Te | Tea

    • Expressing “to like” with X ka di Y ye
    • Sequential verb constructions with ka
    • Determiners like bɛɛ, dɔ, etc
    • The particle sa

    4) Denw | Children

    • Expressing “to have” with bolo/fɛ
    • Expressing “a long time ago” with ka mɛɛn
    • Asking/talking about age
    • Counting above 10

    5) Butiki | Boutique

    • Expressing “to love/want” with fɛ
    • Converting adjectives into nouns
    • Counting money with the "times 5" rule
    • Discussing price per item with reduplication
    • Expressing “X worth of” using -la/na or ta

    6) Sugu | Market

    • Expressing “to seek” or "to look for" with kɔ
    • Describing things metaphorically with qualitative verbs
    • Using verbs with indirect objects and postpositions

    7) Dɔlɔso | Drinking Spot

    • Expressing “done” with ka tila and ka ban
    • Expressing “to bring” and “to take away” with ni ... ye
    • The future with bɛna/tɛna
    • Using verbs to express the state of something

    8) Dugutaga | Travel

    • Retrospective marker tun in non-verbal constructions
    • The resultative participle -len/nin [NOTE: This also appears in Ɲɛnafin below]
    • Retrospective marker tun in verbal constructions

    9) Takisi | Taxi

    • Progressives with -ra/la/na
    • Modal verb constructions
    • Naked infinitives as orders
    • Conditionals with mana

    10) Dumunikɛyɔrɔ | Eating Spot

    • Making verbs and abstract nouns with -ya
    • Reflexive verbs
    • Using the quotative ko to express "to say"
    • Expressing “because” between two clauses

    11) Furusiri | Wedding

    • Expressing “to be/become” with kɛ X ye
    • Expressing “if/when/once” with ni
    • Compound nouns (Noun + Noun, etc)

    12) Ɲɛnafin | Nostalgia

    • Progressive participle -tɔ
    • Resultative participle -len [NOTE: This also appears in Dugutaga above]
    • Negative participle -bali
    • Potential participle -ta

     

    Details About the Chapters

    Each chapter of this book is structured around a written dialogue, complete with an audio recording and an English translation. Through the dialogue, you are introduced to new vocabulary and 3-5 key grammar points.

    The structure of each chapter is as follows:

    • Dialogue Vocabulary: A list and set of audio flashcards to review before engaging with the dialogue itself.
    • Dialogue: A text-based dialogue accompanied by an audio recording, with numbered annotations highlighting new grammar points. Following the dialogue, there is an English translation that can be toggled on as needed.
    • Grammar Points: A list of the new grammar topics featured in the dialogue.
    • Lesson: A video-based lesson where we listen to the dialogue together, followed by my line-by-line reading, translation, and breakdown of the dialogue's grammar points.
    • Exercises: Interactive exercises designed to help you practice the vocabulary and grammar points of the chapter.
    • Related Vocabulary: A list of terms and expressions related to the chapter's topic, useful for similar contexts or other classroom activities.