Accuracy is the goal
Over the years many have tried to develop a course to teach Kabuverdianu. Even in the Cape Verde Islands the language suffers from many misconceptions such as, the language has no rules, people from each island speaks a different version and islanders from different islands can't understand each other. Some of these misconceptions have been spread by Cape Verdeans themselves.
When developing our course we felt that the best way to clear up these misconceptions was to do our research and stress test the research (See 'Our Content' for more information). This means that we developed our course based on research from renowned Cape Verdean linguists, such as Manuel Veiga, Jürgen Lang and Nicolas Quint to name a few. We also study documentation on how linguists conduct their research. Although we hold Kabuverdianu dear to our hearts, we decided that understanding how it is viewed from a linguistic stand point would help us to understand the rules of the language better. Needless to say we are a team of readers. 😀
Research is a must!
Available documentation in Kabuverdianu is scarce and there is currently no committee funded by the government for further research. Some research can be years apart, they can be from 2012, 2008, and even the 90's. This is a challenge because we have to comb through what is still valid and what is not. The date that the material was published is really important to dertemine it's validity. We have to ask, was it before or after the 'Alfabétu Kabuverdianu' was put into law? For example a dictionary that is still sold to this day renders one definition using the words 'M-sata prendi ...' using the letter 'M' as the singular pronoun, but this was published in 2002. It has been established in the 'Alfabetu Kabuverdianu' and was published by the 'Grupo Para A Padronização Do Alfabeto' that the personal pronoun is rendered 'N' . This rule came into affect after that particular dictionary was published.
The majority of research about Kabuverdianu is in Portuguese, so all of our staff must be fluent in Portuguese and Kabuverdianu ( and most are fluent in an additional language such as French or English) and understand the clear distinctions between Kabuverdianu and Portuguese. Our staff regularly reviews newly released research or documentation. Again, we are a team of readers.😀
It is a serious responsibility to teach any language because as a teacher you are the students window to that culture. You will affect how the students view the people and the how they express themselves in that language. We offer 1:1 sessions for 11 to 23 weeks before the student moves on to a group settings via our private facebook group. This allows the student to get the most from their investment and also allows us, the instructors, to give the student the most solid foundation for speaking and internalizing the language. By the time our student is in the facebook group we no longer have to worry about the students writing their answers using the letter 'c' or writing 'prendi' instead of 'prende'. We can just focus on helping them to expand their vocabulary, conversation and internalize the language that they are learning.
We are proud to say that our professionalism and quality of content has attracted the attention of the National Library in Cape Verde, clients such as professionals in the Boston area and a contract teaching American staff of the U.S. Embassy in Cape Verde. We will continue to work hard in providing the best content in the language Kabuverdianu. If you interested in learning Kabuverdianu with us please click the link below to start your 1:1 lesson with one of our instructors.
Below are what some of our clients have said about their experience with Learn Kabuverdianu. 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽
Fill out the Form below if you are interested in taking our lessons.
By Learn Kabuverdianu
