How did missionaries and explorers learn African languages?

European missionaries to southern Africa during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries played a strangely ambiguous role in the history and affairs of the region. read more

In some cases there may have been printed material (grammars, dictionaries, etc.) but usually they did it the old fashioned way: they lived the language. Some people today advocate this method of learning languages; you actually save time, however, if you combine immersion (living the language) with formal instruction. read more

Raymond Lull, a medieval missionary went to Tunis, (modern day Tunisia) in 1300, he spent nine years in preparation, learning Arabic. The North Africa Mission (British) began work in Algeria in 1881. Britain occupied Egypt in 1882, but the British flag did not guarantee freedom from religious persecutions. read more

Before missionaries came, there was a system of generations handing power one to another. It was huge. In fact many names in my community come from generation sets. The last handover was maybe in 1910-there has not been another since. Point being that in general it could be that missionaries destroyed festivities. read more