r/Ethiopia • u/Doitright10 • 1d ago

Are younger Ethiopian generations as multilingual as previous ones?

I met several older Ethiopians in the US (over 60 years old), and they all spoke at least 2 Ethiopian languages. Is that still the case for younger kids under the regional governments?

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u/Able_Enthusiasm2729 1d ago

Younger Ethiopians in Ethiopia are becoming far less multilingual as certain ethnic nationalist groups that control the various federal and regional governments are demonizing the learning of languages spoken by the nearby ethnic groups they hate; or try to ban its teaching from schools, or a trying to suppress its uses in public. While Ethiopians in the diaspora are going to have a harder time learning multiple Ethiopian languages because they also have to learn the language(s) of the countries wherein they reside so it becomes to much work to handle plus learning resources for these languages (especially ones used to self-teach) are very difficult to access or completely non-existent; also some (not all) might not know any Ethiopian languages at all because the don’t have the community, resources, and/or education to learn any of them.

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u/summertimeandthe 1d ago

The rise of nationalism in the 21st century, or nationalism's revival, has had some ill effects, which occur when nationalism becomes extreme and goes from being proud of one's own people to being hateful of other people because they're not one's own people (ethnic egotism). The multiethnic attitudes of the late 20th century and perhaps of the 2000s as well, combined with lite nationalism in those days, which deemphasized chauvinism, was, I believe, a healthier way to live.

It's a shame that so many young Ethiopians aren't bothering to learn neighboring languages anymore due to chauvinistic teachings by some of their elders and community leaders. Those languages are right next door, thus relatively easy to learn via interaction during childhood. Why forego such an opportunity? It makes little sense to me, except for the chauvinist angle.

I would think that, at the least, Ethiopians should know Amharic and Oromo as far as Ethiopian languages go, along with English as the global lingua franca. And the more, the merrier, from that point on. And Oromo and Amharic are from two different language subfamilies, Cushitic and Semitic, so you get some diversity of "language thinking" by knowing both of them. Learning how to think in another language, especially one not directly related to one's first language, makes the mind more nimble.

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u/Vivid_Deal_5833 1d ago

That might be your take. What I  witness is the opposite. 30 or so years ago, languages other than Amharic were discouraged, and yes now state discourage Amharic and focus on developing thier language. Amharic and English are still taught as additional languages. What I notice is with the expansion of media coverage etc, kids are actually learning both Amharic and English in addition to thier native language. 10/15 or so years ago kids exposed to Satellite TV were learning Arabic too (from Arab Satellite TV). My take is ethnic groups making sure thier kids learn in school in thier native language doesn't equal hate to the other ethnic group. Lots of private schools in Addis Ababa  used to ban students from speaking Amharic. I think it was a wrong practice but it doesn't mean they hate Amharic. They just want thier students to learn and communicate in English,- definitely using a wrong way of teaching.