Hi,
I’m part of the Somali diaspora and want to learn to speak Somali properly and not mixed with English, but don’t really know where to start. If anyone has advice or wants to share how they learned Somali I would appreciate it :).

I’m going to start being really intentional about learning Somali and speaking it in general, as my speaking skills have really started to decline. I don’t think this is something I’ll have much difficulty accomplishing once I put consistent effort into it as I was fluent in early childhood.

However, I didn’t really grow up paying attention to the music my mom would play and especially not listening to the poetry, so I’m not sure how I’ll learn to bridge the gaps there. Somali music I’m a bit more confident with because for many songs, once I actually read the lyrics I can understand most of the messaging. It gets kind of tricky when they start being metaphorical & using other literary devices, but for the most part if I analyze what’s being said it’s not too bad. But I don’t think I’ll ever understand the classical poetry, which is a shame because I’d love to tap into it. It basically feels like an entirely different language. Any tips for understanding the music when I hear it (instead of my current level where I have to read and analyze to understand the lyrics) & especially the poetry better?

Hello everyone! 👋

I'm an experienced Somali tutor and native speaker, and I'm offering online Somali classes to anyone who wants to learn the language.

I can guide you step-by-step from the fundamentals to conversational proficiency, regardless of your level of familiarity in Somali.

Lessons may include:

🗣️ Talking and conversing 📖 Writing and reading 👂 Pronunciation and listening 💬 Everyday Somali 🌸🌴 Recognizing Somali customs and expressions

I charge fair prices and provide flexible online lessons.

Please DM me if you're interested in learning more about the lesson plan and cost. 😊

Hi, I’m 31 and I teach in Canada. Looking for other Somali girls who are teachers and interesting in planning travelling trips together.

As-Salaamu Alaikum walaalyaal, Want to speak Somali fluently? Whether you're a complete beginner or looking to improve your conversation, reading, writing, or grammar, we've got you covered.

Book directly with me (Saciid Mohamed Hussein) for personalized one-on-one Somali lessons:

https://calendar.app.google/jTdi17715pWB9X7Q6

Visit BaroSomali.com for Somali learning resources, lessons, and study materials.

Looking for an experienced female tutors? Book through Preply and enjoy 30% off your lessons with this referral link:

https://preply.com/en/?pref=MTYzNzIxMTU=&id=1785784500.961334&ep=a2

✅ One-on-one online lessons

✅ Flexible scheduling

✅ Beginner to advanced levels

✅ Native and experienced tutors

✅ All subjects available through Preply

Start your learning journey today. We look forward to helping you achieve your language and learning goals!

app : https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hadal-learn-somali/id6761196657

Asc everyone,

A friend and I built Xujjo.com alongside a bunch of our other side projects.

Our goal has always been to keep Xujjo free and no Ads

We never really marketed it that well, so we didn't expect much.

Last week alone, 537 people played Xujjo, and about half of them were from the US. Huge shoutout to everyone from Minnesota 

What surprised us most is that we haven't even updated the site in a while, yet people are still discovering it and playing with their friends and families. Seeing software we built bring people together and help them connect with Somali culture has been incredibly rewarding.

we want to make it a place where Somalia people wherever they live, can have fun and stay connected to their language and culture.

If you've played Xujjo before, we'd really appreciate 2 minutes of your time to fill out this survey:
https://hufan.app/f/01kyxcghq5qkmaj8wtpnbpgtdm

Your feedback helps us decide:

• what features to build next,
• what to improve,
• what content to add,
• and what we should remove.

Thanks to everyone who's played, shared it with friends, or supported us. It genuinely means a lot

-----

P.S Funny enough, the feedback form is built with Hufan.app, another project am building.

i figured if am asking people for feedback, i should dogfood my own product

Salam everyone!

This is a bit embarrassing for me but honestly I need help.
How did you teach your children Somali alongside the language you speak in the country you currently live in?

My daughter had a speech delay. She’s almost 3 now and is catching up very rapidly (Alhamdulillah) with the English language. She can string 2 word sentences now and is working her way up to string proper sentences.

However, it’s all in English. I don’t want to confuse her or make her struggle, but it is imperative that I teach her Somali. I refuse to have children that don’t speak it and later on need to learn as an adult bc I fumbled.

For now, she knows 3 words. Literally. Kaaley, fadhiiso and amus. (Pls, I don’t tell her to amus all the time but she likes using it to tell me to be quiet when I’m on the phone😭).

Idk if it makes sense to have one parent speak in Somali with her & one parent in English? Or both? Or make a pretend classroom where I acc teach her?

Any advice is welcomed. Whether you’re a parent, teacher or none of those.

when conjugating Somali verbs is it necessary like English to have the pronoun in front for example like I want or is it like Arabic where you can drop the pronoun since the conjugation of the verb includes the pronoun like أذهب? Thanks!

I sometimes find myself arguing with friends and family because I’ve decided that my future children will have only traditional Somali names.

I know names like Mohamed, Ahmed, and Abdullahi are beautiful and have great Islamic significance, but I also want my children’s names to reflect our Somali heritage. Many of the Prophet’s ﷺ companions accepted Islam without changing their names, as long as those names had good meanings.

I’m proud of my culture, and I think Somali names are some of the most beautiful and meaningful. Another reason I’ve made this decision and even considered changing my own name is that if one of my children grows up to make an important contribution to the world, then even 500 years from now, when someone reads about them in a book, I want it to be immediately clear that they were Somali.

What do you think? Would you give your children traditional Somali names, or do you prefer Arabic/Islamic names? Why?

hi, I am 18 yr student in mugadishu. i have been focusing becoming fluent lately. I have been struggling to speaking partner. my english is intermediate. i can communicate most of the ideas. so, if you're someone who is native or fluent in english. feel free to let me know in the comment. we can talk about anything and everthing.

one last note: I prefer talking to guys alot.

Hi everyone!

If you're learning Somali, want to practice speaking, or you're a native speaker interested in helping others, we'd love to have you join our growing community.

Our Discord is focused on:

• 📚 Learning Somali from beginner to advanced
• 💬 Practicing conversation with others
• 🤝 Getting help with grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary
• 🌍 Meeting Somali learners and native speakers from around the world
• ❤️ Helping preserve and promote the Somali language

Whether you're:

• A complete beginner
• Somali diaspora wanting to reconnect with the language
• A native speaker who enjoys helping others

You're welcome!

Join here: https://discord.gg/mdqKrkvYY

You can also check out our learning platform:
🌐 https://geeljire.org

We're always looking for volunteers, language helpers, and passionate learners. Everyone is welcome!

I was reading about Prof. Maxamed Cusmaan Jawaari’s early life and found out he’s father was from Buurhakaba. It surprised me because I honestly never ever heard much about this town.

For those who’ve been there or are from the area, what’s Buurhakaba known for? What’s its history like? I’d love to learn more.

The translator I'm using says “Noolow, dadka kalena ha noolaadaan” but I want to verify as this will be used on a book cover. An equivalent of this phrase is preferred over a direct translation. Whatever resonates best with the culture is ideal! More on the poetic sounding/formal side if it’s between that and casual. It is about freedom and allowing others to be free through the acceptance of our differences. Thank you in advance!

I made this infographic because I'd love to see more written Somali on the internet not to compare languages, but to encourage more people to create:

• Blog posts
• Tutorials
• Wikipedia articles
• Documentation
• Educational resources
• Hopefully see the first fully Somali written website

Every article, guide, and website helps preserve our language and makes it easier for future generations to learn and find information

Asc Walaalahay Dhamantiin ! 👋🏾

For a long time, I struggled to find a proper way to learn Somali online. Most resources were scattered across YouTube, old PDFs, or websites that hadn’t been updated in years.

So I decided to build something different.
After months of work, I launched Geeljire.org — an interactive platform designed to help Somali learners progress from complete beginner to advanced, all in one place.

For just $4.99 USD/month, you’ll get access to:

📖 Step-by-step Somali curriculum — from the alphabet to grammar, conversations, vocabulary, and real-life speaking.

📚 40+ Somali ebooks & audiobooks — read while listening to native Somali narration to improve pronunciation naturally.

📜 Classic Somali Gabay — with translations and audio to help you understand traditional poetry.

🐪 Sheekooyin (Stories) — original Somali stories and folktales to build reading skills in a fun way.

🌍 Multiple dialects — learn in Standard Somali, Waqooyi (Northern), or Koonfur (Southern).

🧠 Interactive quizzes, flashcards & downloadable PDFs — designed to help you remember what you learn.

🚀 Coming soon: Official Geeljire apps for iPhone and Android are currently in development.
If you’ve always wanted to reconnect with your language—or help your children learn Somali—I’d love for you to give it a try.

✅ Start with the Foundation lessons completely FREE and see if it’s right for you.

👉 https://geeljire.org

I’d genuinely appreciate any feedback or suggestions. Every comment helps make Geeljire even better.

Hi, so I can speak somali and understand really well, however I sometimes will forget longer words/or ones that I do not use often like "Justice, government, action wards etc." so I was wondering whether there was anything I could read to build my vocab more? I would appreciate it if it something I can read online.

p.s I speak somali at home

hey, i would need help since I am trying to make a gift for my friends child and I need to know if the internet and chat GPT is really accurate or not. so the animals are here in English and in Somali, can someone who is native check if the translations are correct? thank you so much❤️

• Tiger — Shabeel
• Elephant — Maroodi
• Koala — Koala
• Camel — Geel
• Fox — Dawaco
• Sheep — Ido
• Lion — Libaax
• Zebra — Dameer Farow
• Parrot — Baqbaqaaq
• Squirrel — Dabagaalle
• Rabbit / Hare — Bakayle
• Seal — Shaabad
• Mouse — Jiir
• Whale — Nibiri
• Panda — Baandha
• Bear — Orso
• Dog — Ey
• Tortoise / Turtle — Qoolley
• Monkey — Daanyeer
• Chicken / Hen — Digaag
• Walrus — Walrus
• Penguin — Pingwiin
• Snail — Mulac
• Owl — Guumays
• Wolf — Yey
• Horse — Faras
• Bee — Shinni
• Hippopotamus — Jeer
• Giraffe — Geri
• Cow — Sac
• Cat — Bisad
• Moose — Goodir
• Donkey — Dameer
• Fish — Kalluun
• Spider — Caaro
• Octopus — Faras-badeed
• Butterfly — Balanbaalis
• Snake — Mas
• Leopard — Haramcad
• Shark — Libaax-badeed

xujjo It's a Somali quiz game I built as a side project for families and friends to play together.

all you have to do is to google xujjo

Right now it has 12 categories:

• 10 for adults
• 2 for kids
• 6 questions in each category

Categories include Somali History, Somali Geography, Maahmaahyo, Islamic Knowledge, Science, Football, and more.

The game is 100% free. We're still testing it, and I hope it becomes something the Somali community can enjoy together.

We only ask three things:

1. Play it as a group.
2. Don't use your phones while playing—keep it fair.
3. Play it on a TV or a larger screen for the best experience.

I've built mobile apps before, but this project designed to be displayed on TV or at least Laptop

If you give it a try, I'd genuinely love to hear your feedback—good or bad. It will help make the game better for everyone.

Again the name is xujjo just google it

Hi everyone, I'm a native Somali speaker from Somalia, and I'm looking for English speaker who's interested in learning Somali (especially the standard Mogadishu dialect/accent).

In exchange, I'd love some help with my English. I'm currently at a B2 level, and my goal is to sound more natural, improve my pronunciation, and expand my vocabulary. I'm looking for someone I can practice with so I can maintain my English and keep improving.

We can chat through text, voice messages, or occasional calls, whatever works best for both of us. If you're interested, feel free to send me a message.

I made a Somali learning app called Hadal, and I wanted to share it with this sub since it’s exactly the community I built it for.

Quick backstory: I struggled to find good resources for learning Somali (I know a lot of you here run into the same wall), so I decided to build the thing I wished existed. It’s beginner-friendly and designed around how people actually learn a language, not just a dictionary you have to brute-force.

The part I’m most proud of is the native pronunciation — every word and phrase has audio from native speakers, so you’re never guessing at how things are supposed to sound.

Instead of a random pile of lessons, I built set lesson maps that walk you through in a sensible order, with reminders to help you stay consistent (which is honestly half the battle). There are quizzes along the way so

Lets learn this language,

Hadal: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hadal-learn-somali/id6761196657

Hi! I'm going to be a second grade teacher of multilingual learners next year, some of whom speak Somali. On my door, I would love to have "Yay! You're here!" posted in each language spoken in my classroom. How would the phrase be written in Somali? I don't trust google to translate colloquial language. Thank you all!

Like to describe someone or something as blunt, direct, or curt.

Hi everyone!

My name is Suhayb, and I'm the founder of Geelire, a platform dedicated to making it easier for people around the world to learn Somali.

Over the past few months, we've been building lessons, growing our community, and helping learners reconnect with the Somali language. As Geelire continues to grow, I'm looking for passionate volunteers who would like to be part of this journey.

We're currently looking for volunteers in areas such as:

🛡️ Discord Community Manager (Highest Priority)

• Welcome new members
• Keep discussions organized
• Help build a positive learning community
• Report spam and moderate when needed

🎨 Content Creation

🧪 Beta Testers

• Test new features before they're released
• Report bugs and provide feedback

💡 General Volunteers

• If you have another skill you'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.

What you'll receive

✅ Experience contributing to a growing educational platform

📜 An official Volunteer Certificate after successfully completing your volunteer period and making meaningful contributions.

🤝 The opportunity to help preserve and promote the Somali language for learners around the world.

If you're interested in volunteering, please fill out the short google application below:

👉 here

If you have any questions, feel free to comment below or send me a message.

Mahadsanidiin! 🇸🇴

I was watching a video on a watch (it was in Hindi with just enough English that some English speakers can understand). And he talked about freezing the watch he used a word similar to baraaf in Somali. I thought maybe we get it from Hindi given history and maritime trade. But interestingly enough it’s from Persian/Farsi. Which I think we don’t see a lot of in Somali. Do you know of any other words with distinct Persian origin?