What percentage of somalis speak Arabic in your opinion
- Thread starter Som
- Start date
Garaad diinle
I'm intrigued you mean to say that there were a large somali minority unaccounted for in yemen? I've read about the somalis living in yemen and there are no official census or counting that agrees with each other. Furthermore you would think after the yemeni civil war a large number of somalis would pour onto neighbouring countries or travel to the west but i've yet to see any of that. I guess you could very well be right on this one but it would probably be hard to prove this through official data from the un or any other agency.
Yemen had no census and back then (mid-2000s) the estimate was 1.5-2 million Somalis in Yemen. However, the number could’ve easily been higher.
Now, the UN states that 500,000 Somalis are left in Yemen.
As for what happened to them, a lot moved to Somalia, Turkey, Egypt, Kenya, Malaysia etc.
Garaad diinle
I know it's not easy for you to say since you probably haven't been to all of yemen but if you were to guess how big would you say the somalis living in yemen were prior to the civil war? By the way how long did you live in yemen?
empressjamila
yktv
From my observations it’s only the ones that lived in Arab countries that know conversational Arabic
The ones that study Arabic back home only know formal/written Arabic they can’t have a conversation with anyone. So that’s not really considered knowing the language
Arabs think we know Arabic because of our location and bc we’re in the Arab league. But most Somalis really don’t know much Arabic at all
The ones that study Arabic back home only know formal/written Arabic they can’t have a conversation with anyone. So that’s not really considered knowing the language
Arabs think we know Arabic because of our location and bc we’re in the Arab league. But most Somalis really don’t know much Arabic at all
30 percent now cuz all the Somalis that were in Yemen have come back to Somalia as well as the Somalis from the gulf state, my parents speak Arabic my dad is Djibouti if you went to a school they teach you Arabic and French and my mum stayed in Yemen in her early teens
Garaad diinle
Somali learning arabic in somalia is probably similar to these somali learning english in somalia.
Abu Hesi
VIP
Somali learning arabic in somalia is probably similar to these somali learning english in somalia.
Mek Nimr al-Ja'ali
100% Ja'ali KING
I've basically never met a Somali that can actually speak Arabic at a conversational level or really even knows the language beyond reciting the Quran. I think it's like 5% at absolute most in the world outside of immigrants in Arabic countries.
I’d say at least 30% can have a basic conversation in Arabic and only about 10% are proficient.
I’m mostly basing it on our parents generation. I think with the younger gen, the number is much lower.
When we had a stable government, learning Arabic was compulsory in schools which is why you’ll find that amongst the educated you’ll find that they can at least speak very basic Arabic that would be able to get them from A to Z.
Many of my uncle’s generation, (my dad’s older brother)who were born late 40s to mid 50s went to schools primarily taught in Arabic. All the lessons were in Arabic. I’d say that generation who are educated have a fantastic grasp of Arabic.
I’m mostly basing it on our parents generation. I think with the younger gen, the number is much lower.
When we had a stable government, learning Arabic was compulsory in schools which is why you’ll find that amongst the educated you’ll find that they can at least speak very basic Arabic that would be able to get them from A to Z.
Many of my uncle’s generation, (my dad’s older brother)who were born late 40s to mid 50s went to schools primarily taught in Arabic. All the lessons were in Arabic. I’d say that generation who are educated have a fantastic grasp of Arabic.
𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈
VIP
It shows how little you know of the Somalis.
I would agree, and would even put the number higher than 30%.
Indeed so. I learnt how to read, and write Arabic (not spoken) before I even learnt Somali (written).
Postscript:
Let me draw a distinction between spoken, and written form of the language. Many, who could read, and write might not speak it, for it is not used in their daily life. For instance, I had a Japanese classmate at uni, who could not order food at the cafe, let alone engage in class discussions, or debate teams, yet would pen some of the best essays in English.
Last edited:
The alchemist
VIP
A lot of Somalis speak Arabic. 30% express at least ~70% proficiency. That's a calculated guess from me. It's what you call good heuristics.
Somalis in the Somaliweyn, to a significant degree, have stayed in the Arabic world and travel back and forth intermittently. Then you have the people who live in the Arab world that lives there, arguably, the most sized portion of the diaspora (hard to say without conclusive estimates). Then you have the tahrib folks that picked up the language as they navigated through Arab countries. And then you have the older generations that learned it through various educated and business settings, from strong integration with Arab countries. It's why you see Sudanese from the older generation got educated in Libya or Egypt. Folks back in the day traveled vast distances between Arabic-speaking countries to study. It brought value to their prospects in their respective countries when they traveled back. There is a strong history of this going back at least a thousand years, with individuals going to Egypt for scholarly pursuit. I read somewhere that a section of the historical learning center in Egypt, the most prestigious of its time, had a "Zayla'i" branch.
Somalis pick up Arabic very quickly. I speculate with a fair share of confidence it is because the transition between Somali as an Afro-Asiatic language, with kh, and x sounds, to Arabic, is uncomplicated, and there is the Quranic centering that takes place early where you have strong familiarity. Human beings learn in different stages, and you can delve into learning philosophy. Often ignored prerequisites that Somalis are indirectly or directly dealing with before they explore the conscious learning experience of Arabic is the basis we learn Arabic quickly. The lack of developed intuition from other non-Arabic speakers makes it harder for them to digest in the same capacity.
Somalis in the Somaliweyn, to a significant degree, have stayed in the Arabic world and travel back and forth intermittently. Then you have the people who live in the Arab world that lives there, arguably, the most sized portion of the diaspora (hard to say without conclusive estimates). Then you have the tahrib folks that picked up the language as they navigated through Arab countries. And then you have the older generations that learned it through various educated and business settings, from strong integration with Arab countries. It's why you see Sudanese from the older generation got educated in Libya or Egypt. Folks back in the day traveled vast distances between Arabic-speaking countries to study. It brought value to their prospects in their respective countries when they traveled back. There is a strong history of this going back at least a thousand years, with individuals going to Egypt for scholarly pursuit. I read somewhere that a section of the historical learning center in Egypt, the most prestigious of its time, had a "Zayla'i" branch.
Somalis pick up Arabic very quickly. I speculate with a fair share of confidence it is because the transition between Somali as an Afro-Asiatic language, with kh, and x sounds, to Arabic, is uncomplicated, and there is the Quranic centering that takes place early where you have strong familiarity. Human beings learn in different stages, and you can delve into learning philosophy. Often ignored prerequisites that Somalis are indirectly or directly dealing with before they explore the conscious learning experience of Arabic is the basis we learn Arabic quickly. The lack of developed intuition from other non-Arabic speakers makes it harder for them to digest in the same capacity.
Mek Nimr al-Ja'ali
100% Ja'ali KING
In a country where only 40% of adults are literate in Somali, their native language, you think more than 30% are fluent in Arabic. Be realistic. Even Sudan, an Arab country had only a little more than half speaking Arabic shortly after independence.
𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈
VIP
What period are we referring to?
Are you forgetting before Somali was written, Arabic was the language educated classes were communicating, and writing?
Thats a cap. somali population in the arab world never exceeded half a million. 2 million kulahaa. Nigga is hallucinating-
I’m sorry everyone has mobiles now, even the beggers in Somalia have phone, it’s impossible to have a significant population of illiterate in the world now
