ForfatterProsjektittel FORSVARET Forsvarets logistikkorganisasjon NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS Norwegian Defence Intelligence & Security School NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCES CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS FACTORS IN LANGUAGE TRAINING AND LEARNING Overcoming the difficulties of teaching a language where teaching materials and reference works are insufficient or non-existent. Experiences from a successful pioneer course in Pashto. FINN THIESEN Unclassified

ForfatterProsjektittel FORSVARET Forsvarets logistikkorganisasjon NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS Norwegian Defence Intelligence & Security School NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCES Content Pioneer Course in Pashto Incidental difficulties Intrinsic difficulties The major obstacle: The writing system Bypassing the writing system Coping with other difficulties Conclusion Unclassified

NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCES Norwegian Defence Intelligence & Security School Incidental difficulties No tradition for teaching Pashto Reference works of poor quality or non-existent Dictionaries of poor quality (except to and from Russian). Grammars of poor quality (except one 55 year old dialect grammar). No trained Pashto teachers. Unclassified

NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCES Norwegian Defence Intelligence & Security School Intrinsic difficulties 1 Pashto is a difficult language in itself. One example: day må wini ‘he sees me’ he me sees BUT d ǝ z ǝ w ǝ ́li ̱ d ǝ l ǝ m ‘he saw me’ him I saw (1st person sg.) Unclassified

NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCES Norwegian Defence Intelligence & Security School Intrinsic difficulties 3 A imperfect writing system with a highly ambiguous script and a very loose orthography. ندرور = n - d - r - w - r ndro ̱ ́r = ‘sister-in-law’ Unclassified

NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCES Norwegian Defence Intelligence & Security School Bypassing the writing system 1 A system of transcription that is both phonemic and reversible The grammar and most of the texts were presented in familiar Roman letters. The system of transcription was: 1. Phonemic, i.e. showing exactly all consonants and vowels as well as stress. 2. Reversible, i.e. spelling in native script 100 % deducible from transcription. 3. The transcription imitates the native Pashto script thereby facilitating later transition to native script. Unclassified

NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCES Norwegian Defence Intelligence & Security School Bypassing the writing system 2 Reversability Two examples: The Arabic letters ث س ص are all (in Pashto) pronounced s. We distinguish them with diacritics, writing s ̱, s and ṣ. i = i (never written in the native script) i = i (may nor may not be written in native script) ī = i (always written in the native script) Unclassified

NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCES Norwegian Defence Intelligence & Security School Bypassing the writing system 3 Imitating the native script ښ ṩ ← س s ږ ż ̣ ← ز z ڼ n ̥ ← ن n ټ t ̥ ← ت t ډ d ̥ ← د d ړ r ̥ ← ر r sh, ṣ, ṣ̌, ss, kh, x, x ̌ Unclassified

NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCES Norwegian Defence Intelligence & Security School ښ ṩ ← س s sh, ṣ, ṣ̌, ss, kh, x, x ̌

NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCES Norwegian Defence Intelligence & Security School Coping with other difficulties Most of the time both two teachers in the class-room. The students were forced to talk Pashto constantly almost from day one. We accustomed them to hear and understand different varieties and dialects right from the start. Systematic study of the formation of the Arabic loan words in Pashto. Downloading and studying Pashto texts from the internet and discussing them with our native instructors.