Language in Timor-Leste is kind of a complicated affair.
Although Timor is a small Island, the Timorese people consist of a number of distinct ethnic groups, each speaking its own language. As a result, Timor-Leste today has a wealth of indigenous languages.
“The 2010 census found that the most commonly spoken mother tongues were Tetum Prasa (mother tongue for 36.6% of the population), Mambai (12.5%), Makasai (9.7%), Tetum Terik (6.0%), Baikenu (5.9%), Kemak (5.9%), Bunak (5.3%), Tokodede (3.7%), and Fataluku (3.6%). Other indigenous languages largely accounted for the remaining 10.9%.” -wikipedia
In all there are between about 18-36 indigenous languages (depending on your definition between a unique language and a dialect) in active use in East Timor. Then there are the adopted languages from other nations that are in use in Timor-Leste.
In 1769 Portugal established outposts in Timor and declared the colony of ‘Portugese Timor’ on the Eastern half of the Island (while the west of the island was colonised by the Dutch) introducing the Portuguese language. However, after Portugal decided to decolonise East Timor in 1974, it was quickly invaded and occupied in the following year by Indonesia, which banned the use of Portuguese and enforced the use of Indonesian in official environments such as government offices, schools and public businesses.
As a result, only about 600 people were shown to speak Portuguese natively in the 2010 census.
In 2002 (after years of bloody conflict and fighting for independence) The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste was declared as the worlds first new country of the millennium and the government had the job of deciding which of many languages to use as its official language.
Tetun was already being used as a Lingua Franca for communication as the Tetun people made up the majority of the population. During the occupation Tetun (and to a smaller extent Portuguese) had been important in unifying the people against Javanese culture with their own identity. However, due to Tetun having a limited vocabulary and relatively simple grammar, it was found to be too vague for use in official documents and government.
There was, understandably, a reticence to continue using Indonesian for Timor-Lestes official language, especially considering the struggle to differentiate and separate themselves from Indonesia, but turning away from that language entirely would prove difficult.
And so a compromise was found.
The official languages chosen were Tetun and, strangely, the language of Timor Lestes former colonists, Portuguese.
Unfortunately, because of Indonesias attempts to stamp out the use of Portuguese, the only people who could speak it effectively were those of older generations and those returning from a long time abroad, the young and the poor were at a loss. Today Portuguese is seen as a language of the elite and most people don’t have the opportunity to learn it for effective communication.
At some point it was realised that English was a more useful language for the future of Timor-Leste in international business. So now Timor Lestes working languages are Indonesian and English.
Bear in mind that this is a very new country with a history of having a less than adequate (read grossly inadequate) education system. People speak A BIT of English but most of the learners in the school in which I work are Beginner and Elementary students.
Following so far? :p
So, long story short, for everyday life here Tetun (Tetun Prasa) is the language to learn and I’m going to try to do that.
From the Austronesian language group (spoken throughout South East Asia) Tetun has a fast, clipped sort of sound but often with a Latin flavour as it borrows heavily from Portuguese.
I’m told that Tetun is a reasonably easy language to learn as it has a relatively limited number of indigenous words, for anything needed without an equivalent local word an approximation of the Portuguese is used so there are many words that sound familiar to a western ear.
For example:
Obrigadu = Thankyou
Bon dia = good morning
I figure a phrase or two a day will get me on the track to having a good grasp in a few weeks and I might even start taking lessons soon.
Yesterday, I was asked by my school to sit in on a trial lesson for a Tetun teacher who might be employed with us soon. I was one of three students and he was being observed, kind of a practical interview. It was a good lesson which gave me some nice basic phrases and only took 20 minutes.
I can now say: hello - my name is matt - what is your name - are you well? - I’m well, thank you. And a couple other things that I’ll probably forget by tonight :p
I also looked at a house this morning that I might move into. It was really nice. They have a couple more people looking today but I hope I get the room. I would be living with a Timorese family, one of their girls is learning English and hopes to go to university next year or the year after. It would be a great opportunity to give her some help with English and practice my Tetun with the family. So fingers crossed (I’m going to do a blog page on crossing fingers in Timor-Leste, keep an eye out for that one).
On the way home from that I met a guy called Edu. He approached me and was immediately extremely friendly.
“Hello, my friend! My name is Edu. Are you from Australia?”
Lots of smiling and handshakes, easy to like.
He asked if I could meet up with him to talk in English so he can practise his conversation, so we’re meeting for drinks tomorrow. Maybe I’ll get to learn some more Tetun as well.
Although Timor is a small Island, the Timorese people consist of a number of distinct ethnic groups, each speaking its own language. As a result, Timor-Leste today has a wealth of indigenous languages.
“The 2010 census found that the most commonly spoken mother tongues were Tetum Prasa (mother tongue for 36.6% of the population), Mambai (12.5%), Makasai (9.7%), Tetum Terik (6.0%), Baikenu (5.9%), Kemak (5.9%), Bunak (5.3%), Tokodede (3.7%), and Fataluku (3.6%). Other indigenous languages largely accounted for the remaining 10.9%.” -wikipedia
In all there are between about 18-36 indigenous languages (depending on your definition between a unique language and a dialect) in active use in East Timor. Then there are the adopted languages from other nations that are in use in Timor-Leste.
In 1769 Portugal established outposts in Timor and declared the colony of ‘Portugese Timor’ on the Eastern half of the Island (while the west of the island was colonised by the Dutch) introducing the Portuguese language. However, after Portugal decided to decolonise East Timor in 1974, it was quickly invaded and occupied in the following year by Indonesia, which banned the use of Portuguese and enforced the use of Indonesian in official environments such as government offices, schools and public businesses.
As a result, only about 600 people were shown to speak Portuguese natively in the 2010 census.
In 2002 (after years of bloody conflict and fighting for independence) The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste was declared as the worlds first new country of the millennium and the government had the job of deciding which of many languages to use as its official language.
Tetun was already being used as a Lingua Franca for communication as the Tetun people made up the majority of the population. During the occupation Tetun (and to a smaller extent Portuguese) had been important in unifying the people against Javanese culture with their own identity. However, due to Tetun having a limited vocabulary and relatively simple grammar, it was found to be too vague for use in official documents and government.
There was, understandably, a reticence to continue using Indonesian for Timor-Lestes official language, especially considering the struggle to differentiate and separate themselves from Indonesia, but turning away from that language entirely would prove difficult.
And so a compromise was found.
The official languages chosen were Tetun and, strangely, the language of Timor Lestes former colonists, Portuguese.
Unfortunately, because of Indonesias attempts to stamp out the use of Portuguese, the only people who could speak it effectively were those of older generations and those returning from a long time abroad, the young and the poor were at a loss. Today Portuguese is seen as a language of the elite and most people don’t have the opportunity to learn it for effective communication.
At some point it was realised that English was a more useful language for the future of Timor-Leste in international business. So now Timor Lestes working languages are Indonesian and English.
Bear in mind that this is a very new country with a history of having a less than adequate (read grossly inadequate) education system. People speak A BIT of English but most of the learners in the school in which I work are Beginner and Elementary students.
Following so far? :p
So, long story short, for everyday life here Tetun (Tetun Prasa) is the language to learn and I’m going to try to do that.
From the Austronesian language group (spoken throughout South East Asia) Tetun has a fast, clipped sort of sound but often with a Latin flavour as it borrows heavily from Portuguese.
I’m told that Tetun is a reasonably easy language to learn as it has a relatively limited number of indigenous words, for anything needed without an equivalent local word an approximation of the Portuguese is used so there are many words that sound familiar to a western ear.
For example:
Obrigadu = Thankyou
Bon dia = good morning
I figure a phrase or two a day will get me on the track to having a good grasp in a few weeks and I might even start taking lessons soon.
Yesterday, I was asked by my school to sit in on a trial lesson for a Tetun teacher who might be employed with us soon. I was one of three students and he was being observed, kind of a practical interview. It was a good lesson which gave me some nice basic phrases and only took 20 minutes.
I can now say: hello - my name is matt - what is your name - are you well? - I’m well, thank you. And a couple other things that I’ll probably forget by tonight :p
I also looked at a house this morning that I might move into. It was really nice. They have a couple more people looking today but I hope I get the room. I would be living with a Timorese family, one of their girls is learning English and hopes to go to university next year or the year after. It would be a great opportunity to give her some help with English and practice my Tetun with the family. So fingers crossed (I’m going to do a blog page on crossing fingers in Timor-Leste, keep an eye out for that one).
On the way home from that I met a guy called Edu. He approached me and was immediately extremely friendly.
“Hello, my friend! My name is Edu. Are you from Australia?”
Lots of smiling and handshakes, easy to like.
He asked if I could meet up with him to talk in English so he can practise his conversation, so we’re meeting for drinks tomorrow. Maybe I’ll get to learn some more Tetun as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment