Language Links


Ẹ káàbọ̀! Ṣé dáadáa lo wà? Ṣé o lè sọ èdè Yorùbá? Language is a key medium to interact with the world. We communicate our intentions and process the intentions of others. Words give us voice, but Yorùbá words also give us tones…three to be exact! Part of the Edekiri language group and likely even older than the Kọ́jọ́dá calendar (over 10,000 years and counting), people have been expressing respect as ọ̀wọ̀, gratitude as ṣéun, and love as nífẹ̀ẹ́ for a long time. The following links will help you join our expressive and melodic conversation.

**Language Links**

Group 1a: audio visual resources - informative


Here’s a list of Yorùbá video resources available free online:

*Yorùbá Lessons with Adérónké̩: https://www.youtube.com/c/yorubalessons/videos
*Yorùbá Stars - Culture Tree: https://www.youtube.com/c/CultureTreeTVYoruba
*Tana Adu: https://www.youtube.com/c/TanaAdu/videos

These convey information about Yorùbá language & culture.

I’d say one of the best in this format is Yorùbá with Adérónkẹ́ with almost 400 videos and counting. She produces 3 video types:
- Yorùbá language areas (vocab/grammar)
- Yorùbá folktales, folksongs, proverbs, idioms, etc
- Yorùbá culture in general

A suggested format for your language practice session is to:
(1) watch the videos
(2) have a conversation in Yorùbá about what you have just learned, using new vocab mentioned, etc.

Group 1b: audio visual resources - scripted


However, the following resource has a scripted structure:

*Nalingo Naija: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzpkJhafrktQJDDqN5Rxg-Q/videos

A suggested format for your language practice session is to:
(1) watch the short videos
(2) practice the scripted conversation in Yorùbá
(3) review and familiarise yourself with the grammar structures used in the script
(4) do some vocabulary building of the conversation topic areas with a dictionary
(5) practice the scripted conversation in Yorùbá again, this time inserting the new vocab you’ve learn as appropriate

Group 2: audio textual resources


Here’s a list of Yorùbá textual resources available free online:

*Foreign Service Institute (FSI) Yorùbá Basic course
https://www.livelingua.com/course/fsi/yoruba_basic_course
https://www.fsi-language-courses.org/fsi-yoruba-basic-course

*Foreign Service Institute (FSI) Yorùbá Intermediate course

*Colloquial Yorùbá

The latter in particular (Colloquial Yorùbá) has a script structure similar to Nalingo Naija.
So your sessions could follow the same format suggested before.

Group 3a: vocabulary lists - free


Here’s a list of free Yorùbá vocabulary lists available online (though be weary of some inaccuracies…):

*Polymath: https://polymath.org/yoruba.php
*Learnentry: https://www.learnentry.com/english-yoruba/vocabulary
*Naijish: https://naijish.com/yoruba-lessons
*Kiniun - Quizlet: https://quizlet.com/Kiniun/sets

Group 3b: vocabulary lists - paid


Here’s a list of paid Yorùbá vocabulary lists available online (though again be weary of some inaccuracies…):

*Language Drops - English-Yorùbá: https://languagedrops.com/word/en/english/yoruba
*Language Drops - Yorùbá-English: https://languagedrops.com/word/en/yoruba/english

Group 4: dictionaries


Here’s a list of free Yorùbá dictionary lists available online (though be weary of some inaccuracies…):

*Aroade Yorùbá dictionary/vocab list: http://www.aroadedictionary.com/index.html

*Yorùbá dictionary and other links: https://www.lexilogos.com/english/yoruba_dictionary.htm

Group 5: keyboards


Here’s a list of free Yorùbá keyboards featuring sub-dot letters & tonal marks available online:

*Lexilogos: https://www.lexilogos.com/keyboard/yoruba.htm
*Branah: https://www.branah.com/yoruba
*Typing Baba: https://www.typingbaba.com/keyboard/online-yoruba-keyboard.php

Group 6: names & meanings!


Here’s a lovely website about Yoruba names which gives:
- accurate spelling (sub-dot letters & tonal marks)
- pronunciation
- meaning

*Yorùbá Name: www.yorubaname.com

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