Online Resources for Learning Bambara

Here’s a quick write-up of the key resources that one can use to learn Bambara. A lot of them are listed on the single Manding resources page, but I thought that a blog post could be useful for people that want something more focused.

Apps

Basic Bambara - web-based grammar manual based on YouTube videos with videos, text, flashcards with audio and exercises
Learn Bambara (Android/iOS)

Online Courses

Beginner Bambara (A1): A full online Bambara/Dioula course for complete beginners that teaches you the basics of the language through a combination of grammar and workbook chapters, vocab lists, speaking assignments, quizzes and a final exam.

Language Manuals

Peace Corps : An Introduction to Bambara [Peace Corps mirror link] - Basic introduction with audio files that have been uploaded without any attribution or link to this playlist on YouTube
Peace Corps : Introductory Bambara Language Training Program - Manual with chapters that each include cultural notes, vocabulary, expressions, grammar and exercises around a single communicative task.

Dictionaries

An ka taa - Mobile-friendly Bambara-English-French dictionary
Bamadaba [in French] - Bambara-French dictionary
Bambara.org - Bambara-French-English dictionary
Maliyiri - Lexicon

Lessons

Afrilangues [in French] - online course that can be done self-guided or with a tutor
An ka taa - private online Bambara lessons with me!

Texts

Electronic Bambara Library [in French] - Website with PDF scans of Bambara texts in Latin script
Africana Languages Materials Archive - Website with PDF scans of some Bambara texts
Bambara Reference Corpus [in French] - Search engine for a large collection of Bambara texts

Videos

“An ka bamanankan kalan” book/audio as videos - Audio file synced to screenshots of the book’s text
Basic Bambara - A series of video lectures that teach Manding grammar through the lens of Bambara
“Na baro kè” - An ka taa’s series of subtitled street-side chats in Bambara

Typing

Gboard (Android/iOS) - Mobile keyboard that allows typing Bambara in Latin and N’ko) [see my bog write-up here]
SIL IPA keyboards - Desktop keyboards for typing Bambara’s IPA characters
Keyman - Desktop keyboards for typing Bambara in Latin and N’ko)
Bambara spell checker - Tool that works with LibreOffice and Mozilla software

Podcasts/Radio

Basic Bambara—the podcast - The basics of Bambara through real lessons between me, Coleman, and a student, Cinzia
RFI-Mandenkan - French government radio with news in Bambara daily
“Kan jumɛ bɛ yɛn” [which should be spelled “Kan jumɛn bɛ yen"] - Regular interview talk show produced by RFI-Mandenkan
“Mali Kura” - Regular news show produced by the Voice of America’s Bambara service
“An ba fo” [which should be spelled “An b’a fɔ”] - Interview talk show produced by the Voice of America’s Bambara service [stopped in April 2017 as of May 2019]