21.04.23 1Forfatter Prosjektittel

FORSVARETForsvarets logistikkorganisasjon

21.04.23 1NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS

Norwegian Defence Intelligence& Security School

NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCES

CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS FACTORS IN LANGUAGE TRAINING AND LEARNINGOvercoming 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

21.04.23 2Forfatter Prosjektittel

FORSVARETForsvarets logistikkorganisasjon

21.04.23 2NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS

Norwegian Defence Intelligence& Security School

NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCES

Content• Pioneer Course in Pashto 2008-2009• Incidental difficulties• Intrinsic difficulties• The major obstacle: The writing system• Bypassing the writing system• Coping with other difficulties• Conclusion

Unclassified

21.04.23 3NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS

NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCESNorwegian Defence Intelligence& Security School

Incidental difficulties

No tradition for teaching PashtoReference works of poor quality or non-existentDictionaries of poor quality (except to and from

Russian).

Grammars of poor quality (except one 55 year old dialect grammar).

No trained Pashto teachers.

Unclassified

21.04.23 4NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS

NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCESNorwegian Defence Intelligence& Security School

Intrinsic difficulties 1

Pashto is a difficult language in itself.

One example:

day må wini ‘he sees me’ he me seesBUTdǝ zǝ wǝ�li �dǝlǝm ‘he saw me’him I saw (1st person sg.)

Unclassified

21.04.23 5NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS

NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCESNorwegian Defence Intelligence& Security School

Intrinsic difficulties 3

A imperfect writing system with a highly ambiguous script and a very loose orthography.

n - d - r - w - r = ندرور

ndro�r = ‘sister-in-law’

Unclassified

21.04.23 6NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS

NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCESNorwegian Defence Intelligence& Security School

Bypassing the writing system 1A 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

21.04.23 7NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS

NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCESNorwegian Defence Intelligence& Security School

Bypassing the writing system 2Reversability

Two examples:

The Arabic letters ص س ث are all (in Pashto)

pronounced s.

We distinguish them with diacritics, writing s�, s and

s.

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

21.04.23 8NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS

NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCESNorwegian Defence Intelligence& Security School

Bypassing the writing system 3Imitating the native script

s س ← ṩ ښ

ż ږ z ز ←

n ڼ n ن ←

t ت ← t ټ

d ډ d د ←

r ر ← r ړ sh, s, s), ss, kh, x, x)

Unclassified

21.04.23 9NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS

NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCESNorwegian Defence Intelligence& Security School

s س ← ṩ ښ

sh, s, s), ss, kh, x, x)

21.04.23 10NON FAVET FORS NISI MENTE PRAEPARATIS

NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCESNorwegian 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.