MENDE FOR BEGINNERS

“Mende for Beginners” is the first in a series of Mende books intended to teach the Mende language to non-Mende speaking individuals and also Mende speaking individuals who wish to learn how to read and write the Mende language.

The book is divided into chapters of everyday language:  greetings, counting, days of the week, months and seasons of the year, etc.  Each chapter has an extensive vocabulary, followed by simple sentences.

A tape to accompany the book will be available in the near future, and we are confident that the book, together with the tape will make reading, writing and speaking the Mende language an easy learning experience.  The tape will help with the pronunciation of words, which will make it ideal for teaching children and adults alike.  It will also help lay the foundation for understanding the advanced form of the Mende language which will be presented in the other books in the series.

Please contact us at mendeproject@aol.com if you wish to purchase the tape.

Frederick K. Bayon is the eldest child of a Kor-Mende chief from Lalehun, Kovoma, Sierra Leone.  His first experience with writing the Mende language was when he served as apprentice printer for the Provincial Literature Bureau (Bunumbu Press), Bo.  As a State Certified Professional Geologist, Mr Bayon is an environmental scientist with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Dr. Amos J. Carpenter is a Professor of Mathematics and Computer Sciences at Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana.  He is a Mende, born in Mattru, near Bo, Sierra Leone.

Mrs. Della P. Carpenter is Vice President of a computer company in Indianapolis, Indiana.  She spent thirteen years in Sierra Leone, where she taught in several high schools in Freetown.  She was born in Harrogate, England.

Dr. Joseph A. Williams is a Senior Design Engineer with the Research and Development division of the Firestone Industrial Products Company in Carmel, Indiana.  He is a Sherbro-Mende from Mattru Jong, Sierra Leone.