'Hassaniya Stories' 3-part Hassaniya Course with audio

 

 

This course has 59 interesting stories, 47 of which have accompanying recordings by the author. 

 

There are an English/Hassaniya, Spanish/Hassaniya and Portuguese/Hassaniya version of Book 1 (Lessons 1-19) which have the text and some questions written in Arabic characters, followed by vocabulary lists in their respective langauges.

 

There is only an English/Hassaniya version of Book 2 (Lessons 20-40).

 

Book 3 is only the Hassaniya with no vocabulary lists (Lessons 41-59).

The books require being able to read Arabic script or to have a native speaker accompany you.

 

You can find all of the downloads here, or if you just want the English this zip file has everything in it.

 

I know where to find the original document files if anyone wants to complete books 2 & 3 with vocabulary lists in whichever language.

Mauritanian TV

A friend of mine sent me links to these Mauritanian productions on Youtube that are in Hassaniya, separated into a few different categories. These aren't teaching resources, but could be used with a native speaker to access a wider vocabulary and increase listening abiltiy. There are often far more episodes than are listed here - try searching for the title in Arabic script to find more episodes.

Often news and educational materials use a higher register with more classical or standard Arabic vocabulary or forms. In some ways, therefore, they aren't in Hassaniya, but also that's how Hassaniya works so part of gaining fluency in Hassaniya is learning how to switch to the higher register in formal, religious or scientific discussion.

Comedies:

 يوميات اسرة Yawmiyyaat usra

 ورطة في ورطة Warta vii warta

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_olj-g1KxVlXQ1w5zanaIvl3pd6VzscM دارنا Daarna

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVPDpkZx26eaLmVlJVAdLX3_e0k6mArwd المدرك بليام عريان Al-midarrak b l-ayyaam ʕaryaan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3iWg1-BA2E حياتنا Hayaatna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zVt0oJISI4 أحلام مواطن Ahlaam muwaatin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX6-H-dJ_WI مول البوتيڮ Muul il-buutiig

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoJqiPbGqPH3OtpoyjGMh0DLFCcQSmUvo الجار سابڮ الدار Ij-jaar saabig id-daar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgGzzpPMQPc حطاب الدشرة Hattaab id-dashra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPSaTGJITGg شيف وڮوص Chef et Gosse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMP4p_g5Qzc دار اعمر Daar Amar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP0TdYxwucI امخيطرات Mkhaytraat

Drama:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVcc4MZIRDmCbli-cR_LoStVZPIaOesXV الطافلات Taavilaat

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVcc4MZIRDmAd9rVNkq8VS3X42kFUsq1K منت الناس Mint in-naas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6bm7hSMuZA المرأة وطن آخر Al-mar'a watan aaxar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo4g440e_zQ حوت الا يبلع حوت Huut illaa yablaʕ huut (saison 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_8cV1gwzDc حوت الا يبلع حوت Huut illaa yablaʕ huut (saison 2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viZdTQTDxDU الواعرى Il-waaʕra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HsnEs59Lfs قلوب وجيوب Quluub wa juyuub

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoJqiPbGqPH3nGywfrdKc9ZzrScQdQMAV زينب Zeinabou

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do0ATp_fAUM التنقيب والتشغليب It-tanqiib u t-tashghaliib

Educational/Documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVcc4MZIRDmAi3PI0ADmXoWiyOglbw-1N التغذية Nutrition

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoJqiPbGqPH2OaddhGKoKzV3VxjPf6ByU الطريق إلى تيشيت At-Tariiq ilaa Tiishiit

News:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVcc4MZIRDmBgkXKk_tdwLSAu2Qop4Gbe مساء الخير Masaa al-khayr (entretiens)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVcc4MZIRDmAVnmhXMV0TOkaMlxYonzT3 حوار Hiwaar

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVcc4MZIRDmDrbarPF1DOtqkHeJQqYwsA لقاء الساحل Liqaa as-saahil (interviews with politicians)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVcc4MZIRDmAqpl3_oE5NeGEyYmVzR-an ڮبطة الشركة Gabdhat ish-sharka

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVcc4MZIRDmBd2x9cs8NEdUsp_y6ECVQ- نبض الملاعب Nabd al-malaa'ib (sport)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVcc4MZIRDmDe4mh5AXUx6ZGsJyog_AYj في الصميم Vii s-samiim

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVcc4MZIRDmB7e5ais_t4KUdGRmEgZKU9 اهتمامات Ihtimaamaat

Entertainment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmJ_a9zp-5Y بالك Baalak

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVPDpkZx26eaqSbXmXiHBYfqKBZUuhHUw مجرد سؤال Mujarrad su'aal

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVPDpkZx26eZGmcyhG_bHQV7h1_LSLUCo الشيباني Ish-shaybaani

Radio:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVcc4MZIRDmDoyrtGLiZjuJksYHRUIUgy صحراء توك Sahraa talk

 

CultureTalk Western Sahara

The 'Five College Center for World Languages' has a number of pages dedicated to the culture and language of Western Sahara, seperated into many topics with videos and transcripts. I was very excited to find this! Unfortunately they have now removed the landing page for Hassaniya, although the resources are still scattered across the site. This link shows the search results for Hassaniya on their site, so you can browse through the different topics.

My experience has primarily been with Mauritanian Hassaniya, but my understanding is that the differences in Saharawi Hassaniya only amount to a regional accent and vocabulary - almost identical to the Hassaniya in the north of Mauritania, if with a bit more Spanish, Moroccan and/or Algerian influence (where southern and eastern Mauritanian Hassaniya has been more influenced by West African languages and French).

'Mauritania is my country' @LearnHassaniya on Youtube

This youtube channel has a variety of Hassaniya teaching and explanation videos in English by a young Mauritanian, including discussions of pop songs in Hassaniya and traditional proverbs. It seems far more recent than many of the other resources listed here, and, as of yesterday, he is still adding content!

Christian Literature in Hassaniya

There are a number of audio and video translations of Christian literature available at this webstie: https://www.kutubhassaniya.org/fr/bienvenue. The website itself is in French. 

But this would be for advanced learners of Hassaniya as there are no translations given. Some understanding could be gained from the context in the films, especially if you're familiar with the stories about Jesus. I suppose one could also track along with the New Testament writings in an English Bible?

In any case, there are so few large works like this available in Hassaniya, they may prove a valuable resource in learning the language.

English-Hassaniya Dictionary

This English-Hassaniya Dictionary can be downloaded from  https://archive.org/details/eng-hass-dict-a-z. The Hassaniya is typed in Latin characters but someone has also handwritten it in Arabic characters . If used digitally one can search the document for the English word.

Newer Peace Corps Manuals

Jay Davidson, who worked with the Peace Corps in Nouakchott from 2003-2005, revised/produced this very insightful introduction to Mauritanian culture and cultural adaptation guide. His website is no longer active, but I made a pdf from his original you can download here.

There's also a newer Peace Corps 'Language Component' available on ResearchGate here. Here's an alternative link if you find it difficult to download using their site (as I did).

Mauritanian Arabic - Older Peace Corps manuals

If you're looking for an introduction in Hassaniya basics, the U.S. Peace Corps covered Hassaniya basics in their traditional style language course which is now freely available online. You can find all of the older manuals on archive.org by clicking here. There are descriptions of each on their respective pages.

My personal favourite is the 'Communication and Culture Handbook' which contains good guidance to help one begin to fit in better!
Here's a snippet:

Livelingua.com have also made a webpage for the Peace Corps manuals. Added are 10 intro audio lessons that go with their first pdf 'Hassaniya Language Lessons', but their page is missing the  'Communication and Culture Handbook' cited above. Click here to go to the Live Lingua Mauritanian Arabic page

The pdf manuals are as follows:

• Hassaniya Language Lessons (only on Live Lingua with matching audio for the 10 short lessons)
• Mauritanian Arabic Primer
• Mauritanian Arabic Grammer
• Mauritanian Arabic Teacher's Handbook (Could be used to guide some initial lessons with a native speaker)
• Mauritanian Arabic Literacy
• Mauritanian Arabic Communication and Culture Handbook (only on archive.org)

41 Stories

A couple friends and I recently rerecorded the stories from this book '41 Short Stories About Life in Mauritania, Especially Life in Nouakchott' (PDF of the original notebook available here).

As stated on the archive.org description: 

"A book for intermediate learners of the Hassaniya Arabic dialect spoken primarily in Mauritania. It contains short stories and proverbs in Hassaniya written by Kaber ould Beye and English translations by Dave Penney."

 

Here's the link to the recordings of the Hassaniya text read by my Mauritanian friends Thami ould Sheik (stories 1-21) and Lebatt Elbachir (stories 22-41): 41 Stories Recordings

Neither the book nor the recordings are without error, but I tried to edit the recordings to make them as useful as possible for an intermediate learner. Some are read very quickly!

Story 11 in Hassaniya and Englsih