FSI Lingala Basic Course

Lingala was originally the trade language of a group of Bantu speaking peoples who lived along the bend of the Congo River. With the arrival of European colonialism, its use as a lingua franca expanded, and it became the local language of administration.

Like most other languages in the region, it is tonal, but compared to many other Bantu languages, it is much simplified and somewhat easier to pick up.

Lingala is estimated to have up to 15 million native speakers, and it is thought to be spoken by a further 25 million people as a second language, making it a useful tongue to know for communication in the Congo region.

As a language that is not commonly studied, very few materials exist for learning it. For this reason, this free Lingala course is one of the only resources to turn to for anyone who is interested in studying it.

Course Details

What is the FSI Lingala Basic Course?

This FSI Lingala course was first published in 1963 and aims to give students the kind of grounding in the language that is required for basic communication in the region where it is spoken.

The course consists of 24 units based on dialogs that present the new language followed by drills and exercises for practice. Each unit is accompanied by audio recordings that also allow you to work on your pronunciation.

How was FSI Lingala Basic originally used?

FSI Lingala was originally developed for US diplomatic staff who were preparing for postings in the Congo region. They took around six hours of classes per day, which was followed by a further two hours of personal study. In class, they spoke only Lingala, and even in their free time, they were encouraged to use the language among themselves.

In such conditions, they were able to acquire a basic mastery of the language in a relatively short amount of time.

How can you use FSI Lingala Basic?

Although you are unlikely to be able to recreate anything like the environment enjoyed by US diplomats, you can still use this free online Lingala course to help you acquire a good level of proficiency in the language.

Since there are few other materials available to study this language, you will probably be relying on this course as your primary source of language input.

By working through the dialogs and using the drills for practice, you will quickly be able to pick up the basics, especially if you can supplement your learning with any other resources you have available.

Taking it further

Student Text

Unit	Audio
Unit 01	Tape
Unit 02	Tape
Unit 03	Tape
Unit 04	Tape
Unit 05	Tape
Unit 06	Tape
Unit 07	Tape
Unit 08	Tape
Unit 09	Tape
Unit 10	Tape
Unit 11	Tape
Unit 12	Tape
Unit 13	Tape
Unit 14	Tape
Unit 15	Tape
Unit 16	Tape
Unit 17	Tape
Unit 18	Tape
Unit 19	Tape
Unit 20	Tape
Unit 21	Tape
Unit 22	Tape
Unit 23	Tape
Unit 24	Tape