Tigrayans are a minority ethnic group who were denied the right to speak their language under repressive regimes. This was done to erase the indigenous community in forced assimilation projects. An important aspect of our community work is teaching Tigrinya language classes. The classes focus on conversational language as well as written language. Tigrinya is one of few surviving languages that has its own distinct script known as Ge’ez alphabet. We host weekly classes for children and adults, and the classes are taught by elders in our community.
Children acquire language skills through interaction – not only with their parents and other adults, but also with other children of their age.