There are numerous tables of Amharic characters available online that you can use to practice the characters. The US Library of Congress has a complete table with pronunciation of each syllabic character available at https://www. loc. gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/amharic. pdf. You can also use a website such as http://amharicteacher. com/hahu/, which provides the shape of the character as well as its pronunciation, if you click on the character.

To learn how to write Amharic, practice each of the characters repeatedly until your writing becomes automatic. As you progress, remember to go back and review the characters you’ve already learned periodically.

Some of the characters float between the lines, touching neither the top or bottom. Others extend to the top and bottom lines. Looking at the characters on the chart will help you determine where they should be placed within the lines.

For example, the first character you’ll likely learn to form is the ha character: ሀ. Start at the top, make a downward stroke, then make the second downward stroke curving around to connect to the first. This method is preferred to simply using a single, curving stroke, as you would if you were writing the English letter U. Practicing with downward strokes will help you to write more quickly. Break down each character into pieces that can be formed using downward strokes.

There are 33 characters in the first order. Break them up into smaller groups of 5 to 10 characters for practice. Each day, repeat the first characters you’ve learned so that you gradually build your knowledge of fidäl characters.

For example, you form characters in the second order by adding a hooked dash to the center of the right side of the first order character. Thus, ሀ (ha) becomes ሁ (hu). As you progress through the characters, you’ll note that some syllables are represented by 2 or 3 different characters. These characters are relatively interchangeable in Amharic. While there may be a specific spelling that is more commonly used, alternative spellings would be understood. Set aside 10-15 minutes each day to practice forming characters. At the beginning of your practice session, write each of the first order characters. Then proceed to the order you’re currently working on, and repeat the characters several times.

The first-person singular pronoun in Amharic is እኔ (pronounced eh-neh). For third-person singular, use እሱ (pronounced eh-soo) for he and እሷ (pronounced eh-swah) for she. The second-person pronoun, አንተ (pronounced ehnteh), can be either singular or plural. For plural pronouns, use እኛ (pronounced ehnyuh) for we and እነሱ (pronounced eh-neh-soo) for they.

For example, the Amharic word for sofa is ሶፋ. It is a loan word from English, and is pronounced the same way in Amharic as it is in English. The Amharic word for house is ቤት (pronounced beht). This word is also used to mean “room’ in Amharic. So, for example, bedroom is መኝታ ቤት (pronounced meñtabet), and livingroom is መኖርያ ቤት (pronounced menoryabet). You can find a list of Amharic words for common items around the house at http://amharicteacher. com/home/.

You can find a list of Amharic words for kitchen items at http://amharicteacher. com/kitchen/. The same website also has lists for items of clothing, fruits and vegetables, and other categories.

There is a list of Amharic animal words with pictures of the animals and sound files for each word available at http://amharicteacher. com/animals/. Some Amharic words for animals sound similar to the English name for that animal. For example, the Amharic word for camel is ግመል (pronounced geh-mehl).

In colloquial or common spoken usage, you may also encounter object-subject-verb word order. However, the object always comes before the verb. Personal pronouns typically are dropped from the sentence. The subject is assumed from the conjugation of the verb.

When typing in Amharic, many writers simply place spaces between the words rather than using “፡” as a word separation symbol.

The symbol “።” is used to indicate a period or full stop at the end of a sentence. The symbol “፧” is used to indicate a question mark, although an English-style question mark may also be used. The symbol “፣” is used for a comma, while “፤” is a semi-colon and “፥” is a colon. These punctuation marks are all composed of 2 dots, like an English colon. The difference depends on where the straight line is placed (or 2 lines, in the case of a semi-colon).

If you live near a university, find out if the university teaches Amharic or has an Amharic interest club. There will probably also be Amharic native speakers in Ethiopian student groups. If there’s an Ethiopian restaurant near you, ask the owners if they know anyone who would like to write to you so you can practice your Amharic.

Many computers come with Ethiopic fonts pre-installed. However, for older computers you may have to download fonts or extensions to read or type in Amharic. The Senamirmir Project offers free downloads of Ethiopic fonts at http://senamirmir. com/projects/typography/typeface. html. You can also download free font packages for your smart phone using your phone’s app store.