Arabic Script Resources

Wolof language Arabic script materials

An important method of communication in Senegal

The booklets are just right for doing Discovery Bible Studies. With these books you can have a mixed group of Arabic-script readers, Roman-script readers, and purely oral learners. For more on Discovery Bible Studies, see the Contagious Disciple Making site, and get the English, French, and Wolof how-to’s here.

The booklets are formatted for printing on A4 size paper. The printed booklet folds so that whichever script you are most comfortable reading faces front. Jump to the chronological set using the buttons below to choose a booklet or grab all the booklets at once. Directions for printing are at the bottom of this page.

The text of the booklets is from the WorldVenture translation of the Bible. The booklets contain extracts of the published Wolofal versions of the Scriptures, which contain the entirety of the text of those books. Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, and a one-volume Luke & Acts are available. For more information on obtaining these books, email me. 

Pronunciation guides

• National standardization means greater possibilities for sharing: As the government alphabet becomes more widely used, it will enable people from all over Senegal to read works published in any region.
• Differentiated vowel sounds: Regional styles use a few vowels to stand for all, so an a is pressed into service for a as well as à, the character used for e is used for e as well as é, and the character used for o is used for o, ó, and u. The context determines the sound in each of these cases, but the government system has a different mark for each of these vowels, so is less ambiguous for the reader.
• Elimination of consonant combination letters: Regional styles use locally-defined single letters to stand in for Roman script consonant combinations like ng, nj, mb, mp, etc. The government style uses the consonants themselves, so is easier for new readers who have only learned Arabic and not learned the locally-defined letters.

Although most readers read a regional variant of Wolofal, it takes most readers just a few minutes of coaching to pick up and appreciate the government system. This booklet explains in Wolofal the rationale behind the government writing system and introduces the new characters. It is in both Wolof and Wolofal, which enables those who read both to choose which to read. In addition, it enables Roman script reading friends to be able to read along if necessary to help Arabic script reading friends make sense of the new characters.

Chronological set

Download the whole chronological set at once here (60 Mb) or download just the ones you need below.

Other booklets

These are from different ministry related needs – if you need a portion transliterated let me know. 

Printing the booklets

Now it’s on to printing. It is very important for Arabic-script readers to have materials printed on pastel colored paper rather than bright white, which is too hard to read in bright sun. Many paper stores sell pastel-colored paper at very close to the same cost as white paper.