Peace Corps Tetun Language Lessons

COURSE OVERVIEW
What type of Tetun does this book teach? Our aim is to teach you to understand Tetun as it is spoken in Dili and in all other areas where it is a lingua franca, and to speak it in a way which is widely acceptable. In addition to everyday casual Tetun, you will learn many Portuguese loans and some constructions which are appropriate to formal situations such as meetings, even though they are not used much in conversation. You will also learn some common Indonesian loans, which are marked with =(I)' in the wordlists. It is widely considered inappropriate to mix Indonesian with Tetun in formal contexts and in writing; nevertheless you will inevitably hear many Indonesian loans, and so need to at least understand them. This textbook does not teach liturgical Tetun, which is much more influenced by Tetun Terik than everyday spoken Tetun is, and which many Timorese hold up as a model for refined public speech.

This book was primarily designed for use in class, by people living in Timor. As such it does not include exercises, and omits many names for everyday things such as animals and household items, which you can either pick up in the community or learn from a dictionary. Word-finder, the pocket dictionary written to accompany the book, can be bought in book form or downloaded from www.tetundit.tl. A larger interactive dictionary is available from the same site.

PROGRAMS THAT USED THIS LANGUAGE
Indonesia: 1963-1965, 2010-present
East Timur: 2002-2006 (Currently Suspended)

PROGRAM SECTORS
East Timur: Local Governance Promotion, Community Health Services Planning
Indonesia: English Education

Tetum is an Austronesian language spoken on the island of Timor. It is spoken in Belu Regency in Indonesian West Timor, and across the border in East Timor, where it is one of the two official languages.

In East Timor a creolized form, Tetun Dili, is widely spoken fluently as a second language; without previous contact, Tetum and Tetun Dili are not mutually intelligible.Besides the grammatical simplification involved in creolization, Tetun Dili has been greatly influenced by the vocabulary of Portuguese, the other official language of East Timor.

Tetum Tetun is spoken in: East Timor

Tetum Tetun has no known alternate names.