Coleman Donaldson
@donaldsoncd.bsky.social
Linguistic anthropologist. Speaks and teaches Manding (AKA Bambara, Dioula and Malinké) via "An ka taa".
I’ll be teaching a small set of live online Bambara/Jula courses starting in Feb:
- Beginner – Wed, 14h30 Paris / 8:30am ET
- Adv. Beginner – Wed, 17h Paris / 11am ET
- Adv. Beginner Conversation – Wed, 19h Paris / 1pm ET
Interested? Let me know!
- Beginner – Wed, 14h30 Paris / 8:30am ET
- Adv. Beginner – Wed, 17h Paris / 11am ET
- Adv. Beginner Conversation – Wed, 19h Paris / 1pm ET
Interested? Let me know!
January 29, 2026 at 2:11 PM
I’ll be teaching a small set of live online Bambara/Jula courses starting in Feb:
- Beginner – Wed, 14h30 Paris / 8:30am ET
- Adv. Beginner – Wed, 17h Paris / 11am ET
- Adv. Beginner Conversation – Wed, 19h Paris / 1pm ET
Interested? Let me know!
- Beginner – Wed, 14h30 Paris / 8:30am ET
- Adv. Beginner – Wed, 17h Paris / 11am ET
- Adv. Beginner Conversation – Wed, 19h Paris / 1pm ET
Interested? Let me know!
I put together a new AKT corpus for myself! It's got ~5 hours of spoken Bambara/Jula, with 210+ speakers across 30 "An ka taa" videos. That's 6.5k subtitle units which break down into 75k+ word & punctuation tokens :-)
January 21, 2026 at 3:51 PM
I put together a new AKT corpus for myself! It's got ~5 hours of spoken Bambara/Jula, with 210+ speakers across 30 "An ka taa" videos. That's 6.5k subtitle units which break down into 75k+ word & punctuation tokens :-)
Over 1,600 people used the Bambara/Dioula-English-French dictionary more than 2,300 times last month!
The top English search terms were:
1. hairy
2. fog
3. life
4. love
5. find
You can use it too! It's free!
dictionary.ankataa.com
The top English search terms were:
1. hairy
2. fog
3. life
4. love
5. find
You can use it too! It's free!
dictionary.ankataa.com
January 19, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Over 1,600 people used the Bambara/Dioula-English-French dictionary more than 2,300 times last month!
The top English search terms were:
1. hairy
2. fog
3. life
4. love
5. find
You can use it too! It's free!
dictionary.ankataa.com
The top English search terms were:
1. hairy
2. fog
3. life
4. love
5. find
You can use it too! It's free!
dictionary.ankataa.com
The Bambara/Dioula-English-French dictionary was used by over 1,200 people last month. The top English search terms were:
1. hairy
2. bridge
3. food
4. red
5. last name
1. hairy
2. bridge
3. food
4. red
5. last name
December 26, 2025 at 4:44 PM
The Bambara/Dioula-English-French dictionary was used by over 1,200 people last month. The top English search terms were:
1. hairy
2. bridge
3. food
4. red
5. last name
1. hairy
2. bridge
3. food
4. red
5. last name
A student asked me about Bambara language films with subtitles so I did a little write-up :-)
www.ankataa.com/blog/2025/12...
www.ankataa.com/blog/2025/12...
Manding Language Movies with Subtitles — An ka taa
A list of Bambara, Dioula and Malinké language movies with subtitles in English in French.
www.ankataa.com
December 15, 2025 at 8:59 AM
A student asked me about Bambara language films with subtitles so I did a little write-up :-)
www.ankataa.com/blog/2025/12...
www.ankataa.com/blog/2025/12...
That feeling when the subtitles are finally laid down on a rough edit :-)
December 9, 2025 at 12:20 PM
That feeling when the subtitles are finally laid down on a rough edit :-)
It’s official! Preregistration is open for the Summer 2026 Immersion Program in Abidjan that I am co-organizing! One week of Bambara/Jula classes, field activities, and homestay learning :-)
www.ankataa.com/abidjan-imme...
www.ankataa.com/abidjan-imme...
November 5, 2025 at 1:01 PM
It’s official! Preregistration is open for the Summer 2026 Immersion Program in Abidjan that I am co-organizing! One week of Bambara/Jula classes, field activities, and homestay learning :-)
www.ankataa.com/abidjan-imme...
www.ankataa.com/abidjan-imme...
I've been preparing something new for summer 2026 :-) Can you guess what it is?
A) Full length film in Bambara
B) Print dictionnary
C) Immersion program
D) My retirement
A) Full length film in Bambara
B) Print dictionnary
C) Immersion program
D) My retirement
October 29, 2025 at 11:39 AM
I've been preparing something new for summer 2026 :-) Can you guess what it is?
A) Full length film in Bambara
B) Print dictionnary
C) Immersion program
D) My retirement
A) Full length film in Bambara
B) Print dictionnary
C) Immersion program
D) My retirement
Finally wrote up a little short explainer about telling time "in Bambara" (which is to say, "in French" sometimes). Short version:
- Heure jumɛn bɛ yen?
What "heure" is there?
- "Trois heure" sera
"Trois heure" has arrived
- Heure jumɛn bɛ yen?
What "heure" is there?
- "Trois heure" sera
"Trois heure" has arrived
October 10, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Finally wrote up a little short explainer about telling time "in Bambara" (which is to say, "in French" sometimes). Short version:
- Heure jumɛn bɛ yen?
What "heure" is there?
- "Trois heure" sera
"Trois heure" has arrived
- Heure jumɛn bɛ yen?
What "heure" is there?
- "Trois heure" sera
"Trois heure" has arrived
Subtitles are laid down on the next "An ka taa" video :-)
September 18, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Subtitles are laid down on the next "An ka taa" video :-)
Happy to share two big updates to the "An ka taa" learning platform 🚀
September 11, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Happy to share two big updates to the "An ka taa" learning platform 🚀
Classes start next week! Sending out syllabi with first homework assignments this week 😬
September 8, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Classes start next week! Sending out syllabi with first homework assignments this week 😬
I ni ce!
The Bambara/Jula-English-Dictionary was used by 877 people last month :-)
The top English search terms were:
1. night
2. water
3. cute
4. professor
5. girl
The Bambara/Jula-English-Dictionary was used by 877 people last month :-)
The top English search terms were:
1. night
2. water
3. cute
4. professor
5. girl
August 18, 2025 at 2:19 PM
I ni ce!
The Bambara/Jula-English-Dictionary was used by 877 people last month :-)
The top English search terms were:
1. night
2. water
3. cute
4. professor
5. girl
The Bambara/Jula-English-Dictionary was used by 877 people last month :-)
The top English search terms were:
1. night
2. water
3. cute
4. professor
5. girl
Back from a month back at home in the US. Time to get ready for the fall semester and do a million other small online business things 🫡
August 18, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Back from a month back at home in the US. Time to get ready for the fall semester and do a million other small online business things 🫡
Aw ni ce! Friendly reminder (while on vacation 😴) that I am teaching live online Bambara/Jula courses for small groups of students this fall 🙂 There are still spots available! More info at ankataa.com/live-courses
August 1, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Aw ni ce! Friendly reminder (while on vacation 😴) that I am teaching live online Bambara/Jula courses for small groups of students this fall 🙂 There are still spots available! More info at ankataa.com/live-courses
I'm teaching a few small-group online Bambara/Jula language courses this fall :-) Registration is open now if you're interested: ankataa.com/live-courses
July 7, 2025 at 11:36 AM
I'm teaching a few small-group online Bambara/Jula language courses this fall :-) Registration is open now if you're interested: ankataa.com/live-courses
Who else got a marketing email form the Social Security Adminstration today? 😵💫
July 4, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Who else got a marketing email form the Social Security Adminstration today? 😵💫
Reposted by Coleman Donaldson
En 1904, deux savants se rencontrent à la mosquée al-Azhar du Caire, un lettré musulman du Borno, al-Hajj Musa et un linguiste amateur allemand, Rudolf Prietze, tous deux en Égypte pour poursuivre leurs études, ils collaboreront pendant dix ans produisant des centaines de pages de textes en kanouri.
June 30, 2025 at 6:27 PM
En 1904, deux savants se rencontrent à la mosquée al-Azhar du Caire, un lettré musulman du Borno, al-Hajj Musa et un linguiste amateur allemand, Rudolf Prietze, tous deux en Égypte pour poursuivre leurs études, ils collaboreront pendant dix ans produisant des centaines de pages de textes en kanouri.
Trying to come up with a course schedule for students at various levels, with various preferences, across various time zones 😵💫 I kind of want to give up and just propose what works for me, but it's the difference between 0 students and 3 students signing up 😭
June 30, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Trying to come up with a course schedule for students at various levels, with various preferences, across various time zones 😵💫 I kind of want to give up and just propose what works for me, but it's the difference between 0 students and 3 students signing up 😭
I'm teaching live online Bambara, Jula, and Maninka courses this Fall! These are cohort-based and mix self-paced homework with real-time sessions. Tell me what times work for you so I can build the schedule 🙂
forms.gle/qrAY3GX9bmKn...
forms.gle/qrAY3GX9bmKn...
Pre-Register: AKT Cohort Courses (Fall 2025)
This form is for pre-registering (expressing interest) in a live cohort-based course in Bambara/Jula or Maninka from An ka taa for the Fall 2025 semester.
The exact length and dates of each course are...
forms.gle
June 25, 2025 at 8:57 AM
I'm teaching live online Bambara, Jula, and Maninka courses this Fall! These are cohort-based and mix self-paced homework with real-time sessions. Tell me what times work for you so I can build the schedule 🙂
forms.gle/qrAY3GX9bmKn...
forms.gle/qrAY3GX9bmKn...
6 out of 7 AKT audience members say they wouldn't survive a gbaka ride 😂
May 20, 2025 at 9:03 AM
6 out of 7 AKT audience members say they wouldn't survive a gbaka ride 😂
Krass! Und in Hamburg :-)
We are hiring a dream team of doctoral and post-doctoral research fellows in applied sociolinguistics, education and related fields to work on "Linguistic Diversity and Social Participation across the Lifespan" @uni-hamburg.de
www.languageonthemove.com/hiring-a-dre...
www.languageonthemove.com/hiring-a-dre...
Hiring a dream team in linguistic diversity and social participation
Visit the post for more.
www.languageonthemove.com
May 14, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Krass! Und in Hamburg :-)
Reposted by Coleman Donaldson
I have a new blog post that tries to lay out just what is at stake with Trump's attempted fascist takeover of higher education. Check it out and share widely!
educationallinguist.wordpress.com/2025/05/13/t...
educationallinguist.wordpress.com/2025/05/13/t...
This Is How a Democracy Dies—One University at a Time
During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump didn’t exactly hide what he was planning. He said he’d take control of higher education—and in the 100+ days since his second inauguration, he’s been …
educationallinguist.wordpress.com
May 13, 2025 at 10:16 PM
I have a new blog post that tries to lay out just what is at stake with Trump's attempted fascist takeover of higher education. Check it out and share widely!
educationallinguist.wordpress.com/2025/05/13/t...
educationallinguist.wordpress.com/2025/05/13/t...
I just released a new "Na baro kè" episode: Getting Around Abidjan. It’s all about wôrô-wôrôs, gbakas, taxis, and buses—what people prefer and why. And it's all in Jula/Bambara with subtitles in English and French ;-)
youtu.be/LDI3-g9qH3g
youtu.be/LDI3-g9qH3g
Getting Around Abidjan: Wôrô-Wôrôs, Gbakas, Taxis & Buses | Na baro kè 21
YouTube video by An ka taa
youtu.be
April 30, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I just released a new "Na baro kè" episode: Getting Around Abidjan. It’s all about wôrô-wôrôs, gbakas, taxis, and buses—what people prefer and why. And it's all in Jula/Bambara with subtitles in English and French ;-)
youtu.be/LDI3-g9qH3g
youtu.be/LDI3-g9qH3g