Soninke language – Mali

The Soninke language, also known as Serakhulle or Azer is a Mande language spoken by the Soninke people of Africa. The language has an estimated 2.1 million speakers, primarily located in Mali, and also (in order of numerical importance of the communities) in Senegal, Ivory Coast, The Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Ghana. It enjoys the status of a national language in Mali, Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania. The language is relatively homogeneous, with only slight phonological, lexical, and grammatical variations. Linguistically, its nearest relatives is the Bozo language, which is centered on the Inner Niger Delta. It is possible that the language of the Imraguen people and/or the Nemadi dialect are dialects of, or closely related to, Soninke.

Source : Wikipedia

I AM is a project created by the Free Spirit Foundation. Through the ‘I AM’ project, we amplify the voice of nature in all the world languages. We also preserve the endangered languages and cultures by revealing their beauty. People across the globe translate, read and record the same message (the voice of nature : the forest, the ocean, the earth, the sky and the animals) in their native dialect.

Bandiougou DRAME was born in the region of Kayes in Mali. He is a teacher and a writer too (writing in the soninke language). He is also a coordinator at the Société Internationale de Linguistique (SIL) in Mali.