ASA 2006 Conference Report

The 49th African Studies Association Annual Conference

November 16 – 19, 2006 , San Francisco, CA

Matthew H. Brown and Andrew Gurstelle represented the National African Language Resource Center at the 49 th African Studies Association annual conference, held in beautiful downtown San Francisco at the Westin St. Francis hotel from November 16-19. This year's conference theme of " (Re) Thinking Africa and the World: Internal Reflections, External Responses" struck a chord with the NALRC's commitment to connecting the world to Africa through language, and we were pleased to again attend this wonderful event.

Matthew and Andrew arrived in San Francisco late Wednesday, and set up the NALRC display booth early Thursday morning, the first day of the conference. The popular language brochures were back, much to the delight of conference goers. The entire "Let's Speak" textbook series was on display too, including the new titles: "A Re Beung Setswana", "Ngatitaure Shona", and "Ma Yenka Akan (Twi)". The "Learners' Reference Grammar" series was also on hand, including the new "Amharic Learners' Reference Grammar".

The items on display included:

A Re Bueng Setswana (Let's Speak Setswana)
African Language Program Development and Administration
Amharic Learners' Reference Grammar
Asante-Twi Learners' Reference Grammar
Bamanakan Learners' Reference Grammar
Dardasha Egyptian Arabic and CD (Let's Speak Egyptian Arabic)
Fliers for NALRC publications
JALTA Vol. 6-7
Je Ka Gbo Yoruba CDROM
Je Ka Ka Yoruba CDROM
Je Ka Ka Yoruba Textbook
Je Ka So Yoruba CDROM
Je Ka So Yoruba Textbook
Journal of NCOLCTL Vol. 1-3
Language Brochures (29): Amharic, Arabic, Bamana, Bemba, Chichewa, Hausa, Igbo, Isixhosa, Kikongo, Kikuyu, Kinyarwanda, Kpelle, Krio, Lingala, Luganda, Malagasy, Mende, Oromo, Pulaar, Sesotho, Setswana, Shona, Somali, Swahili, Temne, Tigrinya, Twi, Wolof, and Yoruba
Learn African Languages Poster
Let's Speak Amharic
Ma Yenka Akan (Twi) (Let's Speak Akan)
Masikhulume IsiZulu (Let's Speak Zulu)
Mwalimu wa Kiswahili
NALRC Brochures
NALRC T-shirts
NCOLCTL 2007 Posters
Ngatitaure Shona (Let's Speak Shona)
Pens of different colors
Pulaar Learners' Reference Grammar
Role Play Cards
Shona Learners' Reference Grammar
The Pedagogy of African Languages
Tosolola na Lingala (Let's Speak Lingala)
Tuseme Kiswahili and CD (Let's Speak Swahili)
ULIMI Fall 2006 Bulletin
Zulu Learners' Reference Grammar
Each day, Matthew and Andrew had the opportunity to speak with the hundreds of professors, researchers, and scholars that filtered through the exhibition hall. Comments ranged from astonishment of the number of language materials produced, to excitement over producing new materials for the NALRC, to welcomed critiques on how the NALRC might improve the quality of publications. Many conference goers interested in the recent activities of the NALRC took a copy of the ULIMI (the NALRC bulletin) with them.

Both Matthew and Andrew had the opportunity to attend a few panels throughout the conference. They also were able to enjoy ASA's "Video Marketplace" and the spectacular Saturday night ASA dance party. The conference was a huge success, and the NALRC look forward to attending the upcoming 50 th African Studies Association annual conference in New York!