The Foreign Service Journal - November 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2017 53 Corrinne Callins is the daughter of FSO David Callins, who currently serves in Dubai. Her first book, A Day in the Life of a Shoe , which told the story of the Little Rock Nine for children ages 4 to 8, was featured in the November 2016 FSJ . Contact www.callicopress.com to order a copy. Swahili in One Week Adam J. Weise and Sayi Michael, CreateSpace, 2017, $7.50/paperback, 100 pages. Many language textbooks are full of unnec- essary information, or simply list words and the path to fluency by teaching the funda- mentals of the language, which they can then use as a base for future learning. Divided into seven days’ worth of subjects and practice exer- cises, the book includes Swahili-English and English-Swahili dic- tionaries. The goal is to give the reader with no prior knowledge of Swahili the ability to manage basic exchanges—and, more importantly, an understanding of the language upon which they can quickly build to become a proficient speaker. This is why Adam J. Weise consistently uses literal translations. By knowing that “habari yako,” for instance, actually means “news your,” not “How are you?”—the usual, non-literal translation—language learners add two unique words, plus the phrase itself, to their vocabulary. All proceeds from this book will go to two Tanzanian chari- ties: House of Blue Hope and AVC Tanzania. Adam J. Weise has been a member of the Foreign Service since 2012. Prior to becoming a diplomat, he lived in Dar es Salaam, where he worked for House of Blue Hope, a nongovern- mental organization that helps vulnerable children break the cycle of poverty through education. There he studied under Sayi Michael of the Swahili Dar Language School. Weise is also a co- founder of Ex Fabula, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based nonprofit committed to strengthening community bonds through the art of storytelling. Q