Three Ways to Learn Yorùbá. Which One is Yours?

I decided to learn Yoruba to deepen my connection to my culture and engage more meaningfully with my community. The classes were engaging and interactive, creating a supportive environment where I felt comfortable practicing and making mistakes. Over time, I noticed increased confidence in my presence around friends and family within the culture. Each class motivated me to keep going as I became more familiar and comfortable in my communication. I would highly recommend Àwùjọ to anyone looking for a practical, encouraging, and community-centered approach to learning Yoruba.

I grew up as an Indian in Lagos, Nigeria, surrounded by Yoruba people and culture. As years passed, I came to realize that I would be doing myself a disservice if I never learned the language of the place that raised me. Lessons were structured, but they felt like a conversation rather than a "lecture on Yoruba." This (sort of) forces you to speak the language, and not just understand it, which is what I loved about the classes. I recommend Àwùjọ to anyone who is serious about learning, but doesn’t know where to start. The first time I noticed progress was when I kinda started to understand Asake's lyrics. I am still very early in my journey, but I am grateful for Àwùjọ to have kickstarted it.

I recommend Àwùjọ to any and everyone who wants to speak the poetry known as the Yoruba language. I have been on a mission to become more fluent in Yoruba for now a majority of my life but have not been able to successfully find a professional, affordable and accessible program such as this. From the instructors to the organizers a safe space to learn Yoruba is created, you can feel the passion for students’ advancement and it feels wonderful and comfortable

Taking Yoruba language learning classes with Àwùjọ was exactly what I needed. I was looking for small groups lessons and with a teacher who could explain the reasoning of the language instead of just offering rote memorization. I’ve taken many classes where the instructors were simply people who spoke Yoruba but weren’t necessarily experienced *teaching* Yoruba- with the Àwùjọ instructors the difference was immediately apparent. Understanding the “why” behind particular sentence constructs and word choices went a long way in making the language more accessible for me. Would highly recommend for anyone interested in learning regardless of level!

I really wanted to learn Yoruba to connect with my roots and finally be able to chat with my grandparents. Àwùjọ created such a welcoming, no-judgment space to learn alongside peers, and I loved how we brought culture into the lessons, even breaking down Asake lyrics to understand the Yoruba behind songs I already knew! I grew up understanding Yoruba pretty well, but practicing the tones helped me progress to the point where I traveled to Nigeria and actually spoke with my grandma in Yoruba, which was a huge, full-circle moment for me. I’d highly recommend Àwùjọ to anyone looking to bridge the generational gap and confidently speak Yoruba with their own family.