As illustrated in this verse, the Malagasy language always had a strong tradition of oral expression. Kabary (lengthy speeches) are often given before any important familial or social events. However, ...

Foreigners rarely make the effort to learn Madagascar’s native language, preferring instead to get by with French. But with plans to live here for the next two years, there’s no escaping the ...

Most of Madagascar’s inhabitants are thought to be originally from Asia and Africa, but mainly from Malayo-Polynesia. As a result, the island’s language and its culture have been partly ...

Despite the island’s proximity to southern Africa, some anthropologists believe it was ethnic Indonesians who first settled Madagascar 1500-2000 years ago. The language of Madagascar ...

Further new arrivals, Bantus, came from continental Africa and around 1,000AD the Malagasy and Bantus mixed with Indians and people from Arabic countries. The Malagasy language became the de facto ...

It especially helps if you know some French, the official language (along with Malagasy) of this once recalcitrant, currently ambivalent, former colony of France. Even in Madagascar, you cannot ...