how to write a speech in shona

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How to Speak Shona

Last Updated: July 12, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD . Jennifer Mueller is a wikiHow Content Creator. She specializes in reviewing, fact-checking, and evaluating wikiHow's content to ensure thoroughness and accuracy. Jennifer holds a JD from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2006. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 52,639 times. Learn more...

Shona is primarily spoken in Zimbabwe, with additional Shona speakers in Zambia, Mozambique, and Botswana. Whether you're planning a trip to Zimbabwe or simply want to talk to a friend or family member in their native language, learning to speak Shona is not difficult. Because the language is phonetic, start by learning how to pronounce the alphabet. Then, you'll be able to pronounce any word you see correctly, as well as correctly spell any word you hear, even if you don't know what the word means. Once you have a handle on the alphabet, you can start having basic conversations. Uve nemhanza yakanaka! (Good luck!) [1] X Research source

Things You Should Know

• Learn to pronounce the 5 Shona vowels and pronounce consonants as you would in English—but practice the trickier consonant combinations.
• Study basic greetings, friendly questions, polite words, and learn how to introduce yourself so you can carry a basic conversation in Shona.
• Expand your vocabulary by labeling items around your home in Shona, listening to Shona music, and finding ways to hear native speakers talk.

Pronouncing Shona Words

• The letter "A" makes an "ah" sound, similar to the "a" in the English word "father."
• The letter "E" makes an "eh" sound, similar to the "ay" in the English word "say."
• The letter "I" makes an "ee" sound, similar to the "ee" in the English word "see."
• The letter "O" makes an "oh" sound, similar to the "o" in the English word "so."
• The letter "U" makes an "oo" sound, similar to the "oo" in the English word "doom."

Tip: There are no silent letters or diphthongs in Shona. When you see 2 vowels side by side in a Shona word, pronounce each vowel separately. For example, the word "kuudza" (meaning "to tell") is pronounced "koo-oo-dza."

• To pronounce a breathy consonant, breathe out a little, almost like a sigh, as you say the letter, similar to how you would pronounce the "h" in the English word "behind."
• Breathy consonants in Shona are represented by an "h" after the initial consonant: "bh," "ch," "dh," "mh," and "vh."
• Most Shona dialects, as well as "Standard Shona," do not use the "L" sound, except in loan words.

• For example, the combination "dz" might give you trouble, especially if your first language is English.
• The combinations "zv" and "sv" are properly pronounced with something like a whistle. This is a sound unique to the Shona language, and can also be difficult if you speak English or a European language as your first language. Listen to native speakers to get a better idea of how these combinations sound. [4] X Research source
• If you come across a word with a consonant combination that you have difficulty pronouncing, look online for a recording of a native speaker saying the word slowly. Practice saying the word, gradually speeding up your speech until you can pronounce it correctly. Forvo ( https://forvo.com/languages/sn/ ) is a good place to find native speaker pronunciations of words.

• For example, the word "vakadzi" means "women" in Shona. You can break this word down into 3 syllables: va-ka-dzi.
• All syllables carry the same stress in a Shona word, and the vowels always sound the same. Therefore, a word such as "vakadzi" would be pronounced "vah-kah-dzee."

• For example, the word "hama," spoken with two high tones, means "relative." However, if you use a high tone with the first syllable and a low tone with the second syllable, the word means "hammer."
• In longer words with 4 or more syllables, tones have less significance. While tones may be used with longer words, getting the tones wrong will seldom change the meaning of the word.

Tip: Tones aren't indicated in written Shona. As you learn new words, listen to the word said by a native speaker and pay attention to how they say the word. Keep in mind that your use of tones can change the meaning of the word.

Having Basic Conversations

• With people your age or younger, especially friends, you can also use "hesi," which is a more casual way of saying "hi." [6] X Research source

Tip: Remember that the "h" in "mhoro" indicates a breath, rather than a hard "h" sound.

• Mangwanani: Good morning (reply: Mangwanani, marara sei?)
• Masikati: Good afternoon (reply: Masikati, master sei?)
• Manheru: Good evening (reply: Maswera sei?)

• The standard response to this question is "ndakasimba, waita hako," which means "I'm good, thanks." If you were the first person to ask, the person might also add "ko iwe?" which means "And you?"
• For example, if you're walking up to a counter at a restaurant to order food, you might say "Mhoro, wakadini?"

• After you introduce yourself, add "Unozani?" to ask them their name. When they tell you their name, you might say "ndafara kukuziva," which means "pleased to meet you."

• Une makore mangani? (How old are you?)
• Unobva kupi? (Where are you from?)
• Unogara kupi? (Where do you live?)
• Unoitei chinokuraramisa? (What do you do for a living?) Note that Zimbabweans consider it a point of pride to talk about their education and occupation, as these things are seen as a way to earn your respect. [11] X Research source

• Ndinokumbirawo (please)
• Waita zvako (thank you)
• Zvakanaka (reply to "thank you")
• Ndineurombo (sorry)
• Pamusoro (excuse me)

Expanding Your Vocabulary

• With this method, you'll come to think of the labeled items by their Shona word after a while. Once you've committed one group of items to memory, move on to another group.

Tip: Start with large objects and gradually get smaller. For example, you might label "bed" first, then move on to "blanket" or "pillow." You can also add phrases to describe the relationship of the small objects to the larger ones.

• On YouTube and music streaming services, you can also access current popular music in the Shona language.

• For example, if you speak English and Spanish, you might search for Shona speakers who want to learn either of those languages.
• Some platforms charge a subscription fee. However, most of them are free. Those which charge a subscription may offer additional options that aren't offered on free websites, such as the ability to have group chats or converse for longer periods of time.

Warning: Even though you are on a language exchange website, observe the same caution you would when talking to any other stranger on the internet. Be careful about revealing private or personal information to online language partners.

• Because you can listen to news, you may be able to pick up on what some of the words mean based on the context — particularly if they're discussing international events that you are already familiar with.

• Voice of America offers news stories written in Shona on https://www.voashona.com/z/3259 . You can also stream Voice of America radio broadcasts in Shona at https://www.voazimbabwe.com/z/4020 .
• If you can find news videos with accompanying transcripts, you can use them to practice both your reading and your listening comprehension.

Expert Q&A

• Control your emotions and be polite and respectful in public settings with Shona speakers, unless you know the people you're talking to very well. [16] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• When speaking to someone in Shona, avoid bringing up politics or making critical comments about Zimbabwe. This is often seen as impolite and offensive. [17] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Talking about unpleasant or negative topics is ordinarily seen as impolite by Shona speakers, particularly in public or in a social setting. [18] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.omniglot.com/writing/shona.php
• ↑ https://www.livelingua.com/fsi/FSI%20-%20Shona%20Basic%20Course%20-%20Student%20Text.pdf
• ↑ https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/shona.php
• ↑ http://ilanguages.org/shona_phrases.php
• ↑ https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/zimbabwean-culture/zimbabwean-culture-do-s-and-don-ts#zimbabwean-culture-do-s-and-don-ts
• ↑ http://learn101.org/shona_vocabulary.php
• ↑ https://mbira.org/what-is-mbira/mbira-music/shona-mbira-music/
• ↑ https://www.voashona.com/z/3259

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Shona Learning Resources

There are plenty of Shona learning resources available through the UW-Madison Libraries as well as the pedagogy library at the ACS Department, Van Hise.  There is also a lot of material online.

Examples of Online Resources include:

• Foreign Service Institute Shona Basic Course

While you can get this great resource in hard copy at the university’s libraries (Memorial Library and the ACS department’s pedagogy library), the online version is better since it comes with audio records of native Shona speakers, and you can practice pronunciation. You can get the online version at https://www.fsi-language-courses.org/fsi-shona-basic-course/ .

2. OLAC resources in and about the Shona language

These are resources under the Open Language Archives Community (OLAC) can be accessed at http://www.language-archives.org/language/sna . This rich archive includes primary texts such as the Shona Bible, lexical resources like dictionaries and languages descriptions where you can access linguistic analyses, grammars, etc.

3. YouTube channels 

There are several YouTube channels dedicated to learners of chiShona. For pronunciation, the Shona Tutor channel has a good introductory video that is good for practise at www.youtube. com /watch?v=bR_RGcbpNDM.   Another good channel is Ndawana and Friends at www.youtube.com/channel/UCHQ4wmVikQxYKDlRV9R8wTg where there are several topical videos.

4. News media in chiShona

There are online media resources such as VOA Studio 7 radio at www.voazimbabwe.com , VOA Shona TV at www.voashona.com , and o nline newspapers like Kwayedza at www.kwayedza.co.zw .

5. Omniglot.com

This site has several materials on Shona language. You can get a list of common phrases at https://omniglot.com/language/phrases/shona.php . The Shona alphabet and sample audio-visual text can be accessed at https://omniglot.com/writing/shona.php .

6. Online dictionaries

There are several online dictionaries such as http://talkingdictionary.swarthmore.edu/shona/?lang=sn. You can search vocabulary on this online dictionary and some of it is accompanied by audio by native speakers. Another searchable online dictionary is available at https://vashona.com/en/dictionary/sn/ .

wikihow.com/Speak-Shona is an excellent resource for a beginner. It gives a snapshot of the language, pronunciation, having basic conversations, and tips on expanding vocabulary.

8. Universe of Memory

You might need a website that has a list of a number of websites that will come in handy as you study chiShona, some of which we have already listed here and more. universeofmemory.com/shona-language-resources/ is an excellent database of links with resources on chiShona.

9. Learn101.com

Though there are numerous ads on this website that can be both annoying and distraction, once you close them, you will find that learn101.org/shona_phrases.php is an excellent resource for vocabulary, grammar and a bonus on tips to learn a new language that might work for you.

Useful texts on chiShona

There are many library texts such as:

• Berlyn, Phillippa. Easy Steps to Conversational Shona . Philips Rhodesian (PVT), 1980.

This small text is organized into 49 single-page lessons and focuses more on grammar than conversation

• Carter, Hazel. The Shona Language course, Books I, II and III . African Studies Program, University of Wisconsin, 1986.

This text consists of three sections. Book 1 should be used with the audio which unfortunately wasn’t available at the library. Book 2 has grammatical notes and references to be used with Book 1 and a list of Shona-English and English-Shona vocabulary. Book 3 consists of exercises and supplementary vocabulary.

• Hannan, M. and Literature Bureau. Standard Shona Dictionary. College Press Publishers, 1963.

This Shona-English dictionary was first published in 1959 but has several editions and reprints. The short preface with class prefixes, concords and verb forms is a great resource for reference. The high and low tones indicated after every entry are helpful as Shona is a tonal language. Noun classes are also indicated among other information. There are several copies in the ACS pedagogy library at Van Hise.

• Jamali. Peter, et al. Shona Learners’ Reference Grammar . National African Languages Resource Center, 2005.

This grammar book is a supplement when the learner needs more material about the structure of the language, mainly on parts of speech and a bit about syntax.

• Mawadza, Aquilina. Shona-English English-Shona (chiShona) Dictionary and Phrasebook .                 Hippocrene Books, Inc, 2000.

This small book is a dynamo. It begins with the Shona alphabet and a pronunciation guide, followed by a note on syllables. There are some brief notes on grammar, followed by a Shona-English dictionary. The phrase-book section is organized in domains such as etiquette, introductions, travel and transportation, etc. It is a reference book; you can only use it in the library (Memorial).

• Munjanja, Amos, M. Everyday Shona and English . Write and Read Publications, 1987.

This book has 15 chapters organized in various aspects of day-to-day communication such as greetings, time and directions.

Resources that address Shona culture

• Bourdillon, M. F. C. The Shona Peoples: An Ethnography of the Contemporary Shona, with Special Reference to Their Religion . Mambo Press, 1987.

This book traces the history of the Shona people from the 15th century onwards. The author did ethnographic research that addressed different facets of the lives of the Shona people.

2.  Chitakure, John. Shona Women in Zimbabwe-A Purchased People? Marriage, Bridewealth, Domestic Violence, and the Christian Traditions on Women . Pickwick Publications, 2016.

This book addresses the cultural practice of bride wealth and how it contributes to gender-based violence among the Shona. It addresses patriarchy in the Shona society and would also be an excellent resource for anybody studying gender and women studies among the Shona.

3. Encyclopedia.com at https://www.encyclopedia.com/places/africa/zimbabwe-political-geography/shona provides information such as economy, kinship, marriage and family and sociopolitical organization among the Shona.

4. Gelfand, Michael. The Genuine Shona: Survival Values of An African Culture . Mambo Press, 1973. Also available at ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu .

This is a rich resource on Shona culture. It addresses manners, behavior, the household, ethics and morality among other topics.

5. livescience.com   has a page on Shona culture. For those interested in faith matters – God and the spirits, this is an excellent resource at https://www.livescience.com/58039-shona-people.html .

6. Tatira, Liveson. The Shona Culture: The Shona People’s Culture . Lambert Academic Publishing, 2010.

This book traces the origin of the Shona people as well as their culture. It also addresses how Shona culture has evolved over the years.

7. theculturetrip.com is an excellent site with a page on Shona culture, their history, daily life. culture and religion are some of the topics explored at https://theculturetrip.com/africa/zimbabwe/articles/an-introduction-to-zimbabwes-shona-people/

Resources for Self-Instructional Learners of Less Commonly Taught Languages Copyright © by University of Wisconsin-Madison Students in African 671 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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FSI Shona Basic Course

We made using the FSI Shona Basic Course material easier to use and more effective. You can now read the ebook (in the pane on the left), listen to the audio (pane to the right) and practice your pronunciation (use on the Pronunciation Tool tab on right) all at the same time.

The FSI Shona Basic Course material can be used both as a self-guided course or with the assistance of a qualified tutor.

NOTE: Some of these ebooks are quite large and may take a minute to fully load.

Useful Shona phrases

A collection of useful phrases in Shona, a Bantu language spoken mainly in Zimbabwe.

Jump to phrases

See these phrases in any combination of two languages in the Phrase Finder . If you can provide recordings, corrections or additional translations, please contact me .

Key to abbreviations: sg = singular (said to one person), pl = plural (said to more than one person).

Shona phrases provided by Emma Thembani, Paida Magiga and Ernest Mdende

If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me .

Information about Shona | Phrases | Numbers | Tower of Babel

Phrases in Bantu languages

Bemba , Chichewa , Chokwe , Duala , Herero , Kikuyu , Kinyarwanda , Lingala , Lozi , Luganda , Ndebele (Northern - South Africa) , Ndebele (Northern - Zimbabwe) , Ndebele (Southern) Nkore , Northern Sotho , Oshiwambo , Shona , Southern Sotho (seSotho) , Swahili , Swati , Tsonga , Tswana , Tumbuka , Umbundu , Venda , Xhosa , Zulu

Phrases in other languages

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• DOI: 10.4314/ZJH.V29I1.6716
• Corpus ID: 1620263

THE SHONA WRITING SYSTEM: AN ANALYSIS OF ITS PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

• Wiseman Magwa
• Published 2002
• Linguistics

7 Citations

The effects of shona language change on monolingual lexicography: the need for a revised alphabet, the compilation of a shona children's dictionary: challenges and solutions, the taxonomy of writing systems: how to measure how logographic a system is, challenges encountered on the rekete chindau—leave a legacy facebook page, multilingual broadcasting in post-2000 zimbabwe: design, implementation and language parity, lexikos 19 supplement, the unification of the shona dialects, 21 references, early missionaries and the ethnolinguistic factor during the ‘invention of tribalism’ in zimbabwe, standard shona dictionary, the problem of word-division in bantu with special reference to the languages of mashonaland, the vernacularization of african languages after independence, the rise of the shona novel: a study in development, 1890-1984, a description of shona spelling, 75 years of writing in shona, related papers.

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The Shona writing system: An analysis of its problems and possible solutions

2002, Zambezia: The Journal of Humanities of the University of Zimbabwe.

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Learn Shona

This site is designed to teach you and help you learn Shona for free through vocabulary , phrases , grammar and flashcards (vocabulary trainer). Here is how you can start:

You can actually learn Shona very quickly and easily through our lessons because we teach you only what you need to learn. We think that people can learn better when they're presented with simple words that they're likely to use daily.

Shona Language

Shona is an official language of Zimbabwe , along with Ndebele and English . English is used as a lingua franca by those who speak mutually unintelligible languages. It is the de facto national working language of the country. Although Shona is taught in schools, it is generally not the medium of instruction beyond the primary level which is English. There are many newspapers in Shona, and it is also used on the radio.

There are three main dialects of Shona. There is a considerable degree of variation within each dialect involving pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. Most dialects are partially intelligible and share most of their vocabulary.

• Karanga (Chikakaranga
• Zezuru (Chizezuru, Bazezuru, Bazuzura, Mazizuru, Vazezuru, Wazezuru)
• Korekore (Northern Shona, Goba, Gova, Shangwe)

Modern Shona is based on the Karanga dialect of Masvingo Province and the Zezuru dialect of central and northern Zimbabwe.

Sound system

Shona has a simple vocalic and a complex system of consonants that includes sounds rarely found in other languages. All Shona syllables end in a vowel.

Shona has five vowels.

Shona’s consonant system is characterized by the presence of breathy and whistled sounds.

• /dʱ, gʱ, vʱ, mʱ , nʱ, rʱ/ are breathy-voiced consonants produced with the vocal folds vibrating, as they do in normal voicing, but held further apart, so that a large volume of air escapes between them. This produces an audible noise.
• /sv, zv/ are whistled fricatives that are known to occur only in a handful of languages. Unlike most common speech sounds, whistled sounds are produced without the vibration of vocal folds. Reports conflict as to whether whistled fricatives are characterized by lip rounding or are similar to regular whistles.
• /ʃ/ = sh in shop
• / ʒ / = s in measure
• /tʃ/ = ch in chop
• /dʒ/ = j in joy
• /ɲ/ = first n in canyon
• /ŋ/ = ng in song
• /j/ = y in yet

Tone is important in Shona since it is used to distinguish between otherwise identical words and to mark grammatical functions.

• There are two tones: high and low. In writing, the high tone is marked with an acute accent (á) and the low tone is marked with a grave accent (à).
• An interesting feature of Shona phonology is tonal retraction. For example if a word with two high tones is followed by a word beginning with a high tone, the high tone of the final syllable of the first word becomes a low tone, e.g., bángá ‘knife’ but bángà wángù ‘knife my.’
• Shona has depressor consonants that force their syllables to be low-pitched and that have a lowering effect on the tone of the following vowel.

A major feature of Shona is classification of nouns into various classes and an elaborate verb system.

Shona nouns belong to different classes. This is typical of all Bantu languages.

• Shona has 21 noun classes , depending on the dialect.
• Typical nouns consist of a class prefix and a stem.The class of a particular noun requires that modifiers and verbs have the same prefix as the noun.
• The noun classes are usually presented in singular/plural pairs.
• Some nouns have additional markers that function as diminutives or augmentatives .
• Possession is marked by the prefix ye -, e.g., Yunivhesiti yeZimbabwe ‘ University of Zimbabwe.’

As is common in Bantu languages, Shona verbs are highly agglutinating . Below are some of their main features:

• At a minimum, verbs consist of a root , a subject prefix, and a final vowel.
• Verbs may also include extensions that represent tense, aspect, mood, causation, repetition, reciprocity, and intensity, as well as object agreement.
• Shona has two past tenses: a recent and a more distant past.
• Infinitive and finite verbs have different negative markers.

The basic word order in Shona is Subject-Verb-Object. Modifiers follow the nouns they modify.

Shona has borrowed many words from English, Afrikaans, and neighboring languages, e.g., mufarinya ‘cassava’ from Portuguese farinha ‘flour’, yunivhesiti from English ‘university’.

Below are a few words and phrases in Shona.

Below are Shona numerals 1-10.

Shona is an established written language with a highly developed literature. It has a standardized orthography based on the Latin script which was adopted in 1967 after years of negotiation. The script contains 35 symbols. The sound values of the letters depend on the dialect. The alphabet does not represent some sounds that occur in some of the dialects, e.g., there is no symbol for the sounds /l/ and /x/ that are found in some dialects. There is no symbol for breathy /g/ and /r/. Tones are usually not represented in writing.

• bh, dh, mh, nh represent breathy-voiced consonants
• ny = palatal /n/ as ny in canyon
• n’ = ng as in song
• ch i = ch in chop
• sh = sh in shop
• zh = s in measure .
• sv and zv represent whistled /s/ and /z/.

Take a look at Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Shona.

Did You Know?

Use of hands in Shona

• A very important action which accompanies greetings in Shona is hand-clapping: flat hands for men, cupped hands for women.
• Claps also mean ‘thank you’.
• Right hands are used for hand-shaking, although a hand-shake among the Shona people is more of a grasp than a shake.
• In rural areas many people put their left hand under their right elbow when shaking hands which is a sign of respect.
• When something is handed to a person, the latter must accept it with both hands together.

• Published on October 28, 2022

Common Shona phrases and their meaning

• Love Language
• Basic conversation

Shona, also known as Chishona, is one of the official languages in Zimbabwe. It is also spoken in Malawi, Zambia and Botswana.

The Shona language has two tones: High tone marked by (á) and low tone marked by

(à).

Shona has five vowels.

a (ah) - like in g a ng

e (ey) - like in h ay

i (ee) - like in s ee

o (o) - like in s o

u (oo) - like in br oo m

Shona does not have silent letters of diphthongs. When two vowels appear side by side in a word, each is pronounced separately. For example, the word Urikuteerera(listening) is pronounced Urikutay-ay-ra.

The consonant system of Shona is characterized by breathy and whistled sounds.

The breathy consonants are represented by “h” after the initial consonant and are pronounced by vibrating the vocals. For example, bh, ch,dh, mh,nh,rh and vh.

The whistled sounds are pronounced by rounding the lip. For example, sv, dz, tsv, ty, ng.

• The sound “L” is not used in most Shona dialects unless it is in a word adopted from a foreign language with little or no modification.
• The Shona language alphabet lacks the letters q and x.

Greetings in Shona

Shona Love Words and Phrases

Directions in Shona

Common Questions in Conversations in Shona

Everyday Conversations in Shona

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Kamala Harris Needs to Knock Trump in Her DNC Speech—Without Popping the Joy Balloon

Kamala Harris ’s first few weeks as the Democrats’ 2024 godsend have been fun, but the drumbeat to get serious is growing louder. The New York Times: “Trump’s tax plan could add trillions to the national debt. Harris’s is a mystery.” The New Yorker: “Harris’s campaign Web site, meanwhile, does not even have a policy section, or an articulation of beliefs.” The Washington Post: “If she hopes to prevail, Ms. Harris needs to present her ideas.”

Well, as luck would have it, there’s a perfect opportunity just around the corner to satisfy those demands for specifics at an event in which Harris will have the stage to herself and tens of millions of people will be listening to her every word. She is, of course, the star and the closing speaker of the Democratic National Convention and can use the spotlight to explain all the policy details she’d pursue if she were elected president of the United States…

On Friday, before the convention, Harris will lay out a bit of economic policy substance during a speech in Raleigh, North Carolina. But she is unlikely to use the podium in Chicago next week to roll out proposals for changes to marginal tax rates or suggestions for how to end the carnage in Gaza. She will want to come across as serious, but she doesn’t want to puncture the joy balloon that has been energizing Democratic crowds and lifting her up in the polls.

Harris’s main goals next Thursday night will be to introduce herself to that large cross section of Americans who are not obsessive politicos but are just starting to pay attention to the race for the White House, and to sell herself to anyone unsure of her ability to lead the country. She will cite facts and examples from her record in public office to illustrate accomplishments. But Harris will probably lean most heavily on broad themes and visions while trying to forge a personal connection with voters by talking about her own compelling rise from humble roots: the child who grew up in a working-class Berkeley neighborhood as the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants to become California state attorney general, US senator, and vice president. “Telling her story as part of the larger American story and as an example of what is possible in this country is going to be inspiring,” says Jon Favreau, the former top speechwriter for Barack Obama who went on to cofound Crooked Media and cohost Pod Save America. “It’s also going to help inoculate her from the darker charges by Trump and JD Vance that she is other, that she is not like us.”

Retailing her biography for political purposes has not always come easily to Harris. “Men have no problem talking about how great they are,” says Ashley Etienne, who was a senior aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and to Vice President Harris. “Women want to talk about you. She had to get comfortable talking about herself. It’s very different than Barack Obama. I mean, he ran a whole tour talking about himself for two years before he ran for president.” An Obama speechwriting alumnus, Adam Frankel , is leading the drafting of Harris’s convention speech as the Democratic nominee for president. Frankel had already been crafting a convention speech for Harris as the vice presidential nominee. “He’s very good at uplift,” says Favreau, who hired Frankel to work for Obama’s 2008 campaign. “He was close for a long time with Ted Sorensen, so Adam has a lot of JFK, RFK kind of style.” Another Obama veteran, Megan Rooney , who had been on President Joe Biden ’s White House team, was recently hired as the Harris campaign’s director of speech writing. “Megan is, I think, the best in the business at bringing somebody’s humanity through in a speech,” says Dan Schwerin, who was director of speechwriting for Hillary Clinton ’s 2016 run, with Rooney as his deputy. “And having written for Hillary and for Michelle Obama, she knows as much as anyone about how to write for a strong woman leader.”

One tricky choice for Harris will be how much to go after the eminently mockable Donald Trump. Most attacks on the Republican nominee will likely come from the convention’s opening acts, including vice presidential nominee Tim Walz , creator of the Democrats’ “big weirdo” strategy. Yet Harris can’t entirely skip drawing a sharp contrast. “You don’t ever want to look like you’re afraid of taking on your opponent,” says Cody Keenan, Obama’s director of speech writing from 2013 to 2017. “And with somebody like Trump, who is abnormal, basically an overgrown bully, taking him on directly is the most important thing you can do.”

Another challenge is covering a lot of ground without putting everyone to sleep. It’s no accident that the most memorable Democratic convention speeches tend to be delivered by someone other than the presidential candidate. Ted Kennedy’s “the dream shall never die” in 1980, Mario Cuomo’s “a tale of two cities” in 1984, Jim Hightower ’s “born on third base” in 1988, and Obama’s career-making 2004 stem-winder were all part of the undercard, because the lesser figures can stick to a narrower narrative.

Harris doesn’t write out her own first draft or outlines for speeches, Etienne says, but instead prefers to brainstorm with her writers and aides and then edit and revise what her staff puts on the page. The basic framework, which Harris has been workshopping in her speeches at enormous rallies around the country, is already fairly clear: a choice between a prosecutor and a felon, between going backward and going forward, between retribution and hope. “I was dreading having to write a speech or read anyone’s drafts trying to advocate for Joe Biden,” a top Democratic speechwriter says. “This will be a lot more fun.” Which doesn’t mean the end result will be lightweight. Schwerin says Harris will probably lead with her values and use policy as proof points. “So, for example, I am virtually certain that she will talk about signing a law to bring back Roe v. Wade as the law of the land,” he says. “That’s policy. But you don’t need to add 10 footnotes.” Harris always emphasizes that her speeches need to provide context and foundation, Etienne says. Her speech can’t just be about Trump. “She’s going to wrap it in a bow, asking this question about who we are as a nation and who we want to be.” The messy details, about exactly how Harris proposes to take us there, may need to wait until at least September’s debate.

This story has been updated.

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• High School Sports
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South Dakota State football eager to 'write their own story' in 2024 after losing program cornerstones

This isn’t going to be last year’s Jackrabbits. 

South Dakota State's head football coach Jimmy Rogers made that abundantly clear during his speech in front of program boosters, athletes, and media Wednesday.

“2023 was unbelievable," he said. "Everything we set out to accomplish, we accomplished."

The second-year head coach took a poignant pause before making his next statement.

“That was last year," Rogers said. “I’ll state this as clearly as I can: Our focus as a program is not about what we’ve done, it's about where we’re going.”

SDSU is in a bit of a transition period. The Jackrabbits are in the process of replacing players who were program cornerstones for the past six years. There are Mason McCormick and Garret Greenfield-sized holes in the offensive line, Isaiah Davis will no longer be lining up in the backfield, and last year’s Walter Payton Award Winner Mark Gronowski no longer has his two favorite targets in the Janke twins.

The Jackrabbits have added 36 new players, 31 of which are freshmen and five are transfers.

But even without those key players, SDSU was still voted to finish first in the Missouri Valley Football Conference in the preseason poll, and for good reason. They're still extremely talented and now players, who have been itching for a larger role on the team, are going to get more opportunities.

Amar Johnson is a player who has waited years behind Davis and now will be theNo. 1 running back on the team. Grahm Goering is another player who has quite a bit of experience under his belt and is now primed to be one of the two main receivers alongside Griffin Wilde.

“A lot of people outside of this building have not seen the guys that have really been putting in the work that are going to end up being great starters for us,” Gronowski said. “And I'm really excited for those guys to step up to the challenge.”

If there were any doubts about his team’s experience, Rogers stressed there shouldn’t be. After South Dakota State finished practice Wednesday morning, Rogers reminded his team they actually have more combined reps together than the Jackrabbits team that made it to the 2021 FCS National Championship game.

“It gives us confidence,” offensive lineman Gus Miller said. “I think a lot of those guys see the past team and think about how amazing and great they are, but they kind of get intimidated by that. So just making them feel comfortable and showing them how much progress that we've made from that season helps.”

Since the spring, the team has focused on separating itself from the program’s recent success, leaving it in the past and focusing on what it can do to put itself in position to win this year. With the amount of new players looking to integrate themselves in new roles, Wilde said the team has talked a lot about writing their own story.

“I'm excited that that was one of the things that they wanted to create on their own, because it goes back to eliminating the outside distraction,” Rogers said. “Just compete for your role, and then it's really their job to write the narrative of how their story ends this season.”

Although the cornerstones who helped build this program are gone, Rogers said his team will continue to play with the same focus, dedication and commitment to each other.

"This is a special group," Rogers said. "And we have many more players coming into this program that are bought in to carry the standard going forward."

South Dakota State will take on Oklahoma State in their season opener Aug. 31 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Jonathan Fernandez covers high school and college sports for the Argus Leader. Contact him at  [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at @JFERN31

Americans love free speech, survey finds − until they realize everyone else has it, too

Senior Advisor to the Chancellor, Head of Vanderbilt's Project on Unity and American Democracy, and Co-Director of Vanderbilt Poll, Vanderbilt University

Research Professor of Political Science and Executive Director of The Future of Free Speech, Vanderbilt University

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The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Vanderbilt University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation US.

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Americans’ views on free speech change directions every so often. One of those times was during the protests at U.S. universities about the Israel-Hamas war. As scholars of free speech and public opinion , we set out to find out what happened and why.

The Supreme Court itself, as recently as 1989, has declared that the “bedrock principle” of the First Amendment is that “ the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”

For years, conservative politicians and commentators have warned that college campuses are not strong enough protectors of free speech. But as demonstrations erupted, these same people complained that the protests were filled with antisemitic hate speech . Leading conservatives declared the demonstrations should be banned and halted, by force if necessary.

Liberals executed a similar reversal. Many of them have supported increased regulation of hate speech against minority groups. But during the campus protests, liberals cautioned that crackdowns by university administrators, state officials and the police violated protestors’ free speech rights.

As researchers at Vanderbilt University’s Project on Unity and American Democracy and The Future of Free Speech , respectively, we sought to determine where Americans stand. We drew inspiration from a poll done in November 1939 in which 3,500 Americans answered questions about free speech. In June 2024, we asked 1,000 Americans the identical questions.

When an abstract concept gets more concrete

We found that the vast majority of Americans – both then and now – agree that democracy requires freedom of speech. That’s in the abstract.

When the questions get more concrete, though, their support wanes.

Only about half of the respondents in both the 1939 and 2024 polls agreed that anybody in America should be allowed to speak on any subject at any time. The rest believed some speech – or certain subjects or speakers – should be prohibited.

This pattern is not unique to Americans. A 2021 survey in 33 countries by The Future of Free Speech , a nonpartisan think tank based at Vanderbilt, similarly found high levels of support for free speech in the abstract across all countries but lower support across the board for specific speech that was offensive to minority groups or religious beliefs.

We dug deeper in surveys in March and June 2024, asking which subjects or speakers should be banned. We thought the public’s appetite for free speech might have weakened amid the campus turmoil. We found the opposite.

When asked whether seven people with widely varied viewpoints should be allowed to speak, the share of people who said “Yes” rose for each one between March and June. Some of the differences were within the surveys’ margins of error, but it’s nevertheless noteworthy that all of them shifted in the same direction.

While showing a slightly increased appetite for free speech, these polls still fit with the overall contradiction: Large majorities of Americans passionately uphold free speech as a cornerstone of democracy. But fewer of them are supportive of free speech when faced with specific controversial speakers or topics.

The First Amendment is not an a la carte menu

Our surveys found that the public has a nuanced view of free speech. For instance, in our June 2024 survey we added some additional categories of potential speakers to the list we had asked about in March. More respondents were comfortable with a pro-Palestinian speaker than a leader of Hamas and with a scientist who believes that IQ varies by race rather than an outright white supremacist.

This pattern suggests that the public distinguishes between extreme and more moderate positions and is less tolerant of the rights of those with more extreme views.

This shift runs against the purpose of the First Amendment, which was intended to protect unpopular speech . The amendment very specifically was not intended to apply only to certain speakers or viewpoints.

Ours is not the only survey to find that many people don’t fully appreciate the logic and principles behind free speech.

In 2020, a Knight Foundation poll found that members of both political parties oppose speech that goes against their values or beliefs .

Later polls, including those conducted by other organizations, found more specifics: For instance, Democrats were more likely to support censorship of racist hate speech or vaccine misinformation.

And Republicans opposed drag shows and kneeling during the playing of the national anthem .

A February 2022 national poll commissioned by The New York Times and Siena College found that 30% of Americans believed that “ sometimes you have to shut down speech that is anti-democratic, bigoted, or simply untrue.”

A return to fundamentals

With the 2024 election looming and polarization increasing among Americans, some people may want only those who agree with them to be allowed to speak.

But a true commitment to the fundamental principles of free speech requires people to allow space for controversial and even offensive viewpoints to be aired.

History reveals that censorship of hateful ideas is often a cure that is worse than the disease , deepening social divides. James Madison, a key drafter of both the U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment, wrote in 1800:

“ Some degree of abuse is inseparable from the proper use of every thing … it is better to leave a few of its noxious branches, to their luxuriant growth, than by pruning them away, to injure the vigor of those yielding the proper fruits.”

As the founders knew, a respect for diverse viewpoints and the ability to express those views – good, bad and harmful alike – in the public sphere are essential to a healthy democracy.

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Stoking fears about DNC protests gets in the way of right to peacefully protest

Now, more than ever, we must renew our collective commitment to amplifying voices outside institutions of power, write attorneys with the chicago council of lawyers. also, a reader from rosemoor makes a pitch for free college..

Members of the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine gather for a protest in front of the Chicago Hilton on the day Donald Trump held a Q&A during the National Association of Black Journalists convention. The group also plans to protest at the DNC.

Manuel Martinez/WBEZ

Chicago will be hosting the Democratic National Convention next week. Many media outlets are already predicting major disruptions and unrest. Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling says CPD is training roughly 2,500 officers to respond to potential protests and projected civil unrest. And in a warning to protesters, the top cop also recently said, “ We’re not going to allow you to riot .”

Casting the convention as a looming threat with potential danger assumes the worst of our residents and those visiting the city. Raising fear and focusing on a possibility of violent disruption diminishes the right to peacefully assemble and breeds suspicion of citizens organizing lawfully to support their beliefs. Logistical preparation is the business of city management; stoking fear hinders those efforts. It diminishes both the intent of protest organizers and seeds mistrust of protesters and city services.

The foundation of democracy is citizens’ participation in its processes. Peaceful protest has been and remains a meaningful means of participation. Peaceful protest manifests dissent and concentrates the voices of those without direct political power. It motivates policy change in a way voting alone cannot.

SEND LETTERS TO: [email protected]. To be considered for publication, letters must include your full name, your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes. Letters should be a maximum of approximately 375 words.

The city and its residents must approach the coming convention with support for the peaceful public expression of dissent, not with fear.

Our democracy and free elections are experiencing a moment of unique vulnerability. We must embrace and support the right of peaceful assembly and participation in the political process through organized protest. Now, more than ever, we must renew our collective commitment to amplifying voices outside institutions of power.

The Chicago Council of Lawyers was born during a similarly fraught moment, emerging from the violence that accompanied the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The council’s values remain rooted in support for dissent and the role of lawyers in enabling people to enjoy this fruit of our democracy — without fear of violence or retribution. Our membership has close ties to the legal aid, public interest law and civil rights communities in Chicago’s legal profession, and we are committed to seeking and obtaining reforms in the public interest to ensure necessary participation by all.

We are not naïve about the fraught reality of our times. But the media ought not focus so overwhelmingly on stoking fear of what might be and instead devote time to what exists— the cherished rights of Americans to peacefully express dissent and organize to do so.

Stephanie Agnew and Naomi Johnson, co-executive directors, Chicago Council of Lawyers

CORRECTION: Authors’ names have been corrected by the organization.

Direct your ire at exorbitant college costs

The outrage expressed by some over the decision of the Schuler family to terminate scholarship payments to needy students under its Schuler Scholar Program is understandable but unwarranted. The real outrage is that the richest country in the world doesn’t provide free college to its citizenry.

• The kindness of strangers helps college students pursue their dreams
• After wealthy family backs out of scholarships, others step in to help college students with tuition

Public education has long been a bulwark of the American way of life, not a whim or favor that is granted or withheld by some group or individual. To a large extent,at least until the spread of Reaganomics, public colleges and universities were relatively affordable. Now, higher education is an extremely difficult endeavor for many aspiring students, and like it or not,they are often at the mercy of “the kindness of strangers.”

But it shouldn’t be this way. The pathway to higher education should be a birthright of every law-abiding American citizen. It shouldn’t depend on the largesse of some wealthy benefactors who may decide to end their support at any given point for any given reason. And make no mistake about it, providing public education beyond high school is one of the best investments the nation can make, one that would pay dividends for countless generations to come.

Samuel C. Small, Rosemoor

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Trump Tries to Wrestle Back Attention at Mar-a-Lago News Conference

In an hourlong exchange with reporters, the former president criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for not doing the same, insulted her intelligence and boasted about the size of his rallies.

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By Maggie Haberman Shane Goldmacher and Jonathan Swan

Reporting from Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla.

Follow live updates on the 2024 election .

Former President Donald J. Trump tried on Thursday to shoehorn himself back into a national conversation that Vice President Kamala Harris has dominated for more than two weeks, holding an hourlong news conference in which he assailed Ms. Harris’s intelligence and taunted her for failing to field questions similarly from journalists.

Throughout the event, held in the main room at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and home in Palm Beach, Fla., Mr. Trump assailed the state of the U.S. economy, described the country as in mortal danger if he did not win the presidential election and falsely described his departure from the White House — which was preceded by his refusal to concede his election loss in November 2020 and the violent attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, by a mob of his supporters — as a “peaceful” transfer of power.

Mr. Trump also flashed frustration when asked about the size of Ms. Harris’s crowds while boasting about the attendance at his own rally on Jan. 6, 2021, and insisted that the group of hundreds that stormed the Capitol was relatively small. But he fixated on the size of the crowd that he initially gathered on the national mall, making comparisons to — and declaring it was larger than — the one drawn by Martin Luther King Jr. for his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

“Nobody’s spoken to crowds bigger than me,” Mr. Trump said. “If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours — same real estate, same everything, same number of people, if not — we had more.”

The Trump team has been looking for ways to interrupt Ms. Harris’s momentum as she has quickly consolidated the Democratic Party behind her and risen in the polls. The goal of Mr. Trump’s news conference, which he announced on Thursday morning on his social media site, was to highlight that Ms. Harris has yet to hold a news conference of her own or to give an unscripted interview to the news media.

It was a point he made during his event, arguing that she had avoided doing so because “she’s not smart enough.”

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