A place to learn about Wolof—its language, its people, and its place in West Africa
Wolof is one of the most widely spoken languages of West Africa, with millions of speakers across Senegal, The Gambia, Mauritania, and surrounding communities. It is a language with a long history, a rich oral tradition, and an important place in the everyday lives and identities of the people who speak it.
Yet for people who want to learn Wolof—particularly English speakers—finding accessible, comprehensive resources can be surprisingly difficult.
This website was created to help change that.
More than a language
Wolof cannot be separated completely from the cultures and communities in which it is spoken. Words carry histories. Expressions reflect ways of thinking. Grammar reveals distinctions that may not exist in English. And the way people actually speak can be quite different from what a textbook or dictionary alone might suggest.
The goal here is therefore not simply to provide lists of translated words. It is to provide a place where Wolof can be explored in context: its vocabulary, grammar, expressions, pronunciation, varieties, history, and connections to the cultures of the Wolof-speaking world.
Building better English-language resources
Much of the material available for Wolof learners has historically been written from a French-language perspective. Those resources can be extremely valuable, but they can also be difficult to navigate for someone whose primary language is English.
This project seeks to make Wolof more accessible to English speakers while recognizing and respecting the work of existing Wolof-language and French-language scholarship.
Where different spellings, pronunciations, grammatical analyses, or regional usages exist, they should be understood as part of the language rather than automatically treated as mistakes. Wolof is a living language, and living languages naturally contain variation.
A descriptive approach
This website takes a descriptive rather than strictly prescriptive approach to language.
That means the goal is to document how Wolof is actually used—not to decide that one variety, spelling, pronunciation, or grammatical construction is the only legitimate one.
Wolof is spoken across different countries and communities, and individual speakers may make different choices about vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation, and expression. Those differences are worth documenting rather than simply eliminating.
At the same time, information presented here should not automatically be assumed to represent every Wolof-speaking community.
A resource that can grow
This is an ongoing project.
Some of the material is compiled from existing dictionaries, linguistic resources, translations, corpora, and other published material. Some is organized or translated computationally, and some will be refined through comparison, research, and feedback from Wolof speakers and people with relevant linguistic expertise.
That means mistakes and gaps are possible—and identifying them is part of the process.
The long-term goal is to build a resource that becomes more useful as it grows: with expanded vocabulary, examples in context, grammatical explanations, pronunciation information, regional and dialectal notes, cultural material, and contributions and corrections from people who know Wolof firsthand.
For learners, researchers, and speakers
Whether you are beginning to learn Wolof, researching West African languages, reconnecting with a language you have heard throughout your life, or simply curious about Wolof and the cultures surrounding it, you are welcome here.
This site is intended to be a starting point for exploration—not a substitute for native-speaker knowledge or professional linguistic resources.
Most importantly, Wolof is not merely an object of study. It is a living language spoken by living communities.
The purpose of this project is to make that language easier to encounter, understand, and appreciate.
Jërejëf — thank you for visiting.
Founder’s Note:
When Janga Wolof began in 2007, resources for learning Wolof in English were scarce, both online and in print. Over the years, the landscape has improved, thanks to contributions from passionate learners like myself and native speakers sharing their knowledge. In the early days, I gathered materials from the “real world” to build the foundation for this website—a labor-intensive and costly process that I undertook willingly, even on a limited income.
My initial goal was to keep the website completely free, and it still primarily is. However, I’ve since added some paid features to help offset the costs of running the site—expenses it rarely manages to cover. Balancing free and paid content has been a challenge, but my commitment to accessibility remains at the heart of Janga Wolof.
Over the years, this site has experienced its ups and downs, including periods of inactivity when life’s demands took precedence. There were times I started updating the site only to abandon the effort, leaving it in a state I wasn’t entirely proud of. Despite these challenges, I’m proud to say that Janga Wolof is one of the oldest continuously running Wolof resources for English speakers online.
I’ve seen my past content appear on many other platforms, sometimes attributed and sometimes not. While I don’t do this for recognition, I take pride in knowing that my work has been useful to others and valued enough to be shared. Providing knowledge and helping others learn Wolof has always been my ultimate goal, and I’m grateful for the support and encouragement from learners around the world.
Support my efforts by visiting the support page and helping me continue providing this (hopefully) valuable Wolof language resource.
— Amadou.
