Lettow-Vorbeck attended a language seminar on swahili before he left for DOA in 1914.
Did all potential Schutztruppe officers in Germany attend such courses?
Seminar on foreign languages
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lettow4beck
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I cant find the citation right now, but I do remember reading that it was standard practice for officers being posted to the Schutztruppe in DOA to receive training in Swahili as this was the lingua franca for the whole colonie. I haven't heard of Schuztruppe officers posted to other colonies receiving any language training, although many posted to DSWA spoke English and were able to pick up rudimentary Afrikaans.