Language Learning 101

Are you looking for a chance to express your inner child, feel young at heart, and act like a kid again? Well then language immersion is your chance to sound out your inner child’s voice in a foreign culture.

The first week of language learning was fun as I quickly picked up the laundry list of greetings, “Good morning; How is your home; How are your children; How is your health; How is your fatigue; How is your thirst (Ramadan fast); etc…” and closing with a few “I’m doing well; Thanks; See you later.” I diligently practiced with my language helper, wrote down all of the phrases phonetically as she repeatedly sounded them out for me. After my very first morning lesson I decided that I was ready to put my newly acquired language skills into play. I set out on my afternoon walk, looking for my first conversational victim.

I came across Buddy* doing yard work in front of his home, so I called out the appropriate greeting of “Good work!” He looked up and returned my greeting with a “Good afternoon.” After completing the extensive list of greetings, I decided to bravely attempt the next phrase on my list; “I am learning the language of Djougou.” (no kidding) He smiled and replied “Why?” Ah… huh. That’s not on my list; Buddy’s reply was supposed to be “That’s great!” and then I can close with a “See you later!” This question “Why?” was NOT part of my meticulously prepared dialogue! Hm, and I don’t know even know how to say “I don’t understand”; but I’m pretty sure the stupefied expression on my face communicated that message well enough. I have discovered that my carefully scripted dialogues don’t always play out as they are supposed to; maybe I should give a copy of my script to my conversational targets so they know how to respond…

Another thing I’ve learned, little pauses like “ah”, “oh”, “uh”, “eh”, “hm”, “huh” – these all communicate something different in the various local languages and can mean a “yes”, “no”, “I/me/my”, “you/yours/them” or something else depending on the tone. So other than improving your public-speaking skills, that is another good reason for eliminating those “uh’s” from your speech; you never know what you might be saying or agreeing to when immersed in a foreign language!!

I have since learned how to say “I don’t understand” and it is one of my more frequently-used phrases. Oh, but I also discovered that if I stutter or hesitate when I’m saying “ah na mah” (I don’t understand), it becomes “My name is not…” Dendi is tonal language, so while a word might be spelled and pronounced exactly the same way, it is the tone (low/mid/high) that gives the word a completely different meaning. For example, when I visited the main market with my language helper last week, I was going through the list of market phrases I had learned, and one of which is “Nayrah chenai?” (Have you sold a little bit?). Simple enough phrase, it’s only two words, and is the equivalent of asking “How’s business?” I practiced it with several shop keepers, and of course I received the usual big smiles, laughter, and incomprehensible chatter in reply, but I assumed that they were simply expressing their appreciation/approval of my attempts to learn their language. It wasn’t until we were leaving the market when my language helper explained that because I had used the wrong tone (low to high), I was actually asking the shopkeepers “Have you sold your little brother?” Eh bien…

I’m at the end of my second week of learning now and I can comfortably run through the greetings, respond to a few “Where” and “Why” questions, and even barter for veggies in the market. Now I have to figure out how to extend my limited conversation of 30 seconds, but I’m quickly running out of subjects to discuss with Buddy* next door, Al-Hadji* at the local canteen, or Fati* the bread lady. I have come across several subjects which I do NOT want to discuss, including: marrying Buddy’s son, marrying Fati’s son, and becoming Al-Hadji’s third wife. Thankfully my language skills are still severely limited, so I can usually escape with a smile and a “That’s nice”, or “Peace out!” (rough translation).

Other than the several people I’ve inadvertently agreed to marry and the countless individuals I’ve insulted by abusing the pronunciation of their language, I think my language learning is progressing fairly well. By the end of each day, I’m worn out and sun burnt from walking around town visiting with people, my feet are sore and filthy, and I can’t even produce an intelligible phrase in English, let alone Dendi!! A good day’s work; na gbé!

*Real names have been replaced with fictitious names.