Practice Makes Perfect......Humiliation

Communication is the goal of this language learning adventure, and all adventures have their twists and turns. Some days when I return home from my trek into the jungle of language practice I return without a scratch. The phrases slip off my tongue with ease, and I receive praises for my hard work. There are, however, the wounds of language practice that still sting days after they were inflicted. That sounds so dramatic, but deep in that jungle, when your words are jumbled and your thoughts are lost, the language adventure is not fun or exciting. Those are usually the times when communication is crucial and failure to be understood is discouragingly frustrating.

For now, I'm sticking to the outer edge of that jungle where I can still laugh at myself when I make mistakes. For instance, the other day I was visiting with the lady on the corner who sells fruit. I love to speak Wolof with her because no matter what I say, she thinks it's wonderful. As I was buying apples, another lady approached and greeted us in Pulaar. You can imagine my delight at a chance to practice! However, after the greeting, this woman began a long, lightning fast tirade that left me in the dust. Aside from recognizing a word here or a sound there, I had no idea what she said. Finally the Pulaar speaker turned to go and my fruit selling friend just laughed and said "she is crazy!" At least it wasn't just me.

My next stop was the butcher who is a Pulaar speaker. I was eager to try out some new phrases I had learned, so I swung right into the jungle with greetings. I hit my first stump when he asked me about my husband and I thought he meant my work (there is just a one vowel difference). Continuing down that same path, I asked about his husband (meaning work), and of course I received  a very confused looked. I earnestly explained that I had been studying hard and that I spoke a lot of Pulaar, when I actually meant to say I speak only a little (confusing the words for a lot and a little bit). It wasn't until I returned home that I realized most of my mistakes, but I'm sure my friend the butcher is still scratching his head.

More reports to come as the adventure continues.