Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Language
We Muega, Toriega, Jambo, Hujambo, Hamjambo, Sasa, Habari ya saboi, Habariyako, Habarizenu. These are all greetings that I give on almost a daily basis. It is a lot of fun trying to simultaneously learn two new languages. Kiswahili* is the natonal language along with English.(*The prefix Ki denotes that it is a language.) This means that all students are expected to learn Kiswahili and English in school. The first language of nearly all Kenyans however is neither one of these languages. Kenya is made up of about 42 different tribal communities. Each of these tribes has a distinct language which is spoken by the members of the community. The country is trying to unite all Kenyans by having them all speak one language. I have mixed feelings about this process. Communication is always a good thing, however I feel that a lot of culture may be lost as some of these cultural distinctions gradually disappear. So along with Kiswahili, I am also trying to learn the language of the local people which is Kikikuyu(language of the Kikuyu tribe). It is a lot of fun watching the reactions of neighbors as I greet them in their own language. It is often one of great surprise. It is a small gesture on my part, but it means much to a grandmother who knows only Kikikuyu, while more and more of her people are learning and speaking these new languages. I am having fun being a Kiswahili student to my English students. I am amazed at how glamourized the American culture is (''Why are there no poor people in America"), and I think many learn English from American rap and R&B songs. This is definately a learning experience for both teacher and student. I just had a thought. Maybe I can use some blogs to teach you all some of the language I am learning. Somebody famous might have said one time that the best way to learn something is to teach it.(Don't quote me on that) Does anyone have any requests for blog topics. I'm not really sure what people like reading about. Let me know. Hopefully I will get some pics up this weekend when I head into Nairobi to celebrate Halloween with my fellow Americans. :) Until next time Thiinewega(Kikikuyu:go in peace)
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I love learning the salutations where you are (like that looong list you put at the front) and "go in peace." More like that, but can you *try* to add a pronunciation guide? I know the accent and inflection won't come across right, but I know that even in another English-speaking country pronunciation is everything! Love the updates! Hope all is well! Tell everyone I said hello when you get together. God Bless!
ReplyDeleteThis is off-topic to languages... but I'd like to see some more pics of the school grounds. I'm curious to see how it's set up. Also, what is your phone like? Is is really simple or fairly high-tech?
ReplyDeleteWell there!! Mr blogmiza when you say Kikikuyu thats from a Kiswahili aspect it should be Gikuyu thats the language. As for Bootlegging this country is a boot leggers paradise i already have the MJ movie "this is it" guess that was it, got windows 7 (Bill Gates is rich enuff) which is the ish btw the P2P sites are a God send to us broke *sses. As for the Languages the country is not trying to Kill off the tribal cultures the cant do that but our crappy politicians use our tribal differences to propagate hatred and violence towards other tribes, me being a Kikuyu i am meant to hate for example the Luo tribe (which Obama hails from). As for American culture what do you expect you dudes have bombarded our TV and radio stations all our lives i for one am a sucker for hip hop i probably know more Hip Hop music than most Americans, hey i suggest u learn our Kiswahili ebonics/slang known as sheng which is kiswahili mixed with english OK ENJOY UR ESCAPADES lemme listen to some sticky fingaz
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