So far the class has been absolutely fabulous! Swahili is such an interesting language - a mixture of several indigenous Bantu languages plus a substantial amount of Arabic or Arabic-derived words. Many of the Bantu words are very similar (or in some cases exactly the same) as the dialects that I learned bits and pieces of in Mozambique and Zambia, and the language itself is structured in the same way as those languages, which is definitely a plus for me! However, the Arabic words are really difficult for me, and take me at least twice as long to learn!
The funniest story from language class so far is definitely about the day that I essentially asked Nicholas how to cuss someone out in Swahili. I was not quite so direct with my question - I actually asked him what I could say to someone if they gave me the "dirty" handshake. He was completely shocked that I had had someone do that to me, and gave me a phrase that he assured me was a culturally appropriate response. When said in a mild tone of voice, it apparently is like saying, "Leave me alone" or "Get lost". However, if said in an angry voice it becomes more like the equivalent of "F*** off!". Needless to say Nicholas was a little hesitant to write that on the flipchart paper with the rest of our lesson. In the end he decided to write the first word of the phrase at the top of the page and the second word at the bottom, just so they wouldn't be written together! We were all very amused.
This is a photo of our "classroom" and our teacher, Nicholas...
The other students...
Our book!
Some views from our "classroom"...
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