In a village where most people speak only Pulaar, there are many potential teachers. In my experience, children are the best teachers. That is one of the many reasons I spent as much time with kids as possible during my recent visit to a village near the Senegal river.
I learned so many new words during my visit and my many teachers were not afraid to correct my frequent mistakes. They also never got tired of my endless questions or short memory. For the first time, I found myself forming simple sentences and expressing myself, although my limited skills in grammar prevented myself from effectively communicating everything I wanted to say. Hopefully I made some progress throughout the week. Here are some of my favorite words in the Pulaar language:
hetchi hanki = the day before yesterday
tigi rigi = real/true
ina buubi = it is cold
yidii = like/love
hol sababu = why?
Pulaar is a rich and beautiful language. It doesn't flow from my tongue as easily as I would like but with more patience and hard work I think that I can learn enough to be able to hold a conversation over the course of the next year, especially if I find more teachers as good as the ones I just left behind.
Ohhh that's great ! you having a good accent. keep it up soon you will be speaking pulaar better than pulaar speakers.
ReplyDeleteJust some remarks in the video, the young girl used words which are not pulaar. such as coming:
word number 3 , she said (kaani) this word is 100% wolof,
** we call it in Pulaar ( Gnamako / Niamako ) **
word N* 7. she said (soblee) this word is 100% wolof
** we call it in Pulaar (Bassalle) **
Thank you so much Thierno Boubacar! I am so happy to hear from you. It seems that no language can escape the influence of outsiders (especially a language as popular as Wolof). Ajarama sehilam, miweltiimaa no fewi.
ReplyDeleteAllah jarama, enen ndendi banam debbo. the pleasure is shared.
ReplyDelete