Senegalese Dream


I speak English small small
September 29, 2010, 6:15 pm
Filed under: Village Life

This t-shirt belongs to my adorable little year-old host nephew, Sada.  His mom purchased it at the lumo, or weekly market.  Just in case you think your eyes are playing tricks on you, I’ll translate the text: “TOP SPORT ment nautical instrument thec, lock (or iock?) young 78 of newstan new top.” 

Yeah, I don’t know what that means either, but I do understand why so many people tell me that English is easy.  It depends on the KIND of English we’re talking about.  Everything makes sense to me now!

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3 Comments so far
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We used to call this frenglish when I was younger…true, speaking english doesn’t always mean it is correct english, I agree.

At least, they’re trying!

Comment by El Hadji

Very true, they are trying! I imagine how I must have sounded while learning Pulaar, probably something like a giant 2 year old… I think having a sense of humor about it is important! I’ve been laughed at many times: it keeps things light and makes you a better language learner. Plus, you and your native speaking friends can all have a laugh together, even though one party may not totally understand the joke yet.

Comment by Renee Philbeck

Really,really liked the pictures. Want to see more of your family and environs. Wish there were a common language that everyone could read and speak. There are entirely too many dialects and languages spoken in the world — nobody can learn them all. We misunderstand each other frequently

Comment by Mom




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