It's about time for a post about language. Not translation as such...
The first thing is just something funny that happened last week. Simon (5) and Benjy (3) were playing with a friend, Timothy (5 ½). They don't see him a lot usually, but as we were in Parakou they had played with him on Sunday and Tuesday afternoons and it was now Wednesday. It tends to be Simon and Timothy who play together, and Benjy plays near them or runs after them. Although Benjy talks a lot when he's just with the family, he doesn't say much around other people unless he knows them very well.
Anyway, at some point Benjy came to see me, to ask if they could have their afternoon biscuit. I said yes, and Benjy got up on a bench and started shouting, “Simon, time for a biscuit! Simon, come now! Come and have a biscuit! Come quickly!!” Simon and Timothy both came over to me, and Timothy said to me in a very surprised voice, “I didn't know Benjy could talk!”
I posted once before about the different names I can be known by here. In church yesterday, I was, as usual, hoping not to be asked to pray out loud in front of the whole church, but trying to listen carefully so that I would at least know if someone did ask me to. I was listening out for either “aboi Maaku” (Marc's wife) or “Maman Benja” (Benjamin's mum) or maybe even some version of Hilary. The guy who was leading the service said he wanted several people to pray, and I heard “kpaasi something” and thought “eh? Someone's friend?” (this being one meaning of “kpaasi”). I figured maybe he'd forgotten someone's name and so was saying “the person sitting next to so-and-so”. Then he looked straight at me and said, “Did you understand?” So in front of the whole church I said, “No!” Everyone laughed goodnaturedly, and he launched into a rather long explanation about how not many people had said things they were thankful for and so to express our deep-down thankfulness he wanted Jeannette and Fidèle to pray … and possibly someone else, but once again he didn't actually say my name (or “you”!).
So Jeannette and Fidèle prayed (and I was sitting there thinking, “Um, since I'm not sure I don't think I will pray!”) and after a pause the service leader prayed too.
Anyway, after the service Marc told me that I'd been called “woo kpaasi tia”, which, given the flexibility of the Monkolé language, could mean “translator” or could mean “the person who changes paper” (and possibly other things too!). Ah well, I guess they'll realise that if they want me to pray they need to make it completely clear that it's me they're talking to! Perhaps I should have done things Benjy's way, and not given away that I knew how to talk until it became really important!
The first thing is just something funny that happened last week. Simon (5) and Benjy (3) were playing with a friend, Timothy (5 ½). They don't see him a lot usually, but as we were in Parakou they had played with him on Sunday and Tuesday afternoons and it was now Wednesday. It tends to be Simon and Timothy who play together, and Benjy plays near them or runs after them. Although Benjy talks a lot when he's just with the family, he doesn't say much around other people unless he knows them very well.
Anyway, at some point Benjy came to see me, to ask if they could have their afternoon biscuit. I said yes, and Benjy got up on a bench and started shouting, “Simon, time for a biscuit! Simon, come now! Come and have a biscuit! Come quickly!!” Simon and Timothy both came over to me, and Timothy said to me in a very surprised voice, “I didn't know Benjy could talk!”
I posted once before about the different names I can be known by here. In church yesterday, I was, as usual, hoping not to be asked to pray out loud in front of the whole church, but trying to listen carefully so that I would at least know if someone did ask me to. I was listening out for either “aboi Maaku” (Marc's wife) or “Maman Benja” (Benjamin's mum) or maybe even some version of Hilary. The guy who was leading the service said he wanted several people to pray, and I heard “kpaasi something” and thought “eh? Someone's friend?” (this being one meaning of “kpaasi”). I figured maybe he'd forgotten someone's name and so was saying “the person sitting next to so-and-so”. Then he looked straight at me and said, “Did you understand?” So in front of the whole church I said, “No!” Everyone laughed goodnaturedly, and he launched into a rather long explanation about how not many people had said things they were thankful for and so to express our deep-down thankfulness he wanted Jeannette and Fidèle to pray … and possibly someone else, but once again he didn't actually say my name (or “you”!).
So Jeannette and Fidèle prayed (and I was sitting there thinking, “Um, since I'm not sure I don't think I will pray!”) and after a pause the service leader prayed too.
Anyway, after the service Marc told me that I'd been called “woo kpaasi tia”, which, given the flexibility of the Monkolé language, could mean “translator” or could mean “the person who changes paper” (and possibly other things too!). Ah well, I guess they'll realise that if they want me to pray they need to make it completely clear that it's me they're talking to! Perhaps I should have done things Benjy's way, and not given away that I knew how to talk until it became really important!
