A volunteer who finished his time here soon after I arrived
said that Peace Corps volunteers learn two languages when they come here:
Sesotho and Basotho English. At the time it struck me as a kind of arrogant
thing to say, but after being here for eight months, I can say definitively
that he was absolutely correct. What follows is a list of commonly used phrases
here that either made me laugh or go “wah?” until I understood what they meant.
“Madame, I am asking for the keys”, instead of
actually asking.
“Do you use the lentils?”, meaning, “do you eat
lentils?”
“The noise was for us”, meaning, “it was us making
the noise.”
Similarly, It is the shirt/ball/exercise book for Thabang
means “it is Thabang’s shirt.”
“Silly” is a negative word here, meaning stupid or
lazy or careless.
Overuse of the word, “just”, as in “Where are you
going?” “I’m just going to Mapaseka’s house.”
“Will you borrow me your pen?”
Saying “Famous” to mean “popular.”
“You are like so wow” basically means you look
goooooood.
“ahch, these people”( said in a dismissive tone),
referring to the kids we teach. It’s just kind of a general way of dismissing
student’s abilities.
…and here’s something for kicks that my friend Khutsi said
the other day: “I will see you when I look at you”.
Here are the winners in grade 5 and 6 of the most checks on
my behavioral/participation chart. Their reward is getting their picture hung
up in the classroom, which they LOVE
The group names that they chose for themselves are the
captions.
Kentucky |
Fish and Chips |
Brazil So the Basotho English thing definitely makes teaching proper English difficult, but the kiddos make it worth it. Khotso. |
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