01 2 / 2012
SNL abroad
In Mookane clinic we have a doctor from the Congo, Dr. Citeya. He speaks French, English, and two Congolese languages. At first I was excited, thinking how great it will be to have an ally in my pursuit of learning Setswana as an outsider, but now I realize we have other language barriers to overcome.
The funny thing is, while we both technically speak English, it seems like it is impossible for him to understand me. I have changed my speaking patterns to be slow, and I’m careful to enunciate well, but every time I talk he can’t understand. He turns to my counterpart Ernest and waits for Ernest to say the same thing I just said. The thing is I can’t for the life of me understand why he understands Ernest better, since he will just repeat the same thing I just said. The whole thing is like an SNL skit. Too bad I don’t know French…
