Saturday December, 13th –Mafa language

I have decided today that I am going to have to get a Mafa tutor. While I had planned to only find a Fulfulde tutor and focus on that for the first 3-6 months until it’s more solid before beginning Mafa, I’m realizing that it’s just not practical. 85% of the village or more is Mafa, and while the also understand Fulfulde, all the conversations around me are Mafa. I have no idea what people are saying. This is slightly frustrating as I worry that I won’t get to progress as much in Fulfulde, and I hate the idea of starting from scratch again. I wanted to really leap ahead in Fulfulde at village, so that I became fluent-ish in the first 3 months or so, and when I found out the town was Mafa and not Foulbe, during site visit I was pretty sad, and jealous of the other volunteers placed in Foulbe villages where they were constantly surrounded by Fulfulde. But that’s not the reality. So instead I can look at it optimistically as an opportunity to learn yet another language and dive in with focus and effort. The good thing is that at least the two languages sound really different, so that I don’t think I will get them mixed up in terms of vocabulary. Mafa is very staccato-ish, with a lot of G’s and Z’s so much that I keep thinking it should be Gizigah, another Northern patois. However it could be possible that I cross grammar rules if they’re different, between the two. I just have to locate a Mafa and Fulfulde tutor in village now, perhaps 3 days/week Mafa, 3 days a week Fulfulde. It’s daunting realizing all the vocabulary I’ve learned for Fulfulde, now I will have to relearn…things like lamp and water and well and dog and thank you and how are you. But it can be done, and since it has to be done, I will do it. Language, indeed, is an opening into both a culture and acceptance. As I’ve seen with Fulfulde, if you speak someone’s patois, they are overjoyed and much more welcoming. And in addition, if you know how to say “how are you” they say “oh you know Fulfulde really well!” I try to say, “no no, my Fulfulde is little, it’s little’, and they argue, “no, no you know a lot, you must have been here for years and years”. And I say, “no, 2 months”. And they say, “No it’s not possible”. Ah languages. At least I love them. Even if I’ll have to be dedicating myself to a lot of work for a language I will never use again. Yet, it will be a key to developing relationships here, so of course, worth more than gold. But prayers, prayers, I will accept! J