Tag: second language

I’m happy to announce that PST is quickly approaching its end. We are less than one week away from officially swearing in as Peace Corps volunteers. I am very excited to move to my permanent site, and start settling in. This past week, my training cohort and I completed another series of interviews to assess our readiness to serve as Peace Corps volunteers. One of those interviews was the Language Proficiency Interview, or LPI. It’s a special feeling to be sitting across from the tester, and not knowing what is being said.

We have been going to language lessons between four to six times per week since mid-June. Learning siSwati has presented various challenges for me. I am not fluent in any language other than English. I know some pleasantries in Spanish, and bit less in French and Russian. One of the things that initially scared me about siSwati is that it’s a tonal language with clicks. The language has many more complexities than I initially thought. There’s the subject-verb agreement, which I am used to. Then, there’s something called the subject concord, which also has to agree. I won’t get into that.

While I find siSwati challenging, I also find it intriguing. Like many languages, there are words that don’t translate directly. For example, there is no direct translation for “respiratory therapy” in siSwati. Instead, a siSwati speaker would say “one who helps with illnesses of the chest”. Contrast this with the word, “divorce”. There is no translation, direct or otherwise, for “divorce”. I have also learned that there is no direct or indirect translation for “affair” (as in the extramarital type) or “orgasm”. Then, there’s a siSwati word, tsandza. Tsandza means “like”, as in “I like chicken”. But tsandza also means love, because there is no proper siSwati word for love. So, ngitsandza inkhukhu could mean “I like chicken”, or “I love chicken”.

It was also a transition to get used to how words are made into plurals. In English, there is one dog, but two dogs. In siSwati, there is one inja, but two tinja. In English, you have one sister, and two brothers. In siSwati, you have one sisi, and two bobhuti.

Overall, it’s been great learning the language. Everyone has been very kind and patient with my language learning struggles and triumphs. This includes the lady who didn’t get angry or upset when I insisted on her giving me a wife, when I thought I was trying to order a fatcake (a delicious, fried doughy pastry).

Thank you very much, or Ngiyabonga kakhulu.

Be kind to yourself.
Onward.

P.s. – Uyasikhuluma singisi? translates into “do you speak English?”