The language barrier...

It’s “sort of” English… and I’ve heard it described as “broken English”, “bastardized English” and “an English dialect”. Krio is the predominant language here in Freetown… but is it a language on it’s own or is it a form of what we know as “proper” English? I have to admit, I’m struggling with this aspect of life here…

At times I feel like I’m speaking a different language… and at times I feel like I’m speaking a “broken” or “improper” version of what I learned in public school. My colleague, Sulakshana, said she feels “dumber” when she attempts to speak Krio and I know exactly what she means. And, I don’t know if I should be correcting the written version of Krio or if that’s what people understand as “English”. I wonder about “the Queen’s English” and I wonder about the many different forms of English I keep hearing.

I had dinner with two Americans the other night and Doug, a legal intern from the southern States, brought up the issue of “American English” vs the Queen’s English… and what we speak in Canada – “proper” English… or so we like to think. At another dinner engagement, I overheard some folks from the U.K. who obviously had a good grasp of the English language, accent and all.

I can’t tell you how many newspaper articles I’ve started to read and then given up on… because 1) the writing is so “bad” or 2) the structure is impossible to follow or 3) I just don’t understand the language. Is it written in English? Or, is it “bad” English? Or is it the English most Sierra Leoneons understand as “proper” English?

Here’s an example of something that ran in the paper just the other day. I think I know what the writer is trying to say… but it’s so awkward I couldn’t read past this paragraph. Oh, to clarify… Zain is a mobile phone/internet provider here in Sierra Leone.

“The sales profile of GSM operator Zain has nose-dived from the twelve billion Leones monthly margin to a paltry one billion Leones. Why this is happening for three months running, cannot be explained in terms of isolated global financial shock reflecting on the local economy.”

And here’s another example… taken straight from an e-mail sent by a fourth year mass communications student at a local college. I can’t decide if the barriers are language-based or simply a lack of literacy skills.

“am very much happy with your trainnig worskhop at fatima confrence hall , really we are much more inpress with the trainnig , because of this reason, i have total love for you , and admired at you so much keep it up Stephen i have never been in the professon but through your inpressive traing that you have given to us , i have love, concern and interest over the field , i discused with mitthew that i want to join you in your office an work, i need your direction and help hoping you to reply thanks from friend”

Here’s a snippet from a conversation I had in a taxi the other day… Driver: “how de day?” Response: “Day fine, how da day?” And, when I was getting out of the car, on the wrong side, apparently. Driver: “Take time, take time.” Which means be careful… and then, after I was safely on the side of the road he said, “go see come” which means “see you later”. And, spray-painted on walls I’ll sometimes read, “Nor da piss ya” which means, and I’m sure you got it, “don’t urinate here”.

And, while on the back of an okada I was instructed to say, “small small” which means to slow down and be careful… I guess I could also have also said, “take time, take time”. As you can imagine, Noam Chomsky and other esteemed linguists would have a field day in a place like this.

Of course, there’s also the local tribal languages… Mendes in the southern provinces and Temne (pronounced Temini) in the north. Freetown offers a cultural and linguistic melting pot… which makes for some interesting eavesdropping.

But, in any and all languages, conversation is usually animated, sometimes loud bordering on shouting and complete with arm waving and open hand gestures. Emphatic is how I’d describe all the languages spoken in Sierra Leone. And, emphasis is one thing I always understand… with a smile, a handshake and nod.

Smiling and nodding…
Stephen