language

So I finally made it to Malingunde and my intensive language course. It kept getting shorter—before I left I thought it would be the first 3 months. Then one month and then 2 weeks and we’d see how it went and if I needed to return for another stint I could…I arrived at Annamarie’s and she had a program for 10 days…but the last day wouldn’t work for James to pick me up again so 9 days of intensive training…and it was intense. 4 hours of grammar lessons each morning then each afternoon to the village down the road to practice with an amai (mother/wife) there. So now I’ve got a basis to put it all together but I find that they still talk way too fast—well I was told that I listen too slowly so that is something that I have to work on. I can often take the sentences apart if I can hear it but it seems to take so long to get the meaning and then to respond…guess I’m just not used to learning from scratch or in a crash course.
The first day we arrived about lunchtime and Annamarie had scheduled me from 9am so I was already late! But we ate and then she took me to meet Amai Chigaga who would be my guide into Malawian culture and village life. The first thing to do was to meet the village chief (female mfumu!) and thank her for letting me learn in her village. Then off to the fields! We harvested groundnuts (peanuts—mtedza). Using the small hoe (khasu) to dig (kukumba), take them off the plants (kutotola), carry them back to the house on my head—well supported with my hands as I need more practice to balance (kusenza), get water from the pump to wash them (kusuka), make a fire (kusankha moto) to cook them (kuphika). They were pretty good boiled groundnuts. Back at the house after dinner we had the grammar catch up on the fact that it is a very tonal language which she said I mimicked well but I still find it very hard to actually hear the difference…