“Wolof lay jang, ndank, ndank.” This translates to “I learn Wolof slowly”. My language training group says this phrase so often that one of our families actually made a song out of it. I’ve been learning to speak Wolof for three weeks, and I am recalling how frustrating it is to learn a language from scratch. It’s not that I feel like our language group isn’t progressing fast enough (because we’ve come a long way in three weeks), but rather, how nice it would be to be able to maturely express myself. It would be nice to able to speak like I actually went to college instead of only having the vocabulary of an 8 year old. Wolof is not a written language, but the most commonly spoken language in Senegal. In fact, it’s pretty much only spoken in Senegal. Communication is so critical for being effective in any endeavor, both in day-to-day activities and conducting successful project, which is why I really want to learn Wolof well.
In general, it is a pretty fun language to learn and apparently the easiest to learn among all the other local languages spoken in Senegal (Pulaar, Fulakunda, Pulafuta, Sereer, Mandinka, Jaxase). I feel like once the basics are mastered, than the rest should come fairly easily. Wolofs are generally pretty expressive and loud, which makes learning the language pretty fun. Greetings seem to take forever (both in Wolof and Senegal in general). Here is a sample greeting to someone you would just run into on the street:
A: Asalaa maalekum Peace be with you
B: Maalekum Salaam Peace be with you
A: Nanga def? How are you?
B: Maangi fi rekk. Yaangiy fi? I’m here/ fine. Are you fine?
A: Woow. Maangi fi rekk. Yes, I’m fine.
B: Ca va? How are you (in French)?
A: Oui, ca va. Yes, I’m fine.
B: Naka sa duguda? What’s up? (Informal)
A: Maangi dala. Naka waa ker gi? Not much. How’s your family?
B: Nungi fi. They are fine.
A: Naka sa yaay? How is your mother?
B: Mungi fi. She is fine.
A: Ak sa pape? And your father?
B. Woow, mungi fi. Jamm nga fanaane? Yes, he is fine. Did you spend the night in Peace?
A. Jamm rekk. Naka suba si? Peace only. How is your morning?
B. Jamm rekk. Peace only.
A. Naka tangaay wi? How is the heat?
B. Woow. Dafa tang! Yes. It’s hot!
A: Yaangiy noos? Are you having fun?
B. Maangiy noos tutti rekk. I’m having a little bit of fun.
It can go on, but you get the point. Often times, people will just spit out these phrases over each other without actually taking the time to listen to what the other one is saying. It’s quite humorous. Wolof also has a lack of words / phrases like “bon appetite”, “good luck”, “that’s interesting”, “safe travels”, but they have a verb “to pick lice out of one’s hair” (teenn) and a verb “to go to the tailor to get clothes made” (nnawlu). Also, to say, “it’s been a long time since I’ve…” all you have to say is “gej naa…” Sometimes, learning the language isn’t so bad and then there are days when your brain cannot function and speaking and hearing Wolof is the hardest thing in the world. I am really looking forward to the day where I feel like I can actually function quite decently in Senegal with my Wolof.
Amul jafe jafe – No problem!
Me with my LCF (Wolof teacher) in our usual "classroom" setting.
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