Bamanankan

One of the major difficulties I have an encountered in Mali is language. I switch between french, english, and bambara all day, everyday, so my english is getting worse, bambara is becoming recognizable, and my french is getting more conversational, but still gramatically not great.

I have enjoyed learning bambara (or bamanankan) since it is the language of the biggest ethnic group, and most people's first or only language. The other languages in Mali, and many others in West Africa, are related to Bambara so I supposedly could also understand them, but I don't really believe that. It does at least comfort me to know that this language could be spoken elsewhere.

Bambara has a lot of quirks that make learning it quite fun, and insightful into Malian culture. For example:

~there is no word for late (you're just 'not early')

~there aren't different verb conjugations for different subjects, making it a lot easier than english or french

~the words often are made by combining two others. 'den' (child) is a common addition to the ends of words so, for example, students are children of study (kalandenw), Malians are children of mali (malidenw), and fruits are children of the tree.

~you can often lake a french word malian by spelling it phonetically and adding i to the end. chair = chaise = sezi.

~they repeat words all the time for emphasis.

~there is no negative response to 'how are you?'

I walk to school each morning, and therefore exchange many greetings on teh way, since I say hi to everyone, like a vrai malian. Just for fun, here is a literal translation of a typical conversation:

me: you and the morning!

them: My power! Family members?

m: No problems with them.

t: You are healthy?

m: No problems.

t: Did you pass the night peacefully?

m: Peace.

It can go on longer, depending on the person, but I can now fire out that conversation like it's nothing since I practice it many times each morning. Since I walk the same route every morning, people now know my name and I'm trying to learn theirs, but there are a ton of them, and only two toubabous (white folk) who walk that way for them to remember, so I don't feel too bad if I forget. Little kids run after me chanting toubabou often...it seems to be a game that never gets old. I don't mind, it is better than when I am walking through the market and keep hearing hisses and 'La blanche' (the white). That gets annoying instantly.

I am slower at learning everything beyond greetings, but I can do basic bartering, ask for directions and tell a bus driver to stop, so I have the useful things down. I need to start studying for my bambara final coming up...it is the only one I am worried about. And yes, I am already starting to talk about finals, since they are just over a week away, and then I am done with classes for the semester. After finals, I go on the Grand Excursion to other parts of Mali and then am doing independent research while volunteering in a clinic for the last month. Time is flying!