Little by Little

“fere fere,” or little by little, is a phrase often used to describe my language learning. much like building relationships. it’s small, but it’s there and takes time. in fact, they go hand in hand. any opportunity to visit with a friend is an opportunity for language, and in the process of learning language, i’m gaining a friend. 

just this week, i was visiting ava, a young lady that attends our english class. as i walked my bike past the borehole pump and to her house, her children started screaming in moru, "ndi nwa (that's me) is here. ndi nwa is here!" they were jumping all around and chanting with excitement. i felt like a mistaken celebrity.

ava, busying herself with sweeping and making a fire for tea, urged me to sit down under the mango tree. her three children quickly gathered around me. unis, the oldest, sat on the mat below me, contented to play with the small beads at the bottom of my skirt. martin, the only boy, ran around us steering the metal rim of a wheel with a stick. and the ever vivacious, foto, sat in my lap and simply giggled.  

since ava’s english is limited and my moru is still in the beginners phase, our conversation wasn’t exactly easy flowing. we both seemed to know that speaking slowly, repeating, and gesturing were the keys to our communication. we would often come to a point where we would not understand the other, and resolve to laughing. after a while, my language skills tend to run dry, and i begin to dig deep for phrases or vocabulary to try out... i ask her when the mangos would be ready to eat and comment on the hot sun. i ask the children what they are doing, they laugh. and when all else fails, i begin pointing and practicing my favorite moru phrase, “what is this?”

my sentences often come out as a muddled up mess of nouns, verbs and pronouns, incorrectly ordered and omitting words i don’t know. one of three responses usually follow. a blank stare, a laugh followed by an encouraging lie “good moru!”, or a rephrasing of what i meant to say in the right order. 

it’s days like this that i look forward to. laughing and learning together. everyone is genuinely encouraging and excited for the small moru i am learning. just as much as i am reaching out for friendship here, i feel it reciprocated. and that’s enough to give me patience in the process and hope for what God is doing through me here, little by little.