You have probably all heard “laughter is the best medicine” and all I know is it sure helps get you through the day. One of the first things I was taught when I first moved here and started language study was to laugh at myself and be ok with being laughed at. How can we learn if we don’t put ourselves out there and sometimes make fools of ourselves?
Although my Wolof is a lot better than it was, I still have a lot to work on. There are a few guttural sounds in the Wolof alphabet that American English tongues struggle to make. I have tried to ignore my challenges with these sounds until recently while working with our literacy staff they translated a sentence that involved several of these sounds right after another. So, I gave it a try and they had no clue what I was trying to say. This began almost 15 minutes of me trying and failing to mimic them while they laughed so hard they were crying and falling out of their chairs. Hey, at least I provided entertainment for the staff. Prayers for my language learning appreciated.
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My mother in law from Illinois would call our house in Va. I would answer the phone, talk with the for maybe 10-15 minutes, then hand the phone to Debbie and she would have to translate it back to her! I finally asked her one day about this and she was such a kind lady, she said she did not want to hurt my feelings!! So, I am not going to be learning a new language anytime soon! Debbie tells me to just keep practicing English and pronunciation!!! Sometimes the best laughter is when you laugh at yourself!! Love you and praying for you!!