I am Learning Luo …
For the past week Erin, Lindsay and I have been taking Luo language lessons- one hour, every morning. Luo is the predominant language spoken in northern Uganda. For this region of the country there are three main dialects: Acholi, Langi and Nebbi, which happens to also be the name given to the people here. It gets a little confusing but Luo is of the Nilotic language family and it’s even spoken in parts of Sudan and Kenya!
It’s just more exciting to learn in this setting than to sit in a classroom following a generic curriculum.
I’ve always had trouble learning Spanish back home. I would learn a long list of vocabulary words and conjugations, picking up tricks here and there to help me remember … but the drive wasn’t there. Even having a Mexican-American best friend to talk with didn’t motivate me! My frustration with moving at the same pace as every other Spanish class fueled my desire to learn a different language. We were never allowed to slow down for a section that was giving us trouble or speed past those things that we already knew. If you weren’t on the same page as the other classes, you weren’t following the rules. My instructors didn’t have the freedom to use their own teaching styles which made me feel constrained … When and if they did deviate it was like a breath of fresh air, but most of the time if was like Charlie Brown’s teacher [insert sound effects here].
BUT I haven’t given up on Spanish, especially when Luo sounds so much like it (with a little French and Chinese twist) it’s so interesting!
Being immersed in the Acholi culture has given me a real advantage and a huge opportunity to learn more than I ever would in the classroom.
When I can get up every morning, a little past sunrise, and have the coolness of the day usher me to my lessons … When I can say “Wan Nen” to my friends instead of “See you later”… And when I can be set apart from all other foreigners because I’m simply trying to learn … It just feels right.
And it’s more fun!
I’ve found that truly learning a language creates laughter … and I’ve smiled more and more since starting my lessons :)
For the past week Erin, Lindsay and I have been taking Luo language lessons- one hour, every morning. Luo is the predominant language spoken in northern Uganda. For this region of the country there are three main dialects: Acholi, Langi and Nebbi, which happens to also be the name given to the people here. It gets a little confusing but Luo is of the Nilotic language family and it’s even spoken in parts of Sudan and Kenya!
It’s just more exciting to learn in this setting than to sit in a classroom following a generic curriculum.
I’ve always had trouble learning Spanish back home. I would learn a long list of vocabulary words and conjugations, picking up tricks here and there to help me remember … but the drive wasn’t there. Even having a Mexican-American best friend to talk with didn’t motivate me! My frustration with moving at the same pace as every other Spanish class fueled my desire to learn a different language. We were never allowed to slow down for a section that was giving us trouble or speed past those things that we already knew. If you weren’t on the same page as the other classes, you weren’t following the rules. My instructors didn’t have the freedom to use their own teaching styles which made me feel constrained … When and if they did deviate it was like a breath of fresh air, but most of the time if was like Charlie Brown’s teacher [insert sound effects here].
BUT I haven’t given up on Spanish, especially when Luo sounds so much like it (with a little French and Chinese twist) it’s so interesting!
Being immersed in the Acholi culture has given me a real advantage and a huge opportunity to learn more than I ever would in the classroom.
When I can get up every morning, a little past sunrise, and have the coolness of the day usher me to my lessons … When I can say “Wan Nen” to my friends instead of “See you later”… And when I can be set apart from all other foreigners because I’m simply trying to learn … It just feels right.
And it’s more fun!
I’ve found that truly learning a language creates laughter … and I’ve smiled more and more since starting my lessons :)
Image: Sunset in Gulu
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