Jabbama!

So incase you were wondering, in Bafia English is not really spoken. Cameroon is a bilingual country but that does not mean that everyone speaks French and English - really there are 2 regions that are anglophone and the other 8 are francophone.

Most people do speak multiple languages though - usually a local language and then either French or English. So here in Bafia the local language is just called Bafia (to my knowledge) and then most people speak French. In Cameroon, there are over 200 local languages.

For Peace Corps training, language is a huge emphasis - in fact probably the area we spend the most time on. In the beginning everyone was in French class (at different levels). Then once you reach the minimum language level (Intermediate-High) and once you know your post, you can start learning any possible local languages. So for me (as I have reached my French requirement) so I have started taking different language classes - Fulfulde to be exact.

Fulfulde is the language spoken in the northern regions (Extreme North, North, and Adamaoua - my region). It is also spoken in other West African countries like Guinea. So Jabamma means 'welcome' in Fulfulde. Language classes are somewhat challenging even though I have learned other languages already (obviously French) because so we are learning Fulfulde but with French translations - no English. So it's a bit slow but going well. And for my site (Banyo) they do speak French there and I mean at my school the students and everyone will speak French but it will be helpful for me if I can use some Fulfulde - you know - help me integrate more.

But now back to language in general - as I said Bafia is spoken here and for example my host family speaks French but they also use the local language - like for prayer sometimes or songs - they have hymn books in the local language and even at church (I have gone a few times now - my host family is protestant) for example there will be 2 preachers - one will say a few lines in French and then the second one will translate to Bafia- kinda neat except the local language is nothing like French so I have no clue what they are saying - it's not like I can pick out words or anything.

Then as far as the French here goes (some people have asked about the dialect and vocab and such) I personally can't really tell a huge difference from the French I have learned or heard in France and here. The only thing would be that here they announciate a bit more and speak a little slower - so that is actually nice and helpful.

Oh and then for English - which I mean I am teaching English here so obviously people in my area (aka students) will speak some English - but even that is not quite the same - for one it is British English - so for example when I teach I need to make sure I follow that - so like 'colour, favourite, etc. And even then there are words that are just different - like they call peanuts here groundnuts in English - so again just being aware of those differences in language.

Overall the languages can be overwhelming and stressful at times - especially when you want to express something but you just can't find the words or maybe there is just no way to explain something - it's too different, too foreign - that can be frustrating so it is comforting and nice sometimes to just use English with other Americans. But at the same time it is very exciting/different to be completely surrounded by French and other languages.


Oh - and one last note - so apparently 'Kaitlyn' is very difficult for people to pronounce/understand ... here I am 'kaat' (like 'cat' but with a longer 'a') 'leen'. I've thought about even using a different name but most people end up just calling me 'Kait' - so that's semi-working for now but just found it interesting how some sounds just don't really exist in other languages thus making it diffiuclt for names to carry over.
Sey yesso!