Language Acquisition Made "Fun" (LAMF)

I must say, I was less than enthusiastic about going to Windhoek for MORE training. Granted, all of the preparation that AIM has provided for us has been for our benefit as well as for the benefit of those we serve and therefore necessary and even a blessing. Frankly though I was ready to be beyond that "training" phase and settle in here! But, LAMP (Language Acquisition Made Practical) is required by AIM so, I submitted my attitude to the Lord and tried to make the best of it. I actually ended up enjoying our time in Windhoek quite a bit and LAMP tuned out to be kind of fun!

The major premise of LAMP is learning language through relationships, not through book learning. Though we ultimately need to learn Afrikaans here in Arandis, the language we learned there was Otjiherero. Half of our time at LAMP was spent going out into a portion of Windhoek populated largely by Otjiherero speaking people where we had the chance to use the phrases we were learning. It was amazing to see people open up as we white Americans greeted them in their mother tongue!

One day when we were sent out, it was lunch time and we followed our noses to an area where there were lots of vendors preparing delicious looking meats and breads in the traditional styles over open fires. It was quite an experience! In one area there were whole portions of freshly butchered sides of beef, etc. I was SO glad we had missed the actual butchering time! I could barely handle the sounds of the dying chickens in the restaurant we visited in Kenya! But, the men would just cut off big pieces of beef and throw them on the fire. For a few Namibian dollars they would then cut off bite sized pieces for you which you could then stand there and dip into piles of seasoning and salt they had setting there. The meat was quite tasty. I don't think I've ever had meat so fresh.

But.... back to our language learning experience. So, here we were, completely out of place, smiling and proudly trying out our newly aquired phrases on anyone and everyone. "Wao hara!" I would say, which means "Good afternoon!". But why were people ignoring us or worse, snickering and talking to each other in words I couldn't understand? We continued undaunted. "Wao hara!" we said, "Wao hara!" (note from Steve: by "we" Karrie means her and some others... I wasn't saying that to anyone 'cause I knew better :-) ) Once in awhile we were rewarded with "Nawa, nawa." which was the expected response. But it seemed that people generally either didn't understand or were refusing to respond to us. .

Finally Steve and I sat down on a bench to rest. A gentleman came, sat down and began a conversation with us. He said he was Herero but that we were not in a Herero area which is why people weren't responding the way we'd hoped. OOPS. Since he was Herero he humored us by allowing us to practice our great (ha,ha!) language skills on him. Then he offered to walk us to a Herero area and not only walked us there but acted as our guide, introducing us to everyone he knew and even taking us to see some Himba (who are also Otjiherero speaking, and are ones who live out away from cities and a lifestyle pretty well free from any modern conveniences)! He seemed to have a wealth of knowledge on Namibian history and Herero culture. We learned SO much! He told us we must be very poor though since we had no cows. I proudly told him my family in the US had about five cows and he let me know that someone with only five cows should be very ashamed to tell people that because they must be very poor. Sorry Lonnie and Mom! Seriously, we were very humbled by this man's willingness to spend his day with us, asking nothing in return.What a fantastic day we had with our newfound friend!

Fast forward a week. So, now, here I am back in Arandis, freshly inspired in my Afrikaans learning. Taking walks out in the community, to the market and to visit people to practice my Afrikaans has become my new hobby. It is such fun and so rewarding as people respond with joy at hearing me attempt their language! At first I feared the idea- wondering what people would think and how they would respond. But everyone has been so encouraging, helpful and kind. Yesterday morning, I took a walk to the market to buy ingredients for a birthday cake. On the way back, I stopped to practice my Afrikaans on this lady selling homemade curtains. She asked me where I was from and became very excited when I told her the US. She has spent 20 years in the US, loved it and loves Americans. She came back, she said, to care for children in need here. Currently she cares for fourteen children in her humble, Arandis-sized house. I couldn't resist and invited her to come to our house for dinner last night. What a WONDERFUL treat. I feel like I found a diamond because this woman truly is a jewel. Some of her life experiences inlude: being the wife of an ambassador to the US (formerly), being involved in the independence fight, and currently running a day care and shelter for orphans and vulnerable children in Windhoek. We ate and talked for nearly four hours after which I drove her home where I got to see many of the children. I am liking this language learning thing.


-Karrie