Have you ever taken for granted being able to verbally
communicate with someone? As a social
work student I have had experiences where I had clients that I was unable to
communicate with through words. It was a
challenge, but I found creative ways to express myself and receive the child’s
expressions as well without using verbal language. Sometimes we would use pictures, drawings, or
objects to communicate. Other times a
simple smile or hand gesture would be enough to build an understanding.
I suppose I had considered the idea that I would be
traveling to a part of the world where others may not speak the same language
as me. I realized long before I left
that I would have to make a good faith effort to speak the language of the
region that I was living in to gain the respect and trust of people living
there. At times it felt uncomfortable to not be able to share in
the language that others were speaking.
At other times it was frustrating to not be able to quickly and easily
soothe someone’s concerns as I stumbled through explaining it half in Ewe and
half in English and an extra 1/3rd in hand gestures or
pictures. I was mainly frustrated with
my own self perceived incompetence in using all of my resources to communicate
effectively. After a few weeks though, I
began to see the humor in it. It is
quite funny how even small phrases or words can take on so many different
meanings in different cultures. Some of
my favorite stories to share with friends and family at home were these “simple
miscommunications”
- Woman of the Night: One day a gentleman in the community had called me a woman of the night. Initially I was quite put off by this comment as in the United States this implies somewhat illegal and less than mainstream behaviors. After a few moments and questioning him some more I found that, he simply intended to tell me that he had seen me walking out after dark with some friends. I chuckled with this realization that a miscommunication had occurred especially in light of the fact that it got dark around 6:30pm where we lived.
- Food Poisoning: A handful of us living in the house became ill one week. I assumed it was likely something that I ate that my stomach simply didn’t agree with. It was nothing that I hadn’t experienced before. Others became much more ill than I was and we all became concerned. One person had mentioned that the illnesses may be caused by food poisoning. This alarmed a lot of people as they began to run through their heads why someone would want to poison and harm volunteers. Food poisoning for us meant that we may have eaten some spoiled food…another simple miscommunication and an opportunity to share a laugh.
- Flash Me: This was one of the first miscommunications that I encountered. I was at a local hang out and spending time with some newly made friends when one gentleman said to me… “Just flash me!” I was completely caught off guard by this. In the United States someone would likely take this to mean that they were asking you to expose body parts to them. Red faced I asked , “What?!? I’m not sure I just heard you right.” To which I got the reply, you know flash me with your phone…it all began to make sense now! Flash me meant ring me or call me on my phone.
Here are a few other brief tidbits to keep in mind:
Washroom = bathroom or where you would use the toilet
Fine = if someone says they are fine this is a good thing
and they are often doing well
Chips = French fries
Rubber = plastic bag
You are Welcome = more often used as a sign of
greeting. It is a respectful way to
welcome someone who has come to see you and is much more often used than Hello
or Hi
No comments:
Post a Comment