Week Four: Slopes and/or Slumps

This week, I wasn’t terribly impressed with my Kinyarwanda study, but I’d like to think it was just a slump, and slumps happen. However, in the interest of climbing uphill once again, I hope to learn as much as possible from this slump, not necessarily to avoid encountering one again, because that’s ultimately not practical, but to at least lessen the strain it puts on my language study.

            Something that impacted my language study drastically was a visit home this past weekend, which led me to cram much of my study into last week, in order to make up for anticipated lost time over the weekend. Of course, such a method isn’t particularly feasible in the long-term, as it often resembles studying for studying’s sake, as opposed to studying for conversation’s sake, or better still, conversing for conversation’s sake. Again, this is an area of my study skills I will have to work on, that is, incorporating my study more fully into my life, as opposed to quarantining it off.

            Somewhat relatedly, I briefly discussed my language study with my family while I was home. I guess my father went to see a doctor, who told him he had been to Africa “X” amount of times (Reminder: Africa is a continent, not a country. Specificity matters!), which impressed him “X” amount. In response, he wanted to brag that his daughter could speak an African language, but he could not name the African language that I spoke, even after being prompted by the doctor. Of course, this could be an indication that my father knows/has very little interest in Africa, so he doesn’t always fully listen, nor retain, what I say about my studies; however, perhaps if I made a more conscious effort to discuss Kinyarwanda at the very least, information would be retained, and I would be held accountable, so long as they continued to ask about it.

            Speaking of accountability, I have continued speaking to my language partner, J, though it has still been through text-format. We have a Skype session scheduled for this Saturday, and I am excited, primarily because I think the extended text-chat had provided me with a certain amount of confidence in returning to the realm of oral chats. In addition, she allows me to ask questions about the language’s grammar, and she can frequently answer them. For instance, when enrolled in B’s intensive study of Kinyarwanda, he informed be that “igihe,” or time, is singular, so when telling someone to have a good time, you would say “ugire igihe cyiza.” This is still right, but since his time in country, the language has evolved, and now “ugire ibihe byiza” is also acceptable, as per J’s comment to me. When I asked her about it, she told me that it was to accommodate an understanding that I would experience multiple times or incidents and that she wished them all to be good. This is, of course, helpful, because it gives me insight into the language, but having a language partner in-situ provides me access with the most current form of the language, how it is being today and sometimes why.

            Now, I return to climbing uphill.