It was fun to be in class again on Wednesday, and revise the many words, phrases and expressions that we had learnt since the class began five weeks ago. Somehow, we all seemed to have grown on the Yoruba expressions and they don’t sound any strange as they probably did to the ears of the new students when I first walked into the class on that first day.

220920091368Yesterday, we had class practices of oral conversations. The students were paired with each other and they took turns to display their knowledge of conversation techniques by dramatizing the scenario of a chance meeting by two previously unfamiliar strangers meeting on the streets of Osogbo or any other Yoruba town.

Speaker A: Káàro o.

Speaker B: Káàro. Sé àláfíà ni?

Speaker A: Dáadáa ni/Adúpé/Àlàáfíà ni o. Ìwó nko?

Speaker B: A dúpé. Kíni orúko re?

Speaker A: Orúko mi ni Títilayò. Kíni orúko tìre?

Speaker B: Orúko mi ni Babafemi. Níbo lo n gbé?

Speaker A: Mo n gbé ní Collinsville. Kíni orúko àbúrò re?

Speaker B: Orúko àbúrò mi ni _______/Mi ò ní àbúrò. Ìwo nko?

Speaker A: Orúko rè ni _________. Ègbón mélòó lo ní?

Speaker B: Mo ní ègbon méjì. Ó dàbò.

Speaker A: Ó dàárò. Inú mi dùn láti mo é.

…and other short phrases improvised for conversation.

As far as elementary knowledge of the language is concerned, we have not done badly so far. Our areas of improvement include pronunciation. Many students still found the word “GBÉ” hard to pronounce, even though they could pronounce the English word “RUGBY” quite effortlessly. Can someone tell me why? In the next class, we will be in the computer lab to do get these expressions on tape, voiced by the students themselves. It is going to be a fun experience.

PS: According to the result of the web poll on the right side of this blog, I need to spend more time talking about my class sessions more than I talk about myself. I will keep that in mind as I go on, but I will occasionally have to share my personal experiences as they relate to my appreciation of the programme as a whole. Thank you for voting. I will appreciate as many more votes as possible. This is a chance for me to know what thrills you and what doesn’t. If you haven’t voted, you can still do so. The poll is on the right side of the blog homepage.