Re: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a good read!

[Maandera]

Hmmm. Before reading this article, I had read another blog about 4 years
ago of an American also living in Arua and struggling to learn Lugbara.
That one was less dramatic than this one. But I'd also heard of people
saying Lugbara is a difficult language to learn. This had actually gotten
me thinking: Can't you try to make learning Lugbara easier? I made an
outline and soon foxed out, not with "After all the grapes are sour" but
with a barrage of: "After all that is a relative statement. All languages
are difficult to learn. Try a click language and tell me it is easy. Try
the French which is spoken through the nose. . . etc, etc"

Well, this blog got me updating my draft again based on some of the issues
pointed out in it. I am not yet finished. What got me particularly thinking
was how to best address the challenge of that apt comparison with Chinese -
due to the tonality of the language and the fact that we have several
dialects, which makes it a very rich and admittedly "confusing" language.
Allow me another foxing: Who says English or Dutch is not confusing?


As an English language teacher myself, I got loads of examples to which I
have no explanation or justification apart from saying, "Sorry, but
exceptions confirm the rule!" Why do the English for example say, the
singular form of the verb *to-be* is "*is*" and yet when you meet one
person (that is singular, for sure) you as "How *are* you?" as if there is
more than one person you are talking to? And the English have the audacity
to say that is "Correct English"! Don't tell me the word *wound* in the
following sentence has one and only one meaning: The nurse *wound* the
bandage around the *wound* of the *wounded* boy. And why should the plural
of *box* be bo*xes* and the one of ox be "ox*en*" and not "ox*es*"? And why
should a *driv**er* be a person, yet *cooker* is a thing for cooking and
the person is a *Cook* and what the *cook* does is to *cook*? They also
confuse us! But, that's the beauty and uniqueness of languages anyhow. The
more reason why people learn languages.


On a serious note: As many people have said, the article indeed made me see
some things differently. For example, that Lugbara is a visual language.
Hmmm. House-stomach! True, indeed. Visual and descriptive. That should make
it even easier to learn. Common language teachers, let's do something to
make this thing more palatable for those who want to get a different peek
into our culture - through the language.

The time keeping, I agree is something that is kind of "different" and
often works against us. Not only the Lugbara but Ugandans. Did you read
that article of the Teso youth protesting their MPs appearing at 6.30pm for
a meeting that was scheduled for 3pm. My foot. We still have something to
learn from the positive aspects of other cultures, which may enrich the
positives in ours.


Overall, it was some good food for thought and rib-breaking.

Thank you George.








On Fri, Apr 26, 2013 at 7:56 AM, Santorino Data wrote:

> Great piece of writing indeed.
> This made my morning and now I understand why I spent 6 years in Arua and
> still struggle to speak the language - confusion just that needs very
> meticulous attention to detail and context even though I was from across
> the Lugbara border in Kakwa land
>
>
> *Dr. Data Santorino
> **Lecturer Department of Pediatrics and Child Health
> Mbarara University of Science and Technology
> Uganda.*
>
>   --
>  *From:* Anyole J 
> *To:* George Afi Obitre-Gama ; A Virtual Network for
> friends of West Nile ; A Virtual Network for friends
> of West Nile 
> *Sent:* Thursday, April 25, 2013 7:21 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2
> cents-a good read!
>
> This is a very interesting piece. It is always nice to see things from an
> out-siders perspective and make sense of things we are usually oblivious
> to, house-mouth, za-mva, et all!
>
> The piece does bring out some things that worry anthropologist too,
> cultures are gradually getting eroded "traditions have been changing here
> as the pressure of our Western culture pervades and invades." as well, it
> high lights some issues that continue to plague us, such as time keeping,
> which has itself not been eroded by the same western culture.
>
> Thanks for sharing this, it did make my day that more interesting, got me
> thinking. One of these days, "I'll beat my vernacular teacher a phone"
>
> Anyole
>
>   --
>  *From:* George Afi Obitre-Gama 
> *To:* A Virtual Network for friends of West Nile 
> *Sent:* Thursday, April 25, 2013 4:12:31 AM
> *Subject:* [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2
> cents-a good read!
>
> A new year, a new language, more 
> confusion
> Why can't everyone speak English?
> 16.01.2013 [image: sunny] 30 °C
> Learning a new language and culture is like discovering a new world,
> opening your eyes

Re: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a good read!

[Mickson Abati]

"I ENTER FOR ME"(Afi)  Kirikirisi  'Di ndediniyo" .The Piece of the year.Hee.

--- On Fri, 26/4/13, burua aldo  wrote:


From: burua aldo 
Subject: Re: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a 
good read!
To: "George Afi Obitre-Gama" , "A Virtual Network for 
friends of West Nile" , "A Virtual Network for friends of 
West Nile" 
Date: Friday, 26 April, 2013, 6:11





Many people I have interacted with describe the Lugbara's as friendly, sociable 
and honest people but have had difficulty embracing the culture because of the 
complex language. This is the uniqueness about us which I had not realized. I 
implore the great anthropologists and linguists hailing from West Nile to 
document and let our people know     
Going back to one of my favorite words, "odu" that has several meanings to the 
furthest extent you can stretch your mind. You only need to change the 
intonation and probably a phrase before or after and "odu" will mean; Oil, 
sleep, day of the week/month, a certain wild fruit (commonly eaten by monkeys), 
leopard, thigh, bad omen, long ago and probably cockroach interesting 
indeed.

Aldo







From: George Afi Obitre-Gama 
To: A Virtual Network for friends of West Nile  
Sent: Thursday, 25 April 2013, 13:12
Subject: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a 
good read!






A new year, a new language, more confusion
Why can't everyone speak English?
16.01.2013  30 °C 

Learning a new language and culture is like discovering a new world, opening 
your eyes and mind to completely amazing and strange ideas, some shocking, some 
fascinating, most unexpected.
Since the beginning of the new year, we have a new teacher, Eunice, who is 
hoping to make us into fluent Lugbara speakers within a few months… Lugbara is 
the local tribe in Arua, one of the 10 largest tribes in Uganda (out of a total 
of 34 ethnicities). The Lugbara are a tribe descended from Nigeria to settle 
here. Their territory extends around Arua and into the Democratic Republic of 
Congo, so families have been split by the arbitrary political boundaries drawn 
by the Europeans in Berlin in 1884. 
Disconcertingly, we seem to be a source of great amusement for most of the 
ex-pats when we tell them we are taking this time to study Lugbara. “Good 
luck”, they tell us. They then go on to tell you a story of someone who has 
been attempting the language for many years and haven’t gotten very far. Some 
compare the language to Chinese, saying it is one of the most difficult 
languages in the world to learn. It is quite depressing hearing this, 
obviously… Additionally, having grown up in Congo and learning Swahili there, 
having lived in Malawi and Kenya and trying to learn the languages there, while 
being exposed to various other African languages, it is frustrating to have to 
start at zero like a baby once again….those languages are nothing like Lugbara!
Most whites don’t even bother to learn Lugbara especially since this tribe is 
only one of 5 in the close vicinity of one another. For example, the Alur are 
settled on the outskirts of Arua town. Their language is close to the Luo 
language which we were learning in Kenya. To make it even worse, there are 
sub-sections of the Lugbara tribe with variations in the way words are said. 
Whoopee to learning a difficult language which is only spoken by a few and 
which is nothing like any other language we have ever heard!

Eunice, in action, confusing us
Eunice is a good teacher, though, having patience with us as we sit on the 
veranda trying to repeat what on earth she has just said. As a Lugbara, she is 
also good at turning up late, demonstrating how a Lugbara should act. As 
Lilian, another Lugbara who works for us says, “Lugbaras is not following time, 
ha!” and laughs out loud. So, anyway, she is almost an hour late today, but 
since we live in Africa, you never know what may have happened. It could be a 
relative has just died and she has to go to the funeral. 
Despite the issue of time-keeping, which especially bothers Emma, Eunice has 
been effective at moving us on in the language. Emma and I already feel more 
confident using some simple phrases and greetings. For example, I was 
particularly proud when I asked for 10 eggs the other day in the local wooden 
duka close to our home. “Ife mani augbe mundri”. The word for egg 'augbe' is 
spoken as though you are swallowing an egg...

One of the problems of learning Lugbara is that the same words can mean 
completely different things. So, for instance, the word for sauce, “tibi”, is 
the same word for ‘beard’, just with a different tone. Emma wonders if this has 
anything to do with someone’s long beard dragging in their gravy once upon a 
time. There are other examples, though the best so far is the word ‘ago’, which 
if intonated differently, can either mean ‘husband’ or ‘pumpkin’. A phrase like 
‘my beautiful fiancée’ can also come across as ‘my beautiful warthog’, so an

Re: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a good read!

[burua aldo]

Many people I have interacted with describe the Lugbara's as friendly, sociable 
and honest people but have had difficulty embracing the culture because of the 
complex language. This is the uniqueness about us which I had not realized. I 
implore the great anthropologists and linguists hailing from West Nile to 
document and let our people know     
Going back to one of my favorite words,"odu" that has several meanings to the 
furthest extent you can stretch your mind. You only need to change the 
intonation andprobably a phrase before or after and "odu" will mean; Oil, 
sleep, day of the week/month, a certain wild fruit (commonly eaten by monkeys), 
leopard, thigh, bad omen, long ago and probably cockroach interesting 
indeed.

Aldo




 From: George Afi Obitre-Gama 
To: A Virtual Network for friends of West Nile  
Sent: Thursday, 25 April 2013, 13:12
Subject: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a 
good read!
 


A new year, a new language, more confusion
Why can't everyone speak English?
16.01.2013  30 °C 
Learning a new language and culture is like discovering a new world, opening 
your eyes and mind to completely amazing and strange ideas, some shocking, some 
fascinating, most unexpected.
Since
 the beginning of the new year, we have a new teacher, Eunice, who is hoping to 
make us into fluent Lugbara speakers within a few months… Lugbara is the local 
tribe in Arua, one of the 10 largest tribes in Uganda (out of a total of 34 
ethnicities). The Lugbara are a tribe descended from Nigeria to settle here. 
Their territory extends around Arua and into the Democratic Republic of Congo, 
so families have been split by the arbitrary political boundaries drawn by the 
Europeans in Berlin in 1884. 
Disconcertingly, we seem to be a source of great amusement for most of the 
ex-pats when we tell them we are taking this time to study Lugbara. “Good 
luck”, they tell us. They then go on to tell you a story of someone who has 
been attempting the language for many years and haven’t gotten very far. Some 
compare the language to Chinese, saying it is one of the most difficult 
languages in the world to
 learn. It is quite depressing hearing this, obviously… Additionally, having 
grown up in Congo and learning Swahili there, having lived in Malawi and Kenya 
and trying to learn the languages there, while being exposed to various other 
African languages, it is frustrating to have to start at zero like a baby once 
again….those languages are nothing like Lugbara!
Most whites don’t even bother to learn Lugbara especially since this tribe is 
only one of 5 in the close vicinity of one another. For example, the Alur are 
settled on the outskirts of Arua town. Their language is close to the Luo 
language which we were learning in Kenya. To make it even worse, there are 
sub-sections of the Lugbara tribe with variations in the way words are said. 
Whoopee to learning a difficult language which is only spoken by a few and 
which is nothing like any other language we have ever heard!

Eunice, in action, confusing us
Eunice is a good teacher, though, having patience with us as we sit on the 
veranda trying to repeat what on earth she has just said. As a Lugbara, she is 
also good at turning up late, demonstrating how a Lugbara should act. As 
Lilian, another Lugbara who works for us says, “Lugbaras is not following time, 
ha!” and laughs out loud. So, anyway, she is almost an hour late today, but 
since we live in Africa, you never know what may have happened. It could be a 
relative has just died and she has to go to the funeral. 
Despite the issue of time-keeping, which especially bothers Emma, Eunice has 
been effective at moving us on in the language. Emma and I already feel more 
confident using some simple phrases and greetings. For example, I was 
particularly proud when I asked for 10 eggs the other day in the local wooden 
duka close to our
 home. “Ife mani augbe mundri”.  The word for egg 'augbe' is spoken as though 
you are swallowing an egg...
One of the problems of learning Lugbara is that the same words can mean 
completely different things. So, for instance, the word for sauce, “tibi”, is 
the same word for ‘beard’, just with a different tone. Emma wonders if this has 
anything to do with someone’s long beard dragging in their gravy once upon a 
time. There are other examples, though the best so far is the word ‘ago’, which 
if intonated differently, can either mean ‘husband’ or ‘pumpkin’. A phrase like 
‘my beautiful fiancée’ can also come across as ‘my beautiful warthog’, so any 
wannabe suitors need to be pretty careful in this town…
Emma also uses a lot of imagination when it comes to remembering the Lugbara 
phrases or words. So, for instance, the word for peanuts is ‘funo’ (foon-oh). 
Emma thinks of little peanuts bouncing around and having a lot of fun. It can 
be a bit of a tentative or weird link at times. She is constantly whisper

Re: [WestNileNet] (no subject)

[Charles Male]

Vasco,

It was a tongue in cheek

Ugandans have to be thinking and planning beyond the current occupant
of state house...

C


On 4/25/13, Vasco Oguzua  wrote:
> Charles,
> Reading from the youth in Teso, I personally do not think the so called
> money the President is giving to the Youth has improved youths situation
> improve in any way. If the money they dished out to buy the last elections
> in West Nile ( I understand there were two trailers full of hard cash
> packed at Barifa) has not improved the lives of people who got the money in
> West Nile what is really behind the idea of encouraging the Youth from West
> Nile to go and make noise about money that youths in other regions are
> fighting over.. What does this kind of behaviour teach the youth? Is this
> not some behaviour that we should all condone rather than encourage?
>
> Vasco
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 10:02 PM, Charles Male  wrote:
>
>> Hello Caleb, hello westnile leaders...
>>
>> It has become trendy for the president to be throwing sacks of money
>> to youth in other districts causing youth elsewhere to also demand
>> meeting with the president... one wonders when West Nile youth will
>> also start making noise.. so the bones can be thrown ther way while
>> the real meat goes to those closely affiliated.!!!
>>
>>
>> 
>>
>> By GODFREY OJORE
>>
>> Youth leaders in Soroti district on Tuesday walked out of a meeting
>> convened by the eastern youth MP Peter Ogwang, rejecting sh20,000
>> transport refund saying it was too little for them.
>>
>> Ogwang had called the youth councilors in the district to discuss how
>> they could benefit from government programmes like the Northern Uganda
>> Social Action Fund (NUSAF) and the National Agriculture Advisory
>> Services (NAADS) among others.
>>
>> The state minister for Teso affairs Christine Amongin Aporu was to
>> explain to the youth about the programmes and also get their
>> grievances since they had complained to Ogwang that they had not
>> benefited from most government programmes.
>>
>> Besides rejecting the sh20,000 transport refund, the youth also
>> protested the delay by Ogwang and Amongin to arrive at the Lukiiko
>> hall where the meeting was slated to take place.
>>
>> The meeting was scheduled to begin at 3.00pm but both Amongin and
>> Ogwang arrived at the venue at 6:30pm.
>>
>> "Which meeting do you want to begin at 7.00pm? We demand for our
>> refund then call us on another day but now we are not ready to meet
>> you," one of the councilors shouted as the minister watched on at a
>> distance.
>>
>> Ogwang explained that they delayed in Ngora and Serere districts where
>> they were meeting youth leaders on similar issues.
>>
>> Efforts by the Soroti district LC5 chairperson George Michael Egunyu
>> and the resident district commissioner (RDC) Ben Etonu to calm the
>> angry youth fell in deaf ears as they insisted on more on top of
>> sh20,000.
>>
>> Ogwang accepted to top up the refund to sh30,000, which the youth
>> received and left.
>>
>>  "The youth have been calling me demanding an explanation towards
>> government programmes but I am disappointed that the very youth have
>> turned rowdy over money," Ogwang said.
>>
>> Amongin explained that the youth in Soroti have also been asking her
>> to connect them to meet the President.
>>
>>  "We shall organize another day for Soroti since my programme is to
>> meet all the youth in eastern Uganda," Amongin said after the meeting
>> aborted.
>> ___
>> WestNileNet mailing list
>> WestNileNet@kym.net
>> http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet
>>
>> WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
>>
>> The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including
>> attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any
>> way.
>> ___
>>
>
___
WestNileNet mailing list
WestNileNet@kym.net
http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet

WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/

The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including 
attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way.
___

Re: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a good read!

[Santorino Data]

Great piece of writing indeed.
This made my morning and now I understand why I spent 6 years in Arua and still 
struggle to speak the language - confusion just that needs very meticulous 
attention to detail and context even though I was from across the Lugbara 
border in Kakwa land

 
Dr. Data Santorino
Lecturer Department of Pediatrics and Child Health 
Mbarara University of Science and Technology 
Uganda.



 From: Anyole J 
To: George Afi Obitre-Gama ; A Virtual Network for friends 
of West Nile ; A Virtual Network for friends of West Nile 
 
Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2013 7:21 PM
Subject: Re: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a 
good read!
 


This is a very interesting piece. It is always nice to see things from an 
out-siders perspective and make sense of things we are usually oblivious to, 
house-mouth, za-mva, et all!

The piece does bring out some things that worry anthropologist too, cultures 
are gradually getting eroded "traditions have been changing here as the 
pressure of our Western culture pervades and invades." as well, it high lights 
some issues that continue to plague us, such as time keeping, which has itself 
not been eroded by the same western culture.

Thanks for sharing this, it did make my day that more interesting, got me 
thinking. One of these days, "I'll beat my vernacular teacher a phone"

Anyole



 From: George Afi Obitre-Gama 
To: A Virtual Network for friends of West Nile  
Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2013 4:12:31 AM
Subject: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a 
good read!
 


A new year, a new language, more confusion
Why can't everyone speak English?
16.01.2013  30 °C 
Learning a new language and culture is like discovering a new world, opening 
your eyes and mind to completely amazing and strange ideas, some shocking, some 
fascinating, most unexpected.
Since
 the beginning of the new year, we have a new teacher, Eunice, who is hoping to 
make us into fluent Lugbara speakers within a few months… Lugbara is the local 
tribe in Arua, one of the 10 largest tribes in Uganda (out of a total of 34 
ethnicities). The Lugbara are a tribe descended from Nigeria to settle here. 
Their territory extends around Arua and into the Democratic Republic of Congo, 
so families have been split by the arbitrary political boundaries drawn by the 
Europeans in Berlin in 1884. 
Disconcertingly, we seem to be a source of great amusement for most of the 
ex-pats when we tell them we are taking this time to study Lugbara. “Good 
luck”, they tell us. They then go on to tell you a story of someone who has 
been attempting the language for many years and haven’t gotten very far. Some 
compare the language to Chinese, saying it is one of the most difficult
 languages in the world to
 learn. It is quite depressing hearing this, obviously… Additionally, having 
grown up in Congo and learning Swahili there, having lived in Malawi and Kenya 
and trying to learn the languages there, while being exposed to various other 
African languages, it is frustrating to have to start at zero like a baby once 
again….those languages are nothing like Lugbara!
Most whites don’t even bother to learn Lugbara especially since this tribe is 
only one of 5 in the close vicinity of one another. For example, the Alur are 
settled on the outskirts of Arua town. Their language is close to the Luo 
language which we were learning in Kenya. To make it even worse, there are 
sub-sections of the Lugbara tribe with variations in the way words are said. 
Whoopee to learning a difficult language which is only spoken by a few and 
which is nothing like any other language we have ever heard!

Eunice, in action, confusing us
Eunice is a good teacher, though, having patience with us as we sit on the 
veranda trying to repeat what on earth she has just said. As a Lugbara, she is 
also good at turning up late, demonstrating how a Lugbara should act. As 
Lilian, another Lugbara who works for us says, “Lugbaras is not following time, 
ha!” and laughs out loud. So, anyway, she is almost an hour late today, but 
since we live in Africa, you never know what may have happened. It could be a 
relative has just died and she has to go to the funeral. 
Despite the issue of time-keeping, which especially bothers Emma, Eunice has 
been effective at moving us on in the language. Emma and I already feel more 
confident using some simple phrases and greetings. For example, I was 
particularly proud when I asked for 10 eggs the other day in the local wooden 
duka
 close to our
 home. “Ife mani augbe mundri”.  The word for egg 'augbe' is spoken as though 
you are swallowing an egg...
One of the problems of learning Lugbara is that the same words can mean 
completely different things. So, for instance, the word for sauce, “tibi”, is 
the same word for ‘beard’, just with a different tone. Emma wonders if this has 
anything to do with

Re: [WestNileNet] (no subject)

[Vasco Oguzua]

Charles,
Reading from the youth in Teso, I personally do not think the so called
money the President is giving to the Youth has improved youths situation
improve in any way. If the money they dished out to buy the last elections
in West Nile ( I understand there were two trailers full of hard cash
packed at Barifa) has not improved the lives of people who got the money in
West Nile what is really behind the idea of encouraging the Youth from West
Nile to go and make noise about money that youths in other regions are
fighting over.. What does this kind of behaviour teach the youth? Is this
not some behaviour that we should all condone rather than encourage?

Vasco


On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 10:02 PM, Charles Male  wrote:

> Hello Caleb, hello westnile leaders...
>
> It has become trendy for the president to be throwing sacks of money
> to youth in other districts causing youth elsewhere to also demand
> meeting with the president... one wonders when West Nile youth will
> also start making noise.. so the bones can be thrown ther way while
> the real meat goes to those closely affiliated.!!!
>
>
> 
>
> By GODFREY OJORE
>
> Youth leaders in Soroti district on Tuesday walked out of a meeting
> convened by the eastern youth MP Peter Ogwang, rejecting sh20,000
> transport refund saying it was too little for them.
>
> Ogwang had called the youth councilors in the district to discuss how
> they could benefit from government programmes like the Northern Uganda
> Social Action Fund (NUSAF) and the National Agriculture Advisory
> Services (NAADS) among others.
>
> The state minister for Teso affairs Christine Amongin Aporu was to
> explain to the youth about the programmes and also get their
> grievances since they had complained to Ogwang that they had not
> benefited from most government programmes.
>
> Besides rejecting the sh20,000 transport refund, the youth also
> protested the delay by Ogwang and Amongin to arrive at the Lukiiko
> hall where the meeting was slated to take place.
>
> The meeting was scheduled to begin at 3.00pm but both Amongin and
> Ogwang arrived at the venue at 6:30pm.
>
> "Which meeting do you want to begin at 7.00pm? We demand for our
> refund then call us on another day but now we are not ready to meet
> you," one of the councilors shouted as the minister watched on at a
> distance.
>
> Ogwang explained that they delayed in Ngora and Serere districts where
> they were meeting youth leaders on similar issues.
>
> Efforts by the Soroti district LC5 chairperson George Michael Egunyu
> and the resident district commissioner (RDC) Ben Etonu to calm the
> angry youth fell in deaf ears as they insisted on more on top of
> sh20,000.
>
> Ogwang accepted to top up the refund to sh30,000, which the youth
> received and left.
>
>  "The youth have been calling me demanding an explanation towards
> government programmes but I am disappointed that the very youth have
> turned rowdy over money," Ogwang said.
>
> Amongin explained that the youth in Soroti have also been asking her
> to connect them to meet the President.
>
>  "We shall organize another day for Soroti since my programme is to
> meet all the youth in eastern Uganda," Amongin said after the meeting
> aborted.
> ___
> WestNileNet mailing list
> WestNileNet@kym.net
> http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet
>
> WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
>
> The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including
> attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way.
> ___
>
___
WestNileNet mailing list
WestNileNet@kym.net
http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet

WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/

The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including 
attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way.
___

Re: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a good read!

[Buchsa Christopher]

I've always tried getting material online to teach me our language go which
am an immature novice.i'v so far failed, but my determination is to have a
senseof belonging which I can only fully have if I can speak lugbara.if
there is anyone out there that can rescue a son of the soil, please, am
dying to learn our language.

On Thursday, 25 April 2013, Anyole J  wrote:
> This is a very interesting piece. It is always nice to see things from an
out-siders perspective and make sense of things we are usually oblivious
to, house-mouth, za-mva, et all!
> The piece does bring out some things that worry anthropologist too,
cultures are gradually getting eroded "traditions have been changing here
as the pressure of our Western culture pervades and invades." as well, it
high lights some issues that continue to plague us, such as time keeping,
which has itself not been eroded by the same western culture.
> Thanks for sharing this, it did make my day that more interesting, got me
thinking. One of these days, "I'll beat my vernacular teacher a phone"
> Anyole
> 
> From: George Afi Obitre-Gama 
> To: A Virtual Network for friends of West Nile 
> Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2013 4:12:31 AM
> Subject: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2
cents-a good read!
>
> A new year, a new language, more confusion
>
> Why can't everyone speak English?
> 16.01.2013 30 °C
> Learning a new language and culture is like discovering a new world,
opening your eyes and mind to completely amazing and strange ideas, some
shocking, some fascinating, most unexpected.
> Since the beginning of the new year, we have a new teacher, Eunice, who
is hoping to make us into fluent Lugbara speakers within a few months…
Lugbara is the local tribe in Arua, one of the 10 largest tribes in Uganda
(out of a total of 34 ethnicities). The Lugbara are a tribe descended from
Nigeria to settle here. Their territory extends around Arua and into the
Democratic Republic of Congo, so families have been split by the arbitrary
political boundaries drawn by the Europeans in Berlin in 1884.
> Disconcertingly, we seem to be a source of great amusement for most of
the ex-pats when we tell them we are taking this time to study Lugbara.
“Good luck”, they tell us. They then go on to tell you a story of someone
who has been attempting the language for many years and haven’t gotten very
far. Some compare the language to Chinese, saying it is one of the most
difficult languages in the world to learn. It is quite depressing hearing
this, obviously… Additionally, having grown up in Congo and learning
Swahili there, having lived in Malawi and Kenya and trying to learn the
languages there, while being exposed to various other African languages, it
is frustrating to have to start at zero like a baby once again….those
languages are nothing like Lugbara!
> Most whites don’t even bother to learn Lugbara especially since this
tribe is only one of 5 in the close vicinity of one another. For example,
the Alur are settled on the outskirts of Arua town. Their language is close
to the Luo language which we were learning in Kenya. To make it even worse,
there are sub-sections of the Lugbara tribe with variations in the way
words are said. Whoopee to learning a difficult language which is only
spoken by a few and which is nothing like any other language we have ever
heard!
> Eunice, in action, confusing us
> Eunice is a good teacher, though, having patience with us as we sit on
the veranda trying to repeat what on earth she has just said. As a Lugbara,
she is also good at turning up late, demonstrating how a Lugbara should
act. As Lilian, another Lugbara who works for us says, “Lugbaras is not
following time, ha!” and laughs out loud. So, anyway, she is almost an hour
late today, but since we live in Africa, you never know what may have
happened. It could be a relative has just died and she has to go to the
funeral.
> Despite the issue of time-keeping, which especially bothers Emma, Eunice
has been effective at moving us on in the language. Emma and I already feel
more confident using some simple phrases and greetings. For example, I was
particularly proud when I asked for 10 eggs the other day in the local
wooden duka close to our home. “Ife mani augbe mundri”. The word for egg
'augbe' is spoken as though you are swallowing an egg...
> One of the problems of learning Lugbara is that the same words can mean
completely different things. So, for instance, the word for sauce, “tibi”,
is the same word for ‘beard’, just with a different tone. Emma wonders if
this has anything to do with someone’s long beard dragging in their gravy
once upon a time. There are other examples, though the best so far is the
word ‘ago’, which if intonated differently, can either mean ‘husband’ or
‘pumpkin’. A phrase like ‘my beautiful fiancée’ can also come across as ‘my
beautiful warthog’, so any wannabe suitors need to be pretty careful in
this town…
> Emma also uses a l

Re: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a good read!

[Anyole J]

This is a very interesting piece. It is always nice to see things from an 
out-siders perspective and make sense of things we are usually oblivious to, 
house-mouth, za-mva, et all!

The piece does bring out some things that worry anthropologist too, cultures 
are gradually getting eroded "traditions have been changing here as the 
pressure of our Western culture pervades and invades." as well, it high lights 
some issues that continue to plague us, such as time keeping, which has itself 
not been eroded by the same western culture.

Thanks for sharing this, it did make my day that more interesting, got me 
thinking. One of these days, "I'll beat my vernacular teacher a phone"

Anyole



 From: George Afi Obitre-Gama 
To: A Virtual Network for friends of West Nile  
Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2013 4:12:31 AM
Subject: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a 
good read!
 


A new year, a new language, more confusion
Why can't everyone speak English?
16.01.2013  30 °C 
Learning a new language and culture is like discovering a new world, opening 
your eyes and mind to completely amazing and strange ideas, some shocking, some 
fascinating, most unexpected.
Since
 the beginning of the new year, we have a new teacher, Eunice, who is hoping to 
make us into fluent Lugbara speakers within a few months… Lugbara is the local 
tribe in Arua, one of the 10 largest tribes in Uganda (out of a total of 34 
ethnicities). The Lugbara are a tribe descended from Nigeria to settle here. 
Their territory extends around Arua and into the Democratic Republic of Congo, 
so families have been split by the arbitrary political boundaries drawn by the 
Europeans in Berlin in 1884. 
Disconcertingly, we seem to be a source of great amusement for most of the 
ex-pats when we tell them we are taking this time to study Lugbara. “Good 
luck”, they tell us. They then go on to tell you a story of someone who has 
been attempting the language for many years and haven’t gotten very far. Some 
compare the language to Chinese, saying it is one of the most difficult 
languages in the world to
 learn. It is quite depressing hearing this, obviously… Additionally, having 
grown up in Congo and learning Swahili there, having lived in Malawi and Kenya 
and trying to learn the languages there, while being exposed to various other 
African languages, it is frustrating to have to start at zero like a baby once 
again….those languages are nothing like Lugbara!
Most whites don’t even bother to learn Lugbara especially since this tribe is 
only one of 5 in the close vicinity of one another. For example, the Alur are 
settled on the outskirts of Arua town. Their language is close to the Luo 
language which we were learning in Kenya. To make it even worse, there are 
sub-sections of the Lugbara tribe with variations in the way words are said. 
Whoopee to learning a difficult language which is only spoken by a few and 
which is nothing like any other language we have ever heard!

Eunice, in action, confusing us
Eunice is a good teacher, though, having patience with us as we sit on the 
veranda trying to repeat what on earth she has just said. As a Lugbara, she is 
also good at turning up late, demonstrating how a Lugbara should act. As 
Lilian, another Lugbara who works for us says, “Lugbaras is not following time, 
ha!” and laughs out loud. So, anyway, she is almost an hour late today, but 
since we live in Africa, you never know what may have happened. It could be a 
relative has just died and she has to go to the funeral. 
Despite the issue of time-keeping, which especially bothers Emma, Eunice has 
been effective at moving us on in the language. Emma and I already feel more 
confident using some simple phrases and greetings. For example, I was 
particularly proud when I asked for 10 eggs the other day in the local wooden 
duka close to our
 home. “Ife mani augbe mundri”.  The word for egg 'augbe' is spoken as though 
you are swallowing an egg...
One of the problems of learning Lugbara is that the same words can mean 
completely different things. So, for instance, the word for sauce, “tibi”, is 
the same word for ‘beard’, just with a different tone. Emma wonders if this has 
anything to do with someone’s long beard dragging in their gravy once upon a 
time. There are other examples, though the best so far is the word ‘ago’, which 
if intonated differently, can either mean ‘husband’ or ‘pumpkin’. A phrase like 
‘my beautiful fiancée’ can also come across as ‘my beautiful warthog’, so any 
wannabe suitors need to be pretty careful in this town…
Emma also uses a lot of imagination when it comes to remembering the Lugbara 
phrases or words. So, for instance, the word for peanuts is ‘funo’ (foon-oh). 
Emma thinks of little peanuts bouncing around and having a lot of fun. It can 
be a bit of a tentative or weird link at times. She is constantly whispering to 
me how I can remember a word. Awupi (A-whoopee) 

Re: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a good read!

[Bernard B. Obaa]

Afi,

This is really nice! I had never thought about things like "house-mouth",
"house-stomach", "house-buttock" and "meat-girl". I'm wondering why we used
to say "We are going to "door-mouth" *(jotile*) instead of "house-mouth" as
the Dutch lady is saying.

Ben


On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 3:12 AM, George Afi Obitre-Gama
wrote:

> A new year, a new language, more 
> confusion
> Why can't everyone speak English?
> 16.01.2013 [image: sunny] 30 °C
> Learning a new language and culture is like discovering a new world,
> opening your eyes and mind to completely amazing and strange ideas, some
> shocking, some fascinating, most unexpected.
> Since the beginning of the new year, we have a new teacher, Eunice, who is
> hoping to make us into fluent Lugbara speakers within a few months… Lugbara
> is the local tribe in Arua, one of the 10 largest tribes in Uganda (out of
> a total of 34 ethnicities). The Lugbara are a tribe descended from
> Nigeria to settle here. Their territory extends around Arua and into the
> Democratic Republic of Congo, so families have been split by the arbitrary
> political boundaries drawn by the Europeans in Berlin in 1884.
> Disconcertingly, we seem to be a source of great amusement for most of the
> ex-pats when we tell them we are taking this time to study Lugbara. “Good
> luck”, they tell us. They then go on to tell you a story of someone who has
> been attempting the language for many years and haven’t gotten very far.
> Some compare the language to Chinese, saying it is one of the most
> difficult languages in the world to learn. It is quite depressing hearing
> this, obviously… Additionally, having grown up in Congo and learning
> Swahili there, having lived in Malawi and Kenya and trying to learn the
> languages there, while being exposed to various other African languages, it
> is frustrating to have to start at zero like a baby once again….those
> languages are nothing like Lugbara!
> Most whites don’t even bother to learn Lugbara especially since this tribe
> is only one of 5 in the close vicinity of one another. For example, the
> Alur are settled on the outskirts of Arua town. Their language is close to
> the Luo language which we were learning in Kenya. To make it even worse,
> there are sub-sections of the Lugbara tribe with variations in the way
> words are said. Whoopee to learning a difficult language which is only
> spoken by a few and which is nothing like any other language we have ever
> heard!
> [image: Eunice, in action, confusing us]
> Eunice, in action, confusing us
>
> Eunice is a good teacher, though, having patience with us as we sit on the
> veranda trying to repeat what on earth she has just said. As a Lugbara, she
> is also good at turning up late, demonstrating how a Lugbara should act. As
> Lilian, another Lugbara who works for us says, “Lugbaras is not following
> time, ha!” and laughs out loud. So, anyway, she is almost an hour late
> today, but since we live in Africa, you never know what may have happened.
> It could be a relative has just died and she has to go to the funeral.
> Despite the issue of time-keeping, which especially bothers Emma, Eunice
> has been effective at moving us on in the language. Emma and I already feel
> more confident using some simple phrases and greetings. For example, I was
> particularly proud when I asked for 10 eggs the other day in the local
> wooden duka close to our home. “Ife mani augbe mundri”. The word for egg
> 'augbe' is spoken as though you are swallowing an egg...
> One of the problems of learning Lugbara is that the same words can mean
> completely different things. So, for instance, the word for sauce, “tibi”,
> is the same word for ‘beard’, just with a different tone. Emma wonders if
> this has anything to do with someone’s long beard dragging in their gravy
> once upon a time. There are other examples, though the best so far is the
> word ‘ago’, which if intonated differently, can either mean ‘husband’ or
> ‘pumpkin’. A phrase like ‘my beautiful fiancée’ can also come across as ‘my
> beautiful warthog’, so any wannabe suitors need to be pretty careful in
> this town…
> Emma also uses a lot of imagination when it comes to remembering the
> Lugbara phrases or words. So, for instance, the word for peanuts is ‘funo’
> (foon-oh). Emma thinks of little peanuts bouncing around and having a lot
> of fun. It can be a bit of a tentative or weird link at times. She is
> constantly whispering to me how I can remember a word. Awupi (A-whoopee) is
> the word for Aunt on your dad’s side. Obviously, this conjures up thoughts
> of playing a trick with my Auntie Barbara with a whoopee cushion…’Fetaa’
> (feta) means gift and so it is remembered by thinking of giving someone a
> gift of cheese. I often wish I had had Emma as a study partner for my IGCSE
> or IB exams in Holland as I would not have spent so many lost hours staring
> blankly at walls trying to cram boring information i

Re: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a good read!

[Kiggundu Mukasa]

http://africraigs.travellerspoint.com/129/



On Apr 25, 2013, at 5:39 PM, samuel andema  wrote:

> 
> Hi George you have just made my day with this hilarious piece by the dutch 
> lady struggling with Lugbara. It is amazing! She really knows how to write 
> reflections. I would be glad to access her blog if you don't mind. I would 
> like to follow the discourse.
> 
> Regards. 
> 
> Sam
> 
> --- On Thu, 25/4/13, George Afi Obitre-Gama  wrote:
> 
> From: George Afi Obitre-Gama 
> Subject: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a 
> good read!
> To: "A Virtual Network for friends of West Nile" 
> Date: Thursday, 25 April, 2013, 14:12
> 
> A new year, a new language, more confusion
> 
> Why can't everyone speak English?
> 16.01.2013   30 °C
> Learning a new language and culture is like discovering a new world, opening 
> your eyes and mind to completely amazing and strange ideas, some shocking, 
> some fascinating, most unexpected.
> Since the beginning of the new year, we have a new teacher, Eunice, who is 
> hoping to make us into fluent Lugbara speakers within a few months… Lugbara 
> is the local tribe in Arua, one of the 10 largest tribes in Uganda (out of a 
> total of 34 ethnicities). The Lugbara are a tribe descended from Nigeria to 
> settle here. Their territory extends around Arua and into the Democratic 
> Republic of Congo, so families have been split by the arbitrary political 
> boundaries drawn by the Europeans in Berlin in 1884. 
> Disconcertingly, we seem to be a source of great amusement for most of the 
> ex-pats when we tell them we are taking this time to study Lugbara. “Good 
> luck”, they tell us. They then go on to tell you a story of someone who has 
> been attempting the language for many years and haven’t gotten very far. Some 
> compare the language to Chinese, saying it is one of the most difficult 
> languages in the world to learn. It is quite depressing hearing this, 
> obviously… Additionally, having grown up in Congo and learning Swahili there, 
> having lived in Malawi and Kenya and trying to learn the languages there, 
> while being exposed to various other African languages, it is frustrating to 
> have to start at zero like a baby once again….those languages are nothing 
> like Lugbara!
> Most whites don’t even bother to learn Lugbara especially since this tribe is 
> only one of 5 in the close vicinity of one another. For example, the Alur are 
> settled on the outskirts of Arua town. Their language is close to the Luo 
> language which we were learning in Kenya. To make it even worse, there are 
> sub-sections of the Lugbara tribe with variations in the way words are said. 
> Whoopee to learning a difficult language which is only spoken by a few and 
> which is nothing like any other language we have ever heard!
> 
> Eunice, in action, confusing us
> 
> Eunice is a good teacher, though, having patience with us as we sit on the 
> veranda trying to repeat what on earth she has just said. As a Lugbara, she 
> is also good at turning up late, demonstrating how a Lugbara should act. As 
> Lilian, another Lugbara who works for us says, “Lugbaras is not following 
> time, ha!” and laughs out loud. So, anyway, she is almost an hour late today, 
> but since we live in Africa, you never know what may have happened. It could 
> be a relative has just died and she has to go to the funeral. 
> Despite the issue of time-keeping, which especially bothers Emma, Eunice has 
> been effective at moving us on in the language. Emma and I already feel more 
> confident using some simple phrases and greetings. For example, I was 
> particularly proud when I asked for 10 eggs the other day in the local wooden 
> duka close to our home. “Ife mani augbe mundri”. The word for egg 'augbe' is 
> spoken as though you are swallowing an egg...
> One of the problems of learning Lugbara is that the same words can mean 
> completely different things. So, for instance, the word for sauce, “tibi”, is 
> the same word for ‘beard’, just with a different tone. Emma wonders if this 
> has anything to do with someone’s long beard dragging in their gravy once 
> upon a time. There are other examples, though the best so far is the word 
> ‘ago’, which if intonated differently, can either mean ‘husband’ or 
> ‘pumpkin’. A phrase like ‘my beautiful fiancée’ can also come across as ‘my 
> beautiful warthog’, so any wannabe suitors need to be pretty careful in this 
> town…
> Emma also uses a lot of imagination when it comes to remembering the Lugbara 
> phrases or words. So, for instance, the word for peanuts is ‘funo’ (foon-oh). 
> Emma thinks of little peanuts bouncing around and having a lot of fun. It can 
> be a bit of a tentative or weird link at times. She is constantly whispering 
> to me how I can remember a word. Awupi (A-whoopee) is the word for Aunt on 
> your dad’s side. Obviously, this conjures up thoughts of playing a trick with 
> my Auntie Barbara with a whoopee cushion

Re: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a good read!

[samuel andema]

Hi George you have just made my day with this hilarious piece by the dutch lady 
struggling with Lugbara. It is amazing! She really knows how to write 
reflections. I would be glad to access her blog if you don't mind. I would like 
to follow the discourse.

Regards. 

Sam

--- On Thu, 25/4/13, George Afi Obitre-Gama  wrote:

From: George Afi Obitre-Gama 
Subject: [WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a 
good read!
To: "A Virtual Network for friends of West Nile" 
Date: Thursday, 25 April, 2013, 14:12

A new year, a new language, more confusionWhy can't everyone speak English? 
 16.01.2013  30 
°CLearning a new language and culture is like 
discovering a new world, opening your eyes and mind to completely amazing and 
strange ideas, some shocking, some fascinating, most unexpected.
Since
 the beginning of the new year, we have a new teacher, Eunice, who is hoping to 
make us into fluent Lugbara speakers within a few months… Lugbara is the local 
tribe in Arua, one of the 10 largest tribes in Uganda (out of a total of 34 
ethnicities). The Lugbara are a tribe descended from Nigeria to settle here. 
Their territory extends around Arua and into the Democratic Republic of Congo, 
so families have been split by the arbitrary political boundaries drawn by the 
Europeans in Berlin in 1884. 
Disconcertingly, we seem to be a source of great amusement for most of the 
ex-pats when we tell them we are taking this time to study Lugbara. “Good 
luck”, they tell us. They then go on to tell you a story of someone who has 
been attempting the language for many years and haven’t gotten very far. Some 
compare the language to Chinese, saying it is one of the most difficult 
languages in the world to
 learn. It is quite depressing hearing this, obviously… Additionally, having 
grown up in Congo and learning Swahili there, having lived in Malawi and Kenya 
and trying to learn the languages there, while being exposed to various other 
African languages, it is frustrating to have to start at zero like a baby once 
again….those languages are nothing like Lugbara!
Most whites don’t even bother to learn Lugbara especially since this tribe is 
only one of 5 in the close vicinity of one another. For example, the Alur are 
settled on the outskirts of Arua town. Their language is close to the Luo 
language which we were learning in Kenya. To make it even worse, there are 
sub-sections of the Lugbara tribe with variations in the way words are said. 
Whoopee to learning a difficult language which is only spoken by a few and 
which is nothing like any other language we have ever heard!
Eunice, in action, confusing us
Eunice is a good teacher, though, having patience with us as we sit on the 
veranda trying to repeat what on earth she has just said. As a Lugbara, she is 
also good at turning up late, demonstrating how a Lugbara should act. As 
Lilian, another Lugbara who works for us says, “Lugbaras is not following time, 
ha!” and laughs out loud. So, anyway, she is almost an hour late today, but 
since we live in Africa, you never know what may have happened. It could be a 
relative has just died and she has to go to the funeral. 
Despite the issue of time-keeping, which especially bothers Emma, Eunice has 
been effective at moving us on in the language. Emma and I already feel more 
confident using some simple phrases and greetings. For example, I was 
particularly proud when I asked for 10 eggs the other day in the local wooden 
duka close to our
 home. “Ife mani augbe mundri”.  The word for egg 'augbe' is spoken as though 
you are swallowing an egg...One of the problems of learning Lugbara is that the 
same words can mean completely different things. So, for instance, the word for 
sauce, “tibi”, is the same word for ‘beard’, just with a different tone. Emma 
wonders if this has anything to do with someone’s long beard dragging in their 
gravy once upon a time. There are other examples, though the best so far is the 
word ‘ago’, which if intonated differently, can either mean ‘husband’ or 
‘pumpkin’. A phrase like ‘my beautiful fiancée’ can also come across as ‘my 
beautiful warthog’, so any wannabe suitors need to be pretty careful in this 
town…Emma also uses a lot of imagination when it comes to remembering the 
Lugbara phrases or words. So, for instance, the word for peanuts is ‘funo’ 
(foon-oh). Emma thinks of little peanuts bouncing
 around and having a lot of fun. It can be a bit of a tentative or weird link 
at times. She is constantly whispering to me how I can remember a word. Awupi 
(A-whoopee) is the word for Aunt on your dad’s side. Obviously, this conjures 
up thoughts of playing a trick with my Auntie Barbara with a whoopee 
cushion…’Fetaa’ (feta) means gift and so it is remembered by thinking of giving 
someone a gift of cheese. I often wish I had had Emma as a study partner for my 
IGCSE or IB exams 

[WestNileNet] Learning the Lugbara Language - A bloggers 2 cents-a good read!

[George Afi Obitre-Gama]

A new year, a new language, more confusion
Why can't everyone speak English?
16.01.2013  30 °C 
Learning a new language and culture is like discovering a new world, opening 
your eyes and mind to completely amazing and strange ideas, some shocking, some 
fascinating, most unexpected.
Since the beginning of the new year, we have a new teacher, Eunice, who is 
hoping to make us into fluent Lugbara speakers within a few months… Lugbara is 
the local tribe in Arua, one of the 10 largest tribes in Uganda (out of a total 
of 34 ethnicities). The Lugbara are a tribe descended from Nigeria to settle 
here. Their territory extends around Arua and into the Democratic Republic of 
Congo, so families have been split by the arbitrary political boundaries drawn 
by the Europeans in Berlin in 1884. 
Disconcertingly, we seem to be a source of great amusement for most of the 
ex-pats when we tell them we are taking this time to study Lugbara. “Good 
luck”, they tell us. They then go on to tell you a story of someone who has 
been attempting the language for many years and haven’t gotten very far. Some 
compare the language to Chinese, saying it is one of the most difficult 
languages in the world to learn. It is quite depressing hearing this, 
obviously… Additionally, having grown up in Congo and learning Swahili there, 
having lived in Malawi and Kenya and trying to learn the languages there, while 
being exposed to various other African languages, it is frustrating to have to 
start at zero like a baby once again….those languages are nothing like Lugbara!
Most whites don’t even bother to learn Lugbara especially since this tribe is 
only one of 5 in the close vicinity of one another. For example, the Alur are 
settled on the outskirts of Arua town. Their language is close to the Luo 
language which we were learning in Kenya. To make it even worse, there are 
sub-sections of the Lugbara tribe with variations in the way words are said. 
Whoopee to learning a difficult language which is only spoken by a few and 
which is nothing like any other language we have ever heard!

Eunice, in action, confusing us
Eunice is a good teacher, though, having patience with us as we sit on the 
veranda trying to repeat what on earth she has just said. As a Lugbara, she is 
also good at turning up late, demonstrating how a Lugbara should act. As 
Lilian, another Lugbara who works for us says, “Lugbaras is not following time, 
ha!” and laughs out loud. So, anyway, she is almost an hour late today, but 
since we live in Africa, you never know what may have happened. It could be a 
relative has just died and she has to go to the funeral. 
Despite the issue of time-keeping, which especially bothers Emma, Eunice has 
been effective at moving us on in the language. Emma and I already feel more 
confident using some simple phrases and greetings. For example, I was 
particularly proud when I asked for 10 eggs the other day in the local wooden 
duka close to our home. “Ife mani augbe mundri”.  The word for egg 'augbe' is 
spoken as though you are swallowing an egg...
One of the problems of learning Lugbara is that the same words can mean 
completely different things. So, for instance, the word for sauce, “tibi”, is 
the same word for ‘beard’, just with a different tone. Emma wonders if this has 
anything to do with someone’s long beard dragging in their gravy once upon a 
time. There are other examples, though the best so far is the word ‘ago’, which 
if intonated differently, can either mean ‘husband’ or ‘pumpkin’. A phrase like 
‘my beautiful fiancée’ can also come across as ‘my beautiful warthog’, so any 
wannabe suitors need to be pretty careful in this town…
Emma also uses a lot of imagination when it comes to remembering the Lugbara 
phrases or words. So, for instance, the word for peanuts is ‘funo’ (foon-oh). 
Emma thinks of little peanuts bouncing around and having a lot of fun. It can 
be a bit of a tentative or weird link at times. She is constantly whispering to 
me how I can remember a word. Awupi (A-whoopee) is the word for Aunt on your 
dad’s side. Obviously, this conjures up thoughts of playing a trick with my 
Auntie Barbara with a whoopee cushion…’Fetaa’ (feta) means gift and so it is 
remembered by thinking of giving someone a gift of cheese. I often wish I had 
had Emma as a study partner for my IGCSE or IB exams in Holland as I would not 
have spent so many lost hours staring blankly at walls trying to cram boring 
information into my struggling mind.
Alongside Emma's visual mind, we are also discovering that Lugbara is quite a 
visual language. The word for ‘fingers’, for example, is ‘hand-children’. This 
also works for ‘toes’ (foot children). The word for door translates directly as 
‘house-mouth’. The floor is the ‘house-stomach’. Today, we learnt that veranda 
is the ‘joeti’ or ‘house buttocks’!! You can’t make this stuff up, eh? It’s 
great!
Onomatopoeia is often used as well in the language. 'Kulukulu' 
(koo-loo-koo-loo) i