Language

Amharic 

I didn't learn much of the language before I went.  My computer's CD drive was busted so I couldn't play the CD I had bought on learning Amharic.  Since then, my computer has been fixed and I tried out the CD (Talk Now).  It was a waste of money.  I'm sure there are other Learn at Home programs that are better.

I tried to learn by reading, but that had limited success. So, basically, by the end of the trip my vocabulary consisted of (spelling is a phonetic guesstimate):

• Enat-Mom
• Abbat-Dad
• Shinto/Shintobait-toilet
• Amesegunallo - Thank You
• Awa or uhyah (with eyebrows raised up) - Yes
• Maquina - car
• Ferengi - white person
• Selam - greeting for hello
• Chow/Ciao - bye
• Dehna-I'm fine.
• Shy  - tea
• Ache (Kembatinya) - Mommy
• Abba (Kembatinya) - Father 

I don't know if those are even the right words.  Those are just the ones that I was saying. 

I truly hated not having a better vocabulary than that.  I felt like such an ugly American when a lovely mom and her baby came up to me with a huge smile and started talking to me.  All I could do was look at her like an idiot and keep repeating, "I don't know.  Sorry.  I don't speak Amharic.  Sorry."

I did find myself slipping in Spanish and siSwati words accidentally.  Apparently, my brain thought if I used any kind of foreign words, the Ethiopians might understand me.  FYI to myself:  Spanish and siSwati are not the same as Amharic!! J

I am sure next time I go my vocabulary will be much better!

English

To help people understand me speaking, I slipped into my "Tishela" mode.  Tishela is siSwati for teacher. I used to teach chemistry, physics and math to Swazi students.  For the most part, all of their other teachers spoke English with a British or South African accent.  Therefore, my American accent, word slurring, and Midwest vernacular was hard for them.  I learned if I was going to be an effective Tishela, they had to understand my words before I could get them to understand electromagnetism.  To do so, I had to

• slow down my speech
  • I didn't slow it to the point of insulting, but there was a clear difference between how I spoke to them as compared to how I spoke to the other Americans.
  • Dragging out words was not the answer. It is kind of akin to talking louder if someone doesn't understand you.  It just makes you look like a dorky umlungu (aka Ferengi).  "Whaaaaaat iiiiiiis thaaaaaat?"
• separate words (but not syllables)
  • They learned English in words, not syllables.  Therefore, separating a word into syllables didn't help because they started to listen for the syllable as a word.  As an example, "What. Is. That. Bill. Ding?"  didn't make sense because they didn't see me pointing at a bill and they didn't know what a ding is.
• avoid not real words like gonna, wanna, or ow-uh-no (I don't know)
• explain American words (vs British words) or just suck it up and use the British word if I didn't have the time for a lesson
  • lorry vs. semi
  • boot vs. trunk
  • rubber vs. eraser
• rephrase
  • if a sentence structure became too complicated, I restated it with simpler sentences or used alternative vocabulary words

Tishela-speak really helped out in Ethiopia.  Someone asked me why I was easier to understand than another person since we were both from the same part of the US and presumably had the same accent.  The answer?  I spoke with Tishela-English!