Parlez-vous français?

The other day I was greeted by a man in a language non-native to Akono.  Having never heard the language before and thus not understanding a single word, I returned his greeting with a simple wave. The conversation that followed went a bit like this:

(Anything in italics is translated from French.)

Man:  Why wont you greet me in my patois?  You’re living in our country, you should learn our patois.

Maria: Sorry, but did you think I could learn all 262 languages?

Man:  You could at least try.

Maria:  Okay, I’ll try.  But since Cameroon is ‘bilingual’, how about you try greeting me in English.

Man: *uncomfortably long pause*  Good day

Maria:  Good day, how are you?

Man: *even longer pause*  Thank you.

Maria:  Guess that's it for English...

Man:  Gutentag!

Maria:  Buenos dias!  Como estas?

Man: If you were Chinese, I would tell you ‘heehaw’!
Maria:  No, because that is the sound that an animal makes, and many foreigners dislike that very much.  It’s ‘nihao’.

Entire bar: Nihao!

Man:  Nihao!

Maria: Djam bandu na?  (Bringing out a bit of my rusty fulfulde here!)

Man:  Djam koo dume.

One of Cameroon’s many special qualities is its huge array of languages.  While the two official languages are French and English (with 8 francophone regions and 2 anglophone regions), there are more than 200 local languages (230 according to Wikipedia, 262 according to my counterpart's husband).

As a recent article in The Washington Post stated, “if you randomly select two people in Cameroon, for instance, there is a 97 percent likelihood that they will have different mother tongues. In the United States, there is only a 33 percent likelihood that this is going to happen.”  Furthermore, I’d be willing to bet that if you picked any Cameroonian at random, there’s a strong chance that he/she can get by in at least one other patois beside his/her own.  For example, most people in Akono who have moved here from other regions have learned to communicate in Ewondo.  Oftentimes, people will also learn the patois of their spouse if marrying someone from a different village.  My friend Olivier from Sanguéré-Paul speaks his own language (Mundung), Fulfulde, French, English (at least as much as he learned in school) and could hold basic conversations in at least three local patois other than his own.

Peace Corps Volunteers are granted the unique opportunity to dive into the cultures of little pockets of the world -- cultures that they might never have heard of otherwise.  Before coming to Cameroon, had I heard of Akono?  Did I know that Ewondo was a language?  Nope, absolutely not.  I was focused on just learning French!  Now not only can I speak french (albeit Cameroonian French: “Tu es la? Oui, je suis la.  C’est comment?  Ouaaaaai!”), I can toss a bit of Ewondo and Fulfulde into the mix.  Without Peace Corps, my French would be still be limited to ordering off of menus in Montreal or listening to Quebecois radio with my Mom, translating every other word.  Now, I'm thrown off when anyone in Akono speaks to me in English -- I will automatically respond in French.  Without having lived Northern Cameroon, I would have no idea how to surprise the Fulbe smoothie guy in Yaounde by saying "useko sobajo!" as I walk away. 

PC Cameroon is not unique in offering experiences with new languages.  My favorite language moment occurred while Leana and I were in Zambia.  The official language of Zambia is English.  However in the remote villages, where many of the PCVs work and live, many people lack formal education and the patois are still primarily spoken.  Our host, Mike Preisler, brought us to dig a pond with an agricultural cooperative.  The patois in Mike’s village, and thus the language that he uses everyday to communicate, is Kaonde.  This cooperative, however, consisted of many men and women who had moved from the Congo.  They were more familiar with one of Zambia’s other patois: Lunda, a language that Mike had a decent grasp of as well, and the language that another PCV who joined us, Emily, was fluent in.

Here’s where the fun began:  Having lived in the Congo, a few of these farmers could speak French and Swahili (I only remember a small amount of Swahili, but having spent a couple years in Tanzania, Leana could hold her own in a conversation).  So as we were digging, we were all chitchatting back and forth in five different languages:  Kaonde, Lunda, English, French, and Swahili.  Mike would speak with the farmers in Kaonde or Lunda, Emily in Lunda, Leana in Swahili, and myself in French.  It was amazing to see us all communicating effectively even though most of us (PCVs and farmers alike) were speaking second languages the whole time.  And let me tell you, if I’m going to be shoveling dirt all day, I need a good distraction like that!  It got the whole crowd laughing and having a good time, which I have a feeling is a rare occurrence while shoveling dirt under the hot, Sub-Saharan sun.

After we had finished up for the day, Moses, the host of the site, invited us for lunch.  Upon receiving the food, we each went around and said ‘thank you’ in a different language.

To any prospective PCVs reading this: even if you walk away from your Peace Corps service with nothing else (though trust me, you’ll walk away with A LOT), chances are you will walk away having learned a new language.

On that note (sorry if you've seen this already via facebook or err...my mom):  A few months ago, I put together a quick video to demonstrate the wide variety of languages that can be found in Cameroon.  While the main patois in Akono is Ewondo, so many more can be found even in this small village.  (And this video really only scratches the surface).  You can check it below!