We have put a lot of time and energy into learning Thuok Nuera these last few months, and so we were reasonably concerned that an entire month away from not just learning the language, but even hearing it spoken would lead to a regression in the progress we’ve made. We each have our language notebooks, which does help some, but Nuer is so tonal that seeing it written down is not really good enough. We really have to hear it and speak it to gain/retain fluency.
That concern is what led to us spending all of our last full week in Nasir recording ALL of our language lessons to-date. I spent hours ahead of time transcribing my random, messy, unorganized language notebook into neat categories of words, phrases, questions, and grammar. Once it was all organized into another notebook, we were ready to record. We used EV’s hand-held recorder that they use to do interviews and other recordings on the ground, often for broadcasting on the radio or used in videos, and commenced the undertaking.
It was a massive team effort to get all of the recordings finished in the week before we left and our language teachers worked really hard on our behalf, but now that we’re in Kampala we can totally see just how beneficial it is to have it both written and spoken. We recorded it in such a way that our teacher says the word or phrase, and then takes a pause long enough for us to repeat what was said. The first couple of days in Kampala, I (because I’m Type A) organized all NINETY-SIX audio files by artist, topic, album, and genre. So, in iTunes we can listen to the whole album (named Nuer Rosetta Stone, because we’re so clever =)), just one of our teachers at a time, or even a particular topic.
We’ve joked with our language teachers that our Nuer will be better when we get back than it was when we left. And I hope that’s true. Having most of the topics recorded by at least two of our teachers helps us to hear patterns, emphasis, tones, etc. By listening to more than one person say it, we can hear what is essential to pronouncing words correctly and what varies from person to person. The other thing we did was record exclusively in Nuer. Our hope is that it will force us to process the Nuer more quickly and increase our comprehension.
Please pray for us to make progress in language learning, even as we’re out of context.
Just for fun, here’s a sample of our project in Thuok Nuera. This is Simon Duop recording questions…
Gatdet and I recording one [chilly] morning. These guys were machines!
