bonjour?!

Bonjour! Oui, bonjour! French is what I had heard was spoken in Guinea and French is what I had studied (barely haha). Do people in Guinea speak French? Yes! Very much! So I assumed I would always have a translator with me, helping me understand what other people are saying and visa verse. What I didn’t know though, was that using an interpreter is completely normal here! Even for fluent French speakers!!

What makes Guinea so beautiful is that, while French is the country’s language, almost everyone speaks a community language that they live in, grew up in, that their parents grew up in, their spouses, etc. It’s lovely! One person can easily speak three different community languages by having one parent from one, the other parent from another, and growing up in a community with a different language than the other two.

Here at the clinic, families coming in typically either speak French, Sousou, Pular, or Malinke. Sousou is most commonly seen because we’re in a mostly Sousou community! Often, the husbands will know French because of their occupation/education, whereas the mother’s typically will speak the community language. In light of this, Sacre Coeur (the clinic) has strategically hired Guineans who know French and at least one other community language (some know all 3!). Though the American staff is very well off with their French, they utilize their other staff members to assist with Sousou, Pular, or Malinke speaking patients! So it’s very very common to have the doctor(s) and/or nurse, patient, and an interpreter all working together.

Luckily, a few of the Guinean staff English very well and act as my interpreter to other faculty and patients (what a great blessing they are to me!!). Being here, with a great language barrier, has taught me so much about communication! 1. How important it is and 2. How much you can communicate even while speaking different languages! One of my favorite friends here, AC, speaks Sousou but has now learned French - and we have the best time communicating to eachother with little words, guidance, hand motions, drawings, facial expressions, and of course the help of other people when need be. Our relationship is so beautiful! And I love the way that we can communicate with one another, despite the language barrier! One of the people I always run to, EM, is Guinean and she is fluent in French and a few of the community languages, AND ENGLISH - so she’s my go to and very often is helping me communicate with other people. Thank you Jesus for EM and AC!

It’s such a healthy and great learning experience to be in the field, surrounded by people speaking the language I’m trying to learn. I’ve been able to understand conversation, and have picked up on a few important words/phrases to communicate with people. Within the first week, I was able to confidently have a ”first interaction” with people in French haha! The important: Hi good morning, how are you? I’m doing very well, thank you! Bye, see you later! Bonjour, comment ça va? Ça va tré bien, merci! Au revoir, à bientôt!

Since a majority of what I’ve been doing is working with the kids (leaving the adults to the ones who speak fluently haha), little words, sounds, hand motions, dancing, and facial expressions come a long way - no matter the language!! Especially when I’m entertaining simply for being a Foté (which means white man) haha! The kids yell “ah foté foté!!!!” in the most endearing way, while waving and smiling big. Or they’ll say “FOTÉ! gOoD mOrnINg!” (Even if it’s in the evenings hehe).

Sometimes when I’m learning words and phrases, I’m not sure if I’m being taught French or Sousou. So now I’m going to be calling my “French” is FrenSou ;) Praise God for so many languages and the beauty of communication! Oh and Google Translate, of course ;)