I am a whale. Je suis une baleine. Yes, that is what I learned in French today thanks to my new handy app. Despite the ridiculous sentence it asked me to construct this morning, it has proved to be very helpful. I’m just hoping that I never have to form this sentence about myself or anyone else! Let’s just keep the whale comments in the ocean where they belong :)

Languages can be a really funny thing. I just tried to communicate about ants with a Malagasy lady without Stephen present. FAIL! She speaks some English but no French. I speak…well if you’re reading this, you know what I speak.

Last week when I was on safari in Kenya, I had a conversation with someone again without Stephen present. Another safari guide was asking me how I liked my safari and then asked if I spoke any Swahilli like my husband. I wanted to say no because I’m 30 plus years behind his learning curve on that one, but instead I said in my best Swahilli, “I love you elephant”! Yes, I called this nice man an elephant!  He was quick to correct me with the correct phrase stating, “I love elephants”. Oh yes, that’s what I meant. I love elephants! Oh my! I guess my husband telling me “Nakupenda”, which means “I love you” in Swahilli turned out to stick in my brain in a moment of trying to speak to this man. At least I stepped out and tried :)

I feel in good company though because even though my husband speaks more languages than I do, he too can get overwhelmed especially readjusting to a language. Last night while studying and translating some words in Malagasy (the primary language spoken in Madagascar), he said, “Wow, when God mixed up the languages, He MIXED UP THE LANGUAGES!”. Haha!

Learning new languages can help us get to know someone better. To relate to their culture and their way of life. In the process of learning languages however, you have to rely on more body language and pantomiming. Thankfully I love drama so this lends to my short-term fall back.I learned today that the Malagasy woman was telling me that the honey container was attracting many ants and that if needed, I can say, “I am a whale.” I think I’m doing pretty well for the first week! Ha—keep praying for me :)