Language!

My language learning is going well, though I still make dumb mistakes. I keep wanting to tell kids, “banga oyo!” (don’t cry!) but I mess up and say “banga oye!” (don’t die). While the latter is definitely something I desire (that is, that they wouldn’t die), it’s not exactly all that better.
We’re learning Bible verses in Lopit. “Nyo amuno Hollum hiyo dang ta fau bino,…” (For God so loved the world…)

Once my language teacher was drunk (not unusual) during our lesson and demanded that I say the “dang” part with a lot of umph. (That’s “dang,” like “DONG!” almost, but sort of swallow the “n.”) He says we English speakers have ways we annunciate certain words and he is doing that in Lopit now. (Everyone is out to revolutionize the language, it seems.) So we were going through the verse (I know John 3:16 and 1:12), yelling DANG! Whenever we got to it. My roommates in side the house couldn’t help but laugh, which made me laugh, which made Willie walk up to the window and reprimand them, shaking his finger.

Really, it might have been the best language lesson ever—bi DANG (in ALL)!