"Oh, Liberians speak English, it will be easy to do research there!" This was a common refrain that I heard from both Americans and Monrovia-based Liberians alike. It is assumed that since we all speak the same language, we will have no problems communicating. Nice theory. While I can understand that majority that is said to me, it is not reciprocated when I am outside of Monrovia and I was met with furrowing brows and exclamations of confusion from children and community members when I attempted to conduct interviews over the past couple of weeks. Educated Liberians get my American-accented standard English just fine, but it is more challenging the more rural, or the younger the listener gets. Luckily, I had two devoted translators with me when I conducted interviews in the schools and as a result I was able to more or less understand and be understood by Gabriel or Emmanuel repeating my exact words, just in their accent or simply replacing a few key phrases. Another added bonus is that attempting to communicate in Liberian English has caused my Gambian English to come back in full force - with all that it entails. Stunted words, incomplete sentences, incorrect subject verb agreement and tense - the whole shebang. My coworkers applaud me for being so easy to understand. Some children even understand me! So all is not lost. On the whole I find it much easier to communicate in casual conversation then formal conversation just because it is easier to transition into the Liberian English when my brain isn't trying to translate big words or complex concepts.
Short tutorial on Liberian English:
1. Take all normal grammar rules and ignore them. Remove unnecessary words to shorten sentences, words such as articles, conjunctions, tense indicators, etc. When in doubt, state things in the present progressive form, i.e. "I am having." Inflection is key, this can only be learned by listening closely.
2. Add "oh" for emphasis. As in "I just slammed your hand in the car door, sorry oh!"
3. Or repeat for emphasis: small small, now now, big big.
4. Vocabulary 101: palaver = confusions/disagreement, humbugging = sexual assault/rape, get belly = pregnant, school business = education, man and woman business = sex, how to become a mother = reproductive health, taking out bella = abortion, my eye tear = you cannot cheat me/I've seen many thing, eat my eye = to cheat, current = electricity, vexed = angry, rouge = thief, to eat (something) = steal.
There are tons more awesome vocabulary words that I have probably forgotten and ones that I have yet to learn so this list could be greatly expanded and improved but it gives you an idea. Now that I am back in Monrovia after a two week trip through three counties (an update to come soon) my exposure to deep Liberian English is likely to lessen but the market is still a great place to learn!
For a more entertaining and comprehensive list check out Moved To Monrovia's guide here.
Short tutorial on Liberian English:
1. Take all normal grammar rules and ignore them. Remove unnecessary words to shorten sentences, words such as articles, conjunctions, tense indicators, etc. When in doubt, state things in the present progressive form, i.e. "I am having." Inflection is key, this can only be learned by listening closely.
2. Add "oh" for emphasis. As in "I just slammed your hand in the car door, sorry oh!"
3. Or repeat for emphasis: small small, now now, big big.
4. Vocabulary 101: palaver = confusions/disagreement, humbugging = sexual assault/rape, get belly = pregnant, school business = education, man and woman business = sex, how to become a mother = reproductive health, taking out bella = abortion, my eye tear = you cannot cheat me/I've seen many thing, eat my eye = to cheat, current = electricity, vexed = angry, rouge = thief, to eat (something) = steal.
There are tons more awesome vocabulary words that I have probably forgotten and ones that I have yet to learn so this list could be greatly expanded and improved but it gives you an idea. Now that I am back in Monrovia after a two week trip through three counties (an update to come soon) my exposure to deep Liberian English is likely to lessen but the market is still a great place to learn!
For a more entertaining and comprehensive list check out Moved To Monrovia's guide here.
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