Languages?

[jomojo 0]

hi this is jomojo.

I speak English et je peux parler un peu de francais (French). My wife is Mauritian and so she is fluent in both English and French, as well as the island's creole. At times when she calls up her parents she can begin a sentence in English, break into French half way through and end up with a Creole expression, by which stage it makes no sense to me.

My Mum is an English South African. When I was a little kid making a noise, she would tell me "tula wena" which means "hush child" in Zulu - she probably had a Zulu nanny when she was growing up.

I spent six months in the north of Namibia ten years ago, and learnt a few greetings of the local Oshikwanyama language, as follows:

Person 1: "Walelepo tu?" (How are you?)

Person 2: "Eheh." (Yes, fine.)

Person 1: "Nawa tu?" (Everything okay at home?)

Person 2: "Eheh. Walelepo tu?" (Yes, fine. How are you?)

Person 1: Eheh.

Person 2: Nawa tu?

Person 1: Eheh. Mwa lokwa tu? (Yes, fine. Has it been raining in your area?)

Person 2: Eheh.

or Person 2: Ai! Mwa lokwa tu? (No! Has it been raining in your area?)

Rain is a blessing, something to be thankful for over there.

[Yoavoshimaru 0]

My wife is Mauritian

That's cool. At first glance, not careful reading, I thought I read "My wife is Martian" and my eyes immediately scrolled down to the examples, which to my untrained self could appear as Martian indeed! It's funny how the mind tricks itself soemtimes. :-(

[Kotoseiya Yuichi 3]

I thought I read "My wife is Martian"

I thought first Mauritian would mean Moorish (mauri in Finnish) but then I did remember on my own the island of Mauritius. (Oops! )

Edited April 14, 2003 by Kotoseiya Yuichi

[jomojo 0]

I thought I read "My wife is Martian"

I thought first Mauritian would mean Moorish (mauri in Finnish) but then I did remember on my own the island of Mauritius. (Oops! )

Here's another webpage with a view of Mauritius.

http://www.justtheticket.co.uk/brochures02...a/P62%20NEW.pdf

cheers,

jomojo

[Onnagumo 4]

My wife is Mauritian and so she is fluent in both English and French, as well as the island's creole. At times when she calls up her parents she can begin a sentence in English, break into French half way through and end up with a Creole expression, by which stage it makes no sense to me.

(Blowing up furiously...)

Sounds familiar to me..... A conversation between my husband and his brother sounds a lot like that sometimes.

My husband was born on Cura

[Yoavoshimaru 0]

on Cura