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"My favorite experience was the culture.
You can talk to anyone on the street.
And be guaranteed not only a response,
but also an hour-long conversation. "
—Josh

Learning French and Wolof in Senegal

"It was kind of a given that I would study abroad. I had always wanted to see something different and I came down to the decision that I would study abroad in a French speaking country; I learned French because French is the official language. So in our classes, we spoke mostly French. It was the language that I fell back on as the language I understood, because people there didn’t know English.
I also learned Wolof, which is one of the eight national languages. That was one of the fun parts, learning that language, because the culture is so much more tied to Wolof than it is French. It also gives you a gateway to so many more people than you would have met if you just spoke French. By learning Wolof, it gave me access to those people that normally would have been able to say a few phrases in French and not known what to do."

Adapting the First Week

"I guess the first week, it was just trying to stumble over the language, stumble over everything. Seeing where I fit in with the family, seeing where I feel most comfortable doing things. Just trying to adapt to everything.
You’re forced to speak constantly, not only French, but in this case Wolof. It’s a daily learning process. You have to push yourself to make yourself understood, you learn better that way."

Drinking Tea and Chatting

"In Senegal, people schedule a lot of time to relax, simply to speak with other people. Just to kind of relax and sit around and talk and drink tea. That made me look back to what I use to do: running to class, running to a job. And it gave me insight into that chaotic everything can be."

Getting Around

"If you want to go somewhere, you can find someone to take you there. You would go to someplace called garages that everyone decides to park their cars, taxis, buses. Then what they call Bush taxis; you would pay for your seat in the bush taxi. Then wait throughout the day. It can either fill up fast or take the whole day. It was really easy to get around once I got use to it. I became comfortable and putting myself in those situations. Then going even further and putting myself in these giant buses they call JingenJives, which you can go anywhere, buses went to Mali all the time."

Josh’s Studies in Literacy and Education

"You are able to choose what you studied; I picked literacy and education. We studied a lot of development issues. The courses I took were something that I had never experienced before as an English and French major. You touch on these things, but it’s mostly just literature, where this was much more a broader view and reality based, social and society and cultures as opposed to what can we read through a book. As a result of that, I added a global studies minor to keep that education. I moved my French minor to a major, also."

Changing Pace

"You have to have the patience to realize you need to take things slowly. When you’re not familiar with the languages, everything you do is a big thing. It's hard. When you don’t understand the language, you don’t understand what people are saying to each other, you don’t understand why they’re doing what they’re doing... I have to admit to myself, ‘I can’t understand everything right away.’ To take the time to learn the language and having that patience now is a huge thing for me, to not jump to conclusions, freak out, say ‘I don’t know this, what happened, what can’t I do, what can I do?’ It’s taught me to be more patient with myself. Assalam Alekum."



Check out the MSID Senegal program that Josh expereinced. MSID stands for Minnesota Studies in International Development

 
Last modified on March 16, 2009