Learning Lusoga

I really enjoyed learning Lusoga. It was quite a change from Chinese to be able to spell out words phonetically and to be able to pronounce them with relative ease. Like pretty much everywhere else (except France), the locals really appreciate your effort. We took lessons with a man named Ali who not only taught us a lot of vocabulary and grammar, but also touched on some key cultural points. For instance, learning how to greet people properly was hugely important. Also, because there is no word for please in Lusoga, many Ugandan’s leave it out when they are speaking English. This leads to a common misconception that Ugandans are demanding or rude. Jamie had an interesting conversation with Ali about the way that American women dress. This is not something he would have discussed with Tara and I present, but Jamie was kind enough to recount it for us. Apparently, Ali was curious (not judgmental) about why American women would choose to show so much skin by wearing short shorts and dresses. He just felt that it left “nothing to the imagination.” It really sounds like a pretty comical exchange because Jamie and Ali are both pretty analytical and were attempting to explain the cultural phenomenon scientifically. Ali insisted that it would make more sense biologically for the man to show his thighs, though I still don’t understand his logic here. It does seem a shame not to continue learning.