I knew when I got here that communication would be difficult but the reality is both better and worse than I expected. In Sri Lanka there are 3 national languages: Sinhalese, Tamil and English. In effect, there should be a fourth, Sri Lankan English, and a fifth, body language. I thought I'd only need to learn one - Sinhalese - but, in effect, I'm also having to learn the others too.
Sinhalese, firstly, is grammatically fairly straight forward. For example, there is no difference between the present and the future tense. This does lead to difficulties, however, when you're trying to work out if someone is saying that they're are doing something or will be doing something. Equally, the language is surprisingly duplicative; for example the verb to ask and to listen is the same. I can't quite work out why that would be the case but I suppose I have grown up with the most descriptive language in the world. The words bears no resemblance to English so I'm learning vocab through the most random associations of sounds imaginable. I'm focusing on learning to listen and speak rather than to read and write as the script is beautiful but unintelligible to me. I am trying to learn about 20 words a day and am having a 90 min lesson each week now so I hope to achieve my aim of being pretty fluent by the time I leave. My aim feels like a bit of a pipe dream at the moment. I just wish people would answer my questions (asked in Sinhala) in Sinhala rather than in English which is what happens most of the time at the moment.
The second language is Sri Lankan English. Most of the population have, at some point in their schooling, had to learn English, a hangover from the colonial days. Most haven't spoken it since school and also the teaching methods are very reading- and writing-focused rather than speaking-focused, so their confidence and ability is mixed. I met one of the Directors of the Chamber recently and he admitted to me in very broken English that he'd woken up at 5am on the day of our meeting very worried that he'd have to meet with me that afternoon and converse in English. Although it was a very disjointed conversation, I understood most of what he was saying. Even those who don't speak English, pepper their conversations with both English words and Sri Lankan English. For example, when I got here, I kept being told to go to the Bus Halt or the Bus stand. It took a while to realise that a bus halt is a bus stop and the bus stand is the bus station. I was also warned not to eat certain foods because they're "heaty". When I asked what heaty was, my colleagues said: "But you must know, it's an English word". Fortunately VSO gave me a Dictionary of Sri Lankan English which states that heaty comes from Ayurverdic medicine and relates to certain foods or combinations of foods. For example tomatoes, some sea food and pineapples are all heaty foods. I have to agree that if I've had a prawn and tomato pasta dish, my tummy has felt a bit odd in the past. With the help of my Dictionary, I'm slowly getting used to this new vocabulary and you'll probably have to help me back into English English when I get home.
The final new language is body language. Sri Lankans, like Indians, have 3 main head moves: a nod, a shake and a sort of wobble. The wobble means OK but looks more like concern would in the UK. The shake is sometimes used to mean yes and no. The nod can mean "I'm listening" as well as "Yes". I admit that there are many times when I still don't know which is being used so I have to clarify. I've noticed that some of my fellow volunteers have started to perfect the head wobble but I, as yet, don't seem to have a wobbly enough neck! I'll have to keep practising.
Tomorrow I've got my next Sinhala lesson which is on past participles. I hate to admit that I'm not really sure what a past participle is in English so hopefully everything will become as clear as mud soon. Until then, do practise your English skills by sending me an e-mail as I'd love to hear your news. I'm feeling slightly bereft of news from home at the moment.
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