Muthoni

That is amazing that you are able to learn a language by watching a movie. For me to understand a language, I need extensive teaching to grasp it. I would love to learn French so much that I have not given up even after trying three times. Maybe I should get some French movies that have been translated into English.

I like English a lot and would like to be perfect in it. As a writer, I need it to get the best work. Swahili is our national language yet I struggle expressing myself in a long conversation. Some places of employment in my region require someone to be very fluent in Swahili, that locks me out.

There was a time I was learning French for free. A sponsor had set up the program to benefit the youth in our region. They had brought in a very good teacher; therefore I had started to understand the language. The program came to an end before I could master the language. There was a time when I paid monthly to learn the same language in a private school.

(Kikuyu Tongue Twister) Kana koona kora kora nako kora kona kana koora – it means a child sees a small frog and runs away. The small frog sees the child and runs away. We used to compete on who would say the tongue twister best when we were children. Thanks for this wonderful reminder.

Learning English is not difficult at all. Our English teacher taught us to think in English and then translate into our mother tongue or any other language. That has still remained with me after all these years. Practice talking in English as much as possible and you will keep getting better at it.

I prefer to be in a group class than learn on my own. All the attention is on me if I have to learn in an individual class. I cannot handle that attention. I also enjoy competing with other students as it motivates me to be the best I can be. Besides having someone to talk to about the subject is an added advantage.

I love to learn how to speak in French but struggle very much. My five year niece started her French classes recently and can speak impeccably. I guess it is easier to learn a new language when young when the brain is still growing. Besides a child does not have too many things to think about that may clog the thinking capacity.

I write in three languages, my native language which is kikuyu. Our national language that is Swahili and I can write very well in English which is our official language. The funny thing is that the most difficult language to read among the three is our native language Kikuyu.

When I was in high school, a popular girl kept saying hello to me in her native language. She would smile when I replied every time. She would greet me every time we met even when she was with her friends. One time she greeted me when I was with a friend of mine. My friend told me that I was not answering the right way to the greeting. This girl was actually having fun at my expense.

To an extent that it is true that if you do not use a language for a time it feels awkward when you use it again. When I moved back to live with my parents for a few months, I stopped using Swahili which is our national language. After seven months when I moved back to the city, I felt so ill at ease speaking the language. I believe that the more you use a language, the better you get at it.

I heard two guys speaking in French in a bus stop and I fell in love with the language. I actually went over and asked them what language it was. I have gone to school three times to do my best to master this beautiful language. To tell you the truth, I find it too hard to keep up with the accent. I have not lost hope that one day I will be able to speak in this language.

English is my second language; my English teacher taught us that if we want to speak impeccable English, we had to think in English. I never noticed how much it has become part of me that even when talking in my native language I include a lot of English words.

My native language is kikuyu, the first thing kids learn in school is to say their name. “ ritwa riakwa ni muthoni” . This is translated to my name is muthoni. The i has this ~ sign instead of the dot at the top. I hope that this makes sense.

I find English spoken with an accent very fascinating. I can listen to someone with a good accent for a while. Yes I once faked an accent over the phone to play a prank on my friend. She did not recognize me until I talked in my own accent.

I think that sign language is universal. There are some people who are very good at learning sign language. In my region when there is very important news on TV they include a presenter to interpret the information into sign language for the deaf audience.