Someone posted a comment on my Q & A blog about the French language in Vanuatu so I decided a good topic would be on languages in Vanuatu. Also, who are you that posted the comment?
Here the 2 official languages are French and English and the National Language is Bislama. Then there are over 100 local languages and with a population of about 200,000 that makes the most languages per person in any country in the world.
French and English are the official languages, meaning they are used for government purposes. These include school and some government offices, but I’d say mostly Bislama is used in government offices because it is the common language for everyone. When the French and British ran a Condominium government, they set up various schools throughout the country. So now the schools remain using the language in which they were founded. I’m not sure on the actual figures, but I’d say English is the language in probably two thirds and French in one third of the schools. With that being said, all of the students learn the other official language starting in 4th grade. It’s like a foreign language in the states where it is only taught a couple hours a week to begin with. So at the English schools they have a class called French and at French schools they have a class called Anglais. I think it is way too confusing for the students. Like the students in year 10 here are studying for their national exam in French, but they don’t even have a fluent grasp on English yet. So sometimes the questions will ask for them to translate something in French into English, but they just don’t know the English words.
In general, I find the students that went to French schools have a very good grasp of the language. They tend to use French when speaking to each other. However, at English schools the people are more reluctant to speak English and often just use Bislama.
Bislama is the national language and it began as a Pidjin English but has evolved to its own language. It has influence from French and English. Lots of things sound just like English but with an accent, but other words come from French like “Lafet” means party and comes from the French “La Fete” or “sora” means ear and comes from the French “Les oreils”. Then there are some words that were just created in Vanuatu like the names of plants and animals. Bislama is very simple to learn because there aren’t very many rules in the grammas and once you learn basic sentence structure, it comes quite naturally.
Local languages are very abundant with each island often having many different languages that are still in use today. The local language is a child’s first language, typically. Then they will learn Bislama by hearing visitors from other villages or islands speaking it as well as all national media. When they go to school, starting in 1st grade they will learn French or English and then in 4th grade they will start learning the other language. They have an amazing ability to learn languages. Also, oftentimes they know multiple local languages. Like if you get married and move to a different island, you will most likely learn that island’s local language because that is what all the people speak on a day to day basis.
In terms of the question about how French would help here, that would depend what you were doing. I for one don’t really ever use it. Sometimes I’ll read some French articles in the newspaper (the newspaper contains articles in the 3 main languages). Other times I’ll listen in on the French class, but I don’t really help in that at all because I’m sure the French teacher has a much better grasp on French than I do. I think if you were to come work at a French school, then obviously knowing French would be pretty important. Other than that, I guess French would be used in the tourism industry with tourists from France and New Caledonia (a French territory that neighbours Vanuatu).
Alright, well there’s a bit on languages in Vanuatu.
Everything here is progressing as usual. The flight schedule has now been changed again so we now have 2 flights a week instead of just one. Also we have a new plane coming here that we bought from China. It’s a big one – 16 seater- as opposed to the canoe or tin can that held about 8 people (if they didn’t have any bag). Also there’s talk going around that the Prime Minister is going to come to our island to visit, but the water was rough so the ship couldn’t run. Maybe next week. He would be coming just to do an official visit, but he actually comes from Futuna too so it is a pretty big deal.
In other news, I am craving salty French fries and mozzerella sticks with tomato sauce and maybe also some pizza. Do you think Dominoes would deliver?
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Q & A
I realized that there’s lots of basic day to day things that I do here that I never talk about. I’ve decided to answer some basic questions. If you have any more questions, send them to me because they make good blog topics.
How do you go online or even use a computer?
True, there’s no electricity here on Futuna. In Vanuatu there’s only one power company and I’m pretty sure they operate on only four of Vanuatu’s 83 inhabited islands. but on Futuna, multiple people have purchased personal solar systems. We charge the laptop using the solar or using the school’s generator. Then to go online, I just connect the telephone line to the computer (do you remember dial up?). The phone company gives free internet to the school which is awesome.
How do you send and receive mail?
There’s no post office on my island so to send mail, I give my letters to someone who is leaving the island to put at a post office. To receive mail, th epost office in Port Vila (the capital) should put any mail for Futuna on the plane that comes once a week. I live about a 40 minute walk from the airport so if I know mail is coming, I go to pick it up. If I don’t go, someone usually brings it to me.
What clothes do you wear?
On my island it is a rule that all girls must wear skirts that come below the knee. I normally wear shorts underneath because we do lots of hiking. Then I just wear a t-shirt (no tank tops allowed). For shoes, the fashion on my island is to wear imitation, Chinese made Crocs so going with the culture, I also wear them. They only cost about $3 in the capital and they’re good for walking through the mud.
How do you do laundry?
I put all my clothes in a basin with cold water and detergent. I then scrub them against a bumpy stone or if they’re really dirty, I use a scrub brush. Then I change the water in the basin and attempt to rinse out the soap. I wring out my clothes and hang them on a line where it can take anywhere from 1 to 3 days to dry.
How many books have you read?
132 and counting
Any more questions? Send them to me.
How do you go online or even use a computer?
True, there’s no electricity here on Futuna. In Vanuatu there’s only one power company and I’m pretty sure they operate on only four of Vanuatu’s 83 inhabited islands. but on Futuna, multiple people have purchased personal solar systems. We charge the laptop using the solar or using the school’s generator. Then to go online, I just connect the telephone line to the computer (do you remember dial up?). The phone company gives free internet to the school which is awesome.
How do you send and receive mail?
There’s no post office on my island so to send mail, I give my letters to someone who is leaving the island to put at a post office. To receive mail, th epost office in Port Vila (the capital) should put any mail for Futuna on the plane that comes once a week. I live about a 40 minute walk from the airport so if I know mail is coming, I go to pick it up. If I don’t go, someone usually brings it to me.
What clothes do you wear?
On my island it is a rule that all girls must wear skirts that come below the knee. I normally wear shorts underneath because we do lots of hiking. Then I just wear a t-shirt (no tank tops allowed). For shoes, the fashion on my island is to wear imitation, Chinese made Crocs so going with the culture, I also wear them. They only cost about $3 in the capital and they’re good for walking through the mud.
How do you do laundry?
I put all my clothes in a basin with cold water and detergent. I then scrub them against a bumpy stone or if they’re really dirty, I use a scrub brush. Then I change the water in the basin and attempt to rinse out the soap. I wring out my clothes and hang them on a line where it can take anywhere from 1 to 3 days to dry.
How many books have you read?
132 and counting
Any more questions? Send them to me.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Showers
I realized I forgot to write about showers in my last entry about the coldness.
I literally feel like I'm freezing when the icey water comes out of the tap. But people here are adament about daily showers so if i skipped a day, they'd be all over me. In fact, most of them shower twice daily, but I'm a once a day person. But on the cold days, i really just want to cozy up in my bed with my 2 blankets. Nonetheless, I must shower, so now I have taken to showering in the middle of the day. After I eat lunch when the sun is strong I hop in the shower. I let the water trickle on me enough to get wet, and then i run out to change. I can't even imagine trying to wash my hair with that cold water. Last year it was so much easier when i didn't have any hair! I am now only washing my hair like once a week, but that's fine.
I could boil water over the fire and put it in a bucket to take a shower with, but firewood is a scarce commodity mostly reserved for cooking or heating up water for the babies to wash in. If I asked for hot water, I think they'd laugh.
What else is new? We had a staff meeting today that went from 10 am to 1 pm, but it was actually really cool, because all the teachers decided that we'd speak English in the meeting. it's an english school so they should speak english all the time, but a lot of them aren't confident in their english, but today they really tried. I was happy, and I think it'll help the students to improve their English if they hear the teachers speaking English outside of class time.
Also i'm not sure if I mentioned how the secondary school students (9th and 10th grade) finally moved into the dorms at school last weekend. The dorms (made out of bamboo and grass roof) each hold maybe 20 students or so. They should've been completed last year, but they just finished them this year. They also built a kitchen and dining hall out of various plant materials. Most of the secondary schools in Vanuautu are boarding schools I think coming from the fact that before there were only a couple run by the french and english governments so the kids all came from different islands. The sec. school here just started last year, and most of the students are from Futuna but there's 4 from another island. But even the kids that are from here sleep at the school. It's just the custom here to sleep at the school. They study at night together and do work at the school. Also if at the end of the year, they pass a national exam they can go to 11th grade and then they will have to leave our island and board at some other school so now they're taking it like practice sort of.
That's all for now.
I literally feel like I'm freezing when the icey water comes out of the tap. But people here are adament about daily showers so if i skipped a day, they'd be all over me. In fact, most of them shower twice daily, but I'm a once a day person. But on the cold days, i really just want to cozy up in my bed with my 2 blankets. Nonetheless, I must shower, so now I have taken to showering in the middle of the day. After I eat lunch when the sun is strong I hop in the shower. I let the water trickle on me enough to get wet, and then i run out to change. I can't even imagine trying to wash my hair with that cold water. Last year it was so much easier when i didn't have any hair! I am now only washing my hair like once a week, but that's fine.
I could boil water over the fire and put it in a bucket to take a shower with, but firewood is a scarce commodity mostly reserved for cooking or heating up water for the babies to wash in. If I asked for hot water, I think they'd laugh.
What else is new? We had a staff meeting today that went from 10 am to 1 pm, but it was actually really cool, because all the teachers decided that we'd speak English in the meeting. it's an english school so they should speak english all the time, but a lot of them aren't confident in their english, but today they really tried. I was happy, and I think it'll help the students to improve their English if they hear the teachers speaking English outside of class time.
Also i'm not sure if I mentioned how the secondary school students (9th and 10th grade) finally moved into the dorms at school last weekend. The dorms (made out of bamboo and grass roof) each hold maybe 20 students or so. They should've been completed last year, but they just finished them this year. They also built a kitchen and dining hall out of various plant materials. Most of the secondary schools in Vanuautu are boarding schools I think coming from the fact that before there were only a couple run by the french and english governments so the kids all came from different islands. The sec. school here just started last year, and most of the students are from Futuna but there's 4 from another island. But even the kids that are from here sleep at the school. It's just the custom here to sleep at the school. They study at night together and do work at the school. Also if at the end of the year, they pass a national exam they can go to 11th grade and then they will have to leave our island and board at some other school so now they're taking it like practice sort of.
That's all for now.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Ples i kolkol (it's cold)
Maybe you won’t believe me, but it has been really cold here lately. I always thought living in the tropics would be like living in a constant state of heat, but I was wrong. For the past month or so, I’ve been really cold. I mean it’s not New England cold, but after living here for almost 2 years, anything below 75 is cold. Anyway, I started just wearing my jacket at night, but now oftentimes I even wear it during the day. Also, some days I even wear socks. For some unknown reason I brought like 10 pairs to Vanuatu that I NEVER wear. But now, I’m wearing them. I sometimes wear long pants underneath my skirts, but that looks pretty ridiculous. If I had a winter hat, I’d wear it (lots of people here do). Maybe I should take it upon myself to knit one, although as of now I can only knit things in a rectangular shape, but I guess what else do I have to do?
So I guess we do have seasons in Vanuatu. This is the cold season. According to the Vanuatu Meteorological Society, the temperature in my province (Tafea Province) has a low of 60 degrees which is actually quite chilly if you ask me. I’m not sure where this information comes from, seeing there’s certainly no weather station on my island, but it’s probably from a nearby island. Anyway, I’m sure most of you reading from the States are now experiencing warm to hot temperatures. Summer now for you all, so think of me here in the frigid area of the South Pacific.
So I guess we do have seasons in Vanuatu. This is the cold season. According to the Vanuatu Meteorological Society, the temperature in my province (Tafea Province) has a low of 60 degrees which is actually quite chilly if you ask me. I’m not sure where this information comes from, seeing there’s certainly no weather station on my island, but it’s probably from a nearby island. Anyway, I’m sure most of you reading from the States are now experiencing warm to hot temperatures. Summer now for you all, so think of me here in the frigid area of the South Pacific.
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