By now we can greet. By now we have mastered the basic expressions that express intent.
By now we can ask the questions:
“Kíni orúkọ rẹ?” “Orukọ mi ni…” “Orúkọ ọrẹ mi ni…” “Orúkọ babá mi ni…”
“Kini èyí?” “Èyí ni bàtà.” “Èyí ni asọ.” “Èyí ni gègé.”
By now, we can count from one to ten in Yoruba. By now, we can also express number.
“Ọmọ melòó lo ní?” “Mo ní ọmọ mẹta.”
“Asọ melòó lo ní? “Mo ni asọ méjì.”
“Àburò mélòó lo ní? Mi ò ní àbúrò kankan.”
Or express satisfaction with the teacher’s explanations:
“Sé ó yée yín?”
“Kò yé wa.”
“Ó yé wa.”
On Wednesday, week 4 will be over, and we would have had seven classes so far, each with its own challenges. We have somehow managed to get over the pronunciation challenges, one step at a time. It is not yet uhuru as far as recognizing and being able to correctly pronounce tone marks are concerned. And you can’t blame us. It was a relief for the class to know that there are some authentic speakers of Yoruba in Nigeria today who can’t stand the tone marks nor correctly identify it. The challenge before us is to become better than them. And better than them we shall be. We’re taking it one day at a time.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Brown University announced today (Monday, Sept. 14, 2009) that internationally acclaimed Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe has joined the Brown University faculty. Achebe comes to Brown after 19 years on the faculty of Bard College, where he was the Charles P. Stevenson Professor of Languages and Literature.