Local Languages

One giant cultural difference between the U.S. and Moz are local languages. These are languages have been being spoken by the native Africans for hundreds of years. A majority of Mozambicans learn Portuguese (the national language) only when starting school. Imagine growing up speaking English (like I did) and then going to school and having to learn and do all your work in Chinese. That’s what a lot of these kids have to do. The local languages are basically dictated by geography, so depending on what region of the country you live in you speak that certain local language. In Namaacha it was Xangana (changana) of which the only word I knew was “mulungo” which means white person. Since we are trying to learn Portuguese we are discouraged from learning Xangana during training. Now that I’m in Angonia the local language is Chichewa. All the languages are very similar—for instance now all the kids in the neighbor hood yell “muzungo” at me when I’m walking down the street. Also now that I’m living here for the next two years I’m free to start picking up the local language. In the case of my site since we are so close to the border of Malawi it is imperative that I learn at least the basics. The national language in Malawi is English, and Mozambique is Portuguese. When everyone comes together in a border town, what is their common language that they use all the time?? That’s right—their local language, Chichewa. On our chapa down to Tete city for Christmas the only Portuguese spoken the ENTIRE time was when they were specifically speaking to us. I would have liked to understand some of the stuff going on around me so I have an even stronger urge to learn it.
One of the funniest conversations I have with people is explaining that we don’t have local languages in America. I explain that recent immigrants from Asia or Mexico speak Chinese or Spanish, etc. but that’s not a local language. When I tell them that all I’ve ever spoken in school and at home is English they don’t get it. But what do your parents speak? English. Grandparents? Still English. I try to explain that our country is comparatively still pretty young and most people came from all over so they had to use English to communicate, but all I get are blank looks. The closest I get to explaining it is that Native Americans have their own language, and if we weren’t a country of immigrants from all over the world we probably would too. It’s just a mind-blowing concept to them, and really entertaining for me to try to explain.