When the deer buzz, run!
Learning a language and culture sometimes involves laughing at what you wind up saying.
Missionary Brad Howe, along with his wife Rebecca, was hosting two tribal people in his house in Brazil. As they went to leave, he wrote, "I decided that I would tell them to return to visit again sometime. Kind of the equivalent of the good old Southern ’y’all come back now, ya hear?’"
So to the husband Brad said, "Pishiye!"
He got a very odd look, which told him that something had been said wrong. Brad switched to Portuguese to try to explain, and the man told him he meant to say "Pipiye."
"And then it dawned on me what I had said," wrote Brad. "At the end of our nice pleasant visit and after a warm handshake I had told the man, ’Run!’"
Rebecca has had her own moments.
She was visiting with one of the tribal women when a mosquito came by and started pestering them. Wanting to practice the language, Rebecca asked if it was a maniro.
"Immediately, the lady began to laugh and told Rebecca that no, it wasn’t a maniro at all but a manyo," wrote Brad. It was then that Rebecca remembered that maniro was a deer.
And the missionaries are often asked how to say something in English. "We will then say the word or phrase in English to them and they will try to imitate what we said. This often brings loud guffaws of laughter from the one doing the imitating and those around listening."
"It does remind me of how funny we must sound to them at times as we try to speak their language," Brad wrote. "What is important is to keep your sense of humor and allow yourself to make mistakes. Putting your pride aside, opening your mouth and trying to use what you know in a language is probably half of the battle of learning."
Please pray for the Howes as they continue to learn the tribal culture and language.
Missionary Brad Howe, along with his wife Rebecca, was hosting two tribal people in his house in Brazil. As they went to leave, he wrote, "I decided that I would tell them to return to visit again sometime. Kind of the equivalent of the good old Southern ’y’all come back now, ya hear?’"
So to the husband Brad said, "Pishiye!"
He got a very odd look, which told him that something had been said wrong. Brad switched to Portuguese to try to explain, and the man told him he meant to say "Pipiye."
"And then it dawned on me what I had said," wrote Brad. "At the end of our nice pleasant visit and after a warm handshake I had told the man, ’Run!’"
Rebecca has had her own moments.
She was visiting with one of the tribal women when a mosquito came by and started pestering them. Wanting to practice the language, Rebecca asked if it was a maniro.
"Immediately, the lady began to laugh and told Rebecca that no, it wasn’t a maniro at all but a manyo," wrote Brad. It was then that Rebecca remembered that maniro was a deer.
And the missionaries are often asked how to say something in English. "We will then say the word or phrase in English to them and they will try to imitate what we said. This often brings loud guffaws of laughter from the one doing the imitating and those around listening."
"It does remind me of how funny we must sound to them at times as we try to speak their language," Brad wrote. "What is important is to keep your sense of humor and allow yourself to make mistakes. Putting your pride aside, opening your mouth and trying to use what you know in a language is probably half of the battle of learning."
Please pray for the Howes as they continue to learn the tribal culture and language.