Random Thoughts on Language and Communication

With Corporal Richie (Retired) of the Grammar Police.

Today happens to be a Friday, and once again we have happened to be blessed with the appearance of a few paragraphs of uncommon sense (or nonsense) for perusal. The indefinite break the blog took seen to have ended pretty early (the Richie Online IT gurus were on strike among other reasons) and we are back in business once again.

More often than not I find myself getting some critical feedback on my articles. The criticism is usually aimed at the ideas propagated but once in a while I have been shot down for grossly assassinating the Queen's language. Timalakwitsa chingerezi. Probably excusable, right? I am just a Lhomwe from Chiradzulu who learnt a bit of English from a rural primary school. English is not my thing. I know that this my sound hypocritical considering the many times I have criticized some Pentecostal preachers who always mess up subject-verb agreement (as of them, they can easily switch to Chichewa).

In the recent past the social media (by social media I mean Whatsapp groups and statuses) was awash with videos of one Malawian footballer who switched languages mid-interview "to communicate well with fellow Malawians". The comment from the interviewer? "Well. It seems like he can't speak much English..." The next few days (if not weeks gave us a raging discussion on the interview. While others thought it was an issue that wasn't worth discussing, the rest thought that it was high time the football association did something to avoid further scenes. The suggestions? Have basic English classes for players (anthu amangoluza ndiye ati asiye training adziphunzira chingerezi), pick up players who are already good with the language (as if they are going for the COSAFA speakers challenge or anything of the sort) and many other funny suggestions. Some threw it to the players and argued that as people who have the potential of being on the continental or global spotlight they need to make an effort in learning these western languages. That probably sounded more reasonable but one is left to wonder as to how many would find that a thing worth doing.


Away from the solid arguments on the matter was a heavy barrage of mockery that was directed on the footballer. Supporters of rival teams took it as a big talk point and an opportunity to mock their neighbour. To add to the voice, Ras Dema composed a song about the whole interview thingy. The discussion now shifted lanes and the nation started discussing yet another trivial issue of whether the mockery was warranted or not. Useless debate, right? If your answer to that is a yes I can gladly say that we are on the same side. I don't think we ought to have the same primary school attitude of laughing at our own people who were born at Mtubwi in Machinga or at Kameme in Chitipa for failing to have a good command of some foreign language. The debate, however produced some interesting sentiments which have prompted me to come up with this piece.

Amidst the noise, some pointed out that we shouldn't beat Sailesi (I guess it's now okay to mention the name) about the whole thing because English should not be used as a measure of one's intelligence. Now that was another debate and a completely different topic in my view. This never was about intelligence in the first place, but people still decided to play the intelligence card; a thing which led to yet another debate as to whether the knowledge and perfection of one's English was important. This issue had us moving in lazy circles. Ironically, a couple of weeks after hitting Whatsapp for the wrong reasons, Sailesi was in the back pages of the papers for the right ones. He had been signed by some Zambian team and he was to be getting a lot of money with some good signing fee in his pocket. People got on the offensive and started picking on "broke English speakers". Language vs Money. This was one interesting turn of events and debates. Really got us mixed up.


The most important observation I have made is that people have lost their original appreciation for the beauty and importance of communication. The whole player interview saga demonstrates it all. I am pretty sure that the man of the match knew that he could only go so far with the interview because of limitations of language. I am not sure as to how possible this is but I think in such cases it is important to rope in a translator or something of the sort to avoid the whole issue of switching languages mid-interview. There are a lot of things I could have commented on around the interview, but I will go on to comment on another comment. When the marksman finally landed on a lucrative Zambia contract people began their mockery on broke English speakers. To that sect (perhaps understandably), whatever language one speaks or converses in doesn’t matter so long as one has fat pockets and accounts. That is what I would call faulty reasoning for the simple reason that I enjoy communicating, be it through speaking or text. I believe that communication is there to be fully utilized but above that, to be enjoyed.
There once erupted a debate as to whether we should be using vernacular languages in our August house. This was brought about when some people observed that the only words some UDF members of parliament would utter were the “chitsiru iwe” or “khala chete” slurs thrown at members who had the courage to stand up and express themselves in the Queen’s language (not without some broken construction, of course; sizimalephera). In other words, members were failing to speak out on issues of national development because they did not have the courage and competence to contribute to the business of the house for some minutes in the white man’s language. Remembering this saga triggers yet another memory of how some of my friends struggled with Standard 5 in primary school. Prior to getting to the class, we had been forewarned that everything in Standard 5 was taught in English except for Chichewa Language. While I didn’t see a cause for alarm, I noticed that there were a lot of people who were failing to grasp the basic concepts of subjects like Social Studies and Agriculture for the very reason that they were taught in English. I am pretty sure that if we were teaching those in our “not so rich in vocabulary” local languages, things would have been a bit easier. The language thing drives wedges between people and it has the potential to halt learning and development. I am tempted to say its high time we dumped the western languages, but hey…How are we going to communicate with donors (I wanted to say tobacco buyers) if we don’t speak their language? Tilalikirana bwanji opanda chingerezi?
On a lighter note, there is something interesting about interpersonal communication with regard to the topic of discussion. Most of the people in my circle happen to be bilingual. Amachita ka chingerezi kosakaniza ndi Chichewa in every sentence whether they are texting or speaking. There are some (not unlike me) who have trouble giving formal talks in local languages and prefer the white man’s tongue for the same. This begets trouble, especially in settings where people do not understand izi za azunguzi. People have been labeled as pompous because of something that is part of them. Solution? Know your audience and rehearse these things.
More often than not we fall into the temptation of thinking that everyone understands chingerezi  and can fluently communicate in the same so long as they have a “Whatsapp-enabled” gadget which is far from the point. As a retired officer in the Grammar Police Unit, I used to do a lot of fault finding; telling people whenever they typed wrong spellings and constructions. I stopped for reasons I would rather not elaborate and I think that having to read messages in which rules of language haven’t been honored should be the least of our concerns. What I find depressing is this issue of having to re-explain things just because one has used a language someone did not get. For linguists like the Venomous Hope who have the ability to weave fancy words from their gargantuan vocabulary, I am pretty sure this problem pops up more often than note. Again, know and learn your audience; otherwise this language barrier will drive an unwanted wedge between you and the other human. A potential suitor, probably.
Conclusion?
Communication is vital for co-existence and for development at all levels. Knowing the audience and one’s personal capabilities is key to good communication and as such has to be applied at all times. In as much as other languages may not be important for the basic survival, learning how to fluently communicate in other popular languages may come in handy as it may be a bridge to greatness in many areas of life, be it spirituality, career and social life. Without putting too much focus on language, we also need to pay attention to the way we put our thoughts across. There seems to be a tendency of being unwarrantedly mean among the modern day humans. There are moments that people throw rude words our of nowhere in a normal conversation, lecture or speech. In most cases people hide behind correctional motives, forgetting that it is possible to correct people without stepping onup their toes. Mudzitolere.

Those of you who think English is the best language for your children might as well teach them a Chichewa word or two. Nanga adzikanika kuyankhula ndi agogo awo?

Have a lovely weekend, anthu a Mulungu.