Another update on my language journey:
Last night I was given a text to read that I’d never seen before.
I read it out loud to my instructor, then answered questions about the text in the same language.
My instructor said it was a pleasure to hear me read out loud. I got most of the questions right—we’re getting into the territory of idioms and figures of speech, and let me tell you, there is no other way to harvest that field without rigorous plowing and tilling—and we ran out of time not because I got stuck but because we were so deep in the conversation.
Totally not saying I’m fluent because I’m really at the stage of an elementary student. I know only about 1000 words—yikes, do figures of speech just stop me in my tracks. I’m still trying to figure out what “Ban yon poto” and “Pran yon poto” mean, not as words, but situationally, to describe that thing you do when you show up late or not at all, or are stood up. Like, I get that situation, but what do these phrases mean?
But if you are patient with me and explain the idioms where I’m just blinking at you in confusion, you might be able to talk with me in Haitian Creole. (Oh, I did catch on right away with what this meant: “Mesye tèlman cho; li genyen kat mennaj” because mister, you need to slow your roll just a bit.)