"hear" kenya

My junior class is reading Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  A relatively simple plot, the real challenge when you pick up Huck Finn is mastering a reading of Twain's dialogue.  His ability to capture specific American dialects is legendary.  And daunting, I've found, for many a high school student.

I've taught this unit three times now in my American Literature class, but this is the first time I thought to have my students try their hands at capturing dialect on paper.  In this international and incredibly diverse environment, I realized that these kids have such incredible ears for language and dialect, but just have maybe never had an opportunity to write this good stuff down.  

So here was the assignment: Like Mark Twain, consider the unique and varied people in your life and model a character after someone you know.  As you write a short story or "chapter" from this character's story, make sure to write in a way that emphasizes their specific dialect and unique way of speaking.  They should be believable people with believable stories.  Draw your reader into their lives.

I'm getting such a huge kick out of these.  Here's just one of the stories I received.  This was written by a Korean 11th grade student who has lived in Mombasa and Nairobi for most of his life.  Read it out loud, and I swear you'll hear Kenya.

Haro, my name is Kamau Njoroge.  I am 9 years old andi I go to St. Peetah’s Primary School in Dagoretti.  I am in crass 3.  Ruby, my teacha, is vere vere bahd yani she does not ret talk andi every day we have sreeping time, but in de middle we want to go to de toiret but then she does not ret us, we always say “Teacha, me am pressed,” andi then she willer ret you.

Yestahday, me andi my friends were praying footi ball andi we came to crass late in de morning.  Teacha was waiting in front of de doah, she called owah names in front of de crass.  “Kamau, Omondi, Otieno, come heeah.”  Andi we always say, “Teacha, what did I do?”  Andi she told Omondi to go outside andi bring a nice stick, andi then Omondi brought it, she asked us how many times we wanted to get beaten andi we always say, “Teacha I willer nevah do it again.  Teacha, have mahsee teacha plrease.”  But owah teacha has no mahsee.  We know it but we just try it, you know.  So me, I always say, “Teacha, me I want to get beaten just once—just once nicely andi freshly.”  Haya!  So now we will hold de boahd, but then this is not owah fahst time getting beaten, to we have already put some papah in owah buttocks.  

Me, I catch a ma three going home—I just rive vere crose so it’s onry ten bob.  You see, when I go home I go outside andi pray footi ball with this absorutely nice ball me andi my friends made with paypah bags that wah on de street andi then I go inside de house when de sahn goes down. 

At home I have one small brothah called Kinanjui.  He is vere stubborn vere yani you cannot rie about that you know, he always goes andi tells Mummy, “Mummy, you know… you know… Kamau has eaten de shoogah you saved foah de visitahs you wah going to have on Sato.”  He is a pure mshamba.  Pure.  Last time he was arguing with me about if you brush yoah teeth aftah you have eaten oah befoah you have eaten, andi then he went andi told Daddy, “Daddy, Kamau has badi mannas.  Can you believe that he brushes his teeth aftah he has eaten instead of brushing befoah has eaten sindio?”  Even that one Daddy cannot agree, but that day, Daddy just funggaed his mdomo andi din’t say anything.

Now when we sreep, theyah ah vere many mosquitoes, so we put sahm Doom.  In Omondi’s house, they don’t have Doom.  Us, in owah house we have Doom.  Daddy will always put Doom because he does not want us to get malaria.  Heeah, malaria is so common that people will go to de doctor andi say that they have malaria on their regs.  How foorish ah they?  Us Kenyans, we have so much potential but we don’t use it. 

Ah, now me, I have reft these guys.