[michi]

He listened to me for a little bit, then interrupted: "Matthew, everybody know elephant is big. Everybody know, that water is wet!"

I love that story!

Michi.

[rachelnguyen]

Waraba,

That is a great story, LOL.

And it really does point to the differences in how Americans and Europeans tend to learn vs. Malians.

Another funny language teacher story. When I was in Bamako in January, we hooked up with a sweet young woman who was working for USAid. (An organization I have grave concerns with, but that is a whole other thread, LOL.)

She had no French or Bambara to speak of, so she was going to a Bambara teacher who had been recommended by the organization. At one point, she was telling us all kinds of things about Bambara. (Why women say Nse vs. Nba etc etc.) This went on for days.

At some point I asked Sidy about some of the things she was telling us. "Yeah'' he said. "That's all crap."

I just had to laugh.

Rachel

[Waraba]

Rachel, I love it!

[studydjembe]

Thanks for your suggestions! "Ambulansi be na" may be useful.

I should clarify. I'm actually playing a role in the donation of an ambulance to one of two charities that are operating out of Mali. Some friends and I are actually delivering it personally, and I would like to be able to use the phrase "ambulance delivery" in the same way you would use the phrase "pizza delivery". In this case the ambulance is the thing that is being delivered/dropped off.

If the concept of this type of delivery is foreign or unusual in Mali, then your suggestion of the word "donation" would be the next best thing. So would the phrase then be "Ambulansi nilifɛn" or "Ambulansi sama"? What is the best translation for "donation"?

Thanks!
Michael

P.S. Dugafola: Keep the moustache.

We (aaron and erich) think that "ambulanci file" would be the best way to approximate your "ambulance delivery" (File is pronounced "F'le").. "Ambulanci file" literally means behold the ambulance, but is appropriate when you are giving something to some body... Like to say here take some bread you could say "Buru- do - file"

If you wanted a more literal translation of what you are doing you could say:
"An nana k'aw son ambulanci la" - We have come to give you all an ambulance.
"son" is like to gift or donate something.

[WRRogers20z]

Hello all,

I savor listening to music of all varieties, but I also like to know what is being conveyed lyrically for the full experience. As of late, I have become keenly interested in Mali's Rail Band. That said, is there anybody out there who might be able and willing to transcribe and translate their debut album's lyrics from Bambara into English? It would be extremely appreciated and I'd definitely want to offer something in return.

Thanks,
Wyatt

[djembefeeling]

seems that the links to the indiana university are not working any more. so try this:

http://www.iu.edu/~celtie/Bambara-Intro.html