Not too much has happened since my last post. This week was intense language training, and while I am not fluent yet, the basics of Ewe are coming together. Speaking of which I will talk a bit about the language.
Ewe is the anglicized version, because the 'w' in Ewe is actually more like a V. The alphabet has 30 letters (same letters as English minus C and Q) including a bilabial unvoiced F that looks like a normal f but a longer tail at the bottom and bilabial voiced V with swooshes at the top of the V. The F is like you are blowing out a candle and the V is simply how an f and v are similar - with one you have a soft sound and the other is hard. Also in this new alphabet is a new G, an X that makes a different sound (like a hebrew H), a backwards vowel C (like the a in alms), a lowercase n with a tail (no English equivalent), a d that sounds like you are saying "dir" as in dirty fast. Also a good thing about learning that language - each letter except for E makes the exact same noise everytime. One letter, one sound. There are diagraphs in Ewe that make similar sounds to those found in English (ch=ts). So, cheese is pronounced the exact same way, but spelled completely different.
Cheese = Tsyise
I will try and see about getting the actual letter characters so you all can see what they look like.
This upcoming week I will be meeting my teacher counterpart at my site and conducting my site visit the second half of the week in Volta! Finally I can really practice my Ewe greetings outside of the classroom and the scattered Ewe I meet on the streets.
Facts:
I had some pants tailor made for about 12 dollar including fabric and sewing.
Its been cool that past couple nights - Ive needed my sheets.