Pohnpeian Crash Course

Two blog posts in the same number of days! What is this insanity? If you have ever read any of my previous travel blogs, you’ll be well aware that this is a very rare occurrence and will likely never happen again. This isn’t much of a blog post but rather a primer on the Pohnpeian language. Though we still don’t know our placements (we find out next Friday) we have learned some crash course Pohnpeian for living with our host families for the next few months. I decided to share some of that Pohnpeian with you lovely readers since I will be trying to use as many Pohnpeian words as I can during my blog updates to practice them and because it gives you a taste of the different languages I will be learning while I’m here. Additionally, I hope that if any Future Peace Corps Micronesia Volunteers stumble upon this blog, this post will give them a general idea of the language.

Kaselehlie                               Ka-say-LEH-lee-eh                    Hello/Goodbye

Menseng  mwahu                    Men-seng mwow                       Good morning

Kalahngan                               Ka-LANG-an                             Thank you (formal)

Menlau                                    Men-lau                                      Thank you (informal)

Edei _____                             Eh-TAY                                        My name is ____

Ia edemw?                              Ya TOM                                       What’s your name?

Eih                                          Ay                                                 Yes

Soh                                         Soh                                                No

Ia iromwi                               Ya e-ro-muwe                                How are you?

I kehlail                                  E ke-lyle                                        I’m good

I sohte kelail                          E sochi ke-lyle                               I’m not good

Ia mwomwen nda                  Ya moe-m-when enda                    How do you say___?

Menlau wawai                       Men-lau wa-why                            Please slow down

Menlau kapwurchieng          Men-lau ka-po-ray-eng                   Please repeat

I sohte wehwehki                  E sochi way-way-ke                       I don’t understand

I wehwehki                           E way-way-ke                                 I understand

Ke kak sewese Ie?                Ka kock sa-wah-se ya                     Can you help me?

I men mayir                          E men meir                                     I want to sleep

I yah                                     E ya                                                 Excuse me

I men kang ____                  E men kang                                     I want to eat____

I sohte men kang_____       E sochi men kang                            I don’t want to eat___

I iouki ______                     E yoki                                              I like_____

I sohte iouki______            E sochi men kang                            I don’t like ______

Nono                                   No-no                                              Mother

Pahpau                                Pah pau                                            Father

           

A few quick disclaimers on the list, many of the pronunciations are how I’ve interpreted how they’re said, so they might be a little off but they make sense to me, so that’s what matters, right? Also, Pohnpeian and the other languages in FSM are all oral so there are discrepancies in spelling and you will find the same word spelled differently, which can make learning Pohnpeian a little more challenging.  A view pronunciation rules- Pohnpeians roll the R, like in Spanish, the T is a ‘ch’ sound, H is a signifier that the preceding vowel should be extended, and the ‘ng’ is pronounced by putting your tongue at the back of you mouth.

The preceding list is just a small example of what we’ve learned. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how much Pohnpeian we’re able to pick up in a relatively quick class. Granted, the real tests will be how much of this we’ll all remember once we get to our host families and keeping Pohnpeian and whatever other language we learn separate.This is also incredibly basic Pohnpeian since it's only meant to be a crash course to help with living with our host families and I'm sure that more intensive studying and speaking would prove challenging.

            Something I’ve observed since arriving is that I not only get up much earlier than I did at home but I also go to sleep much earlier. The sunset is before 7, which has been a strange adjustment since the sun is setting closer to 8 at home, but the sunrise is also earlier. I’ve been naturally waking up before 7 every morning, which, if you know me, is highly out of character.

           

            Another note, the food has been amazing so far, so I’m eating very well. At the moment, we get all of our meals on campus and the cooks are incredible. They mix traditional Pohnpeian food with American food and everything is delicious. I’m also eating more vegetables and fruit than I, very naively, expected after first reading about Micronesia. When I move in with my host family, I’ll eat breakfast and dinner with them during the week and all three meals with them during the weekend. I’ll definitely be exposed to more traditional Pohnpeian foods.

All of the host families but one have had volunteers live with them before so that will hopefully make the transition a little easier. I’m very excited for this opportunity and can’t wait to meet my host family and really start to immerse myself in Micronesian culture. I’ll hopefully have another blog post next week about my first few days with my host family but until then kaselehlie.