Speaking in Tongues

Well, perhaps you can guess from the title that we are beginning our African language studies.  The language is called Pular.  It is a difficult language spoken in various dialects by over 20 million people throughout West Africa.  For example, it has 24 definite articles, whereas English has one – the.  It has sounds that do not occur in the English language such as implosive d and b.  That is a sound like d or b but you suck the air in when you say it instead of blowing the air out like in English.  It also begins words with consonant combinations that do not occur at the beginning of words in English such as gb, nd, and mb.  For these reasons, it seems that it will be a bit more difficult to learn Pular than French.  That is yet another reason to keep us in your prayers, because if we can’t learn the language, we will have a difficult time communicating the Good News to people who need to hear it.