It was my first interview experience and it was fun and interesting! I had a structure planned for the interview. 1st get to know a bit about him, 2nd ask him the questions listed on the worksheet, finally follow up with any other questions I felt were pertinent or interesting. But that wasn't really how it went down. Step one occurred as planned but then the 2nd and 3rd combined and took their own natural course. It was so cool the way one answer prompted so many other questions I wanted to ask. He was so obliging and a great talker, that made things comfortable and enjoyable for me. Here are a few insights he helped me gain:
- Ghanaian males greet each other with a handshake that is more like a skin slide that ends in snapping on the other person's middle finger before releasing from the touch. (We practiced that a few times.)
- It is disrespectful for youth to look their elders, parents, or other adults in the eye.
- Ete sen = How are you doing. Akwaaba = Welcome. Meda Wase= Thank you. Mepa Wokycw = Please. "ky" is pronounced like "ch"
- Asante people have a lot of pride. They feel they are the chief tribe. His parents are Asante but live outside Accra. He said we could visit them if we like. They work at the MTC and are close to the beach.
This sounds like a great discussion. We ought to get Maggie and Andrew teaching you some basic Twi vocabulary! Did you gain any insight on how Ghanaian women greet each other? Or a woman and a man? Does it change with social standing or region?
ReplyDeleteI got the sense that Ghanaian women greet each other very similarly in Ghana as they do here, but that was the region around Accra that was more urban. So I don't know if it is different in the more rural area of Ghana. I'll have to ask Maggie and Andrew when I ask them some more language questions :)
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