The Language Lull

Now that we've lived in Lagos 6 months, we've gotten a pretty good grasp on how to successfully communicate with fellow residents of our bustling and busy city. It is generally accepted to be extremely direct...this could involve shouting (which is not considered offensive per say) or simply stating something as you see it, whether it's a compliment or a concern. Basically, you can put everything out on the table without fear of offense, but retaliation in kind is usually expected.

While visiting Kenya and Tanzania, however, differences in communication style were immediately apparent. Upon arrival in Orusha, I had several logistical questions to ask our trip coordinator.
Does the bus start running at 6:30? (lengthy pause) Yes.
Does it pick up every two hours? (another length pause) Yes.
Will breakfast be served early the morning of the marathon? (now, an annoyingly lengthy pause) Yes.

I was beginning to feel like she was just saying "Yes" because she didn't know the answers! Truthfully, all the information she gave us was accurate but the overuse of pauses and the conciseness of her answers made me skeptical. I quickly learned to ask non-Yes/No questions.

Even with non-Yes/No question, however, the contemplative pauses and concises response were still present. When we'd point and ask our safari guide Raymond to identify an animal, this is typically how it went:
What is that? (pause) Im-pala.
Is it an Antelope? (pause) Ye-sss. (Pause, Pause, Pause). The impala has three lines on their back.

In addition to adjusting our strategies for getting the information we needed, our entire manner of speaking also had to be adjusted from our Lagos lingo style. In Lagos, you are more easily understood if you make things simple, speak in present tense, and speak slowly. Don't use too many fillers or explain the situation too much. Inevitably our accent paired with long explanations would make us unintelligible in Lagos. But in East Africa, this manner of speaking just didn't sound quite right. Despite the general lull and relative conciseness in speech, there seemed to be little purging of tenses or and our complex, long-winded American statements were easily understood.

Overall, we found it easier to communicate in East Africa than in Lagos. But patience was a virtue when it came to communicating in this lulling linguistic style.