February 17

Just to get an idea of what our language class is like, here is a dialogue that a friend and I presented this morning with our very limited vocabulary, some of which we have learned through unfortunate circumstances (example: kadradraka, or cockroach):

B: Manahoana! (Hello!)

Me: Ah! Matahotra kadradraka aho! (Ah! I'm scared of cockroaches!)

B: Fahasalamana? (How are you?)

Me: Tsy tsara! Asa manelingelina! Tsy afaka miteny ny kadradraka. (Not good! Leave me alone! Cockroaches can't talk.)

B: Kadradraka tsara sy mahafinarita aho. Te hilalao ve ianao? (But I'm a nice and marvelous cockroach. Want to play?

Me: Eh eh eh, tiko hofaty ianao! (No, I want you to die!)

So fluency is certainly far off, but considering that I started out with only knowing how to say hi when my plane landed here in Tana, I'd say this is awesome progress!