Not Quite There

I hate to disappoint the vast number of you who think that I am fluent already. I know, I know..I've been studying language a month. I should almost be like a professional now, right? Oh man, if only that were the case. Here's just a little glimpse of what me trying to speak the language looks like on a daily basis:

Setting: Local market, helping a friend sell vegetables at her booth.

Me: (pointing to local vegetable) What is this called again?

Language Helper: Huh?

Me: How do you call this?

L.H.: Naka lanuy waxe.

Me: (talking to women passing by) Beggnga lanuy waxe? Beggnga lanuy waxe?

L.H.: (laughing uncontrollably) Wait, what did you ask me?

Me: What is this vegetable called?

L.H.: Oh! That vegetable is called jaxatu! I thought you were asking me how to say "how do you call this."

So, to break this story down for you: Beggnga=Do you want? lanuy waxe=to call this. Beggnga lanuy waxe?=Do you want to call this? Basically, I was looking at women passing by and saying, "Do you want to call this?" instead of saying, "Do you want a jaxatu?"

I wish I could tell you things like this were a one time occurrence, but they aren't. My language helper and I have decided that I am pretty fluent in Englof-a mixture of the languages. Most of my sentences sound like this:

"Demb, waxoon naa sama yaay ak sama rakk bu goor went back to ecole."

*English words are also usually muttered..so it really sounds like I'm not speaking any kind of language.*

So, for those of you who are aiming high in your thoughts of my language skills, I give you a sincere thank you. However, I thought I'd give you a little dose of reality...I'm just not quite there.