Signs and Advertising 1

At this point, my narrative will begin taking a slightly less chronological approach.

The first things I noticed about Uganda, besides the pervasive lush green colour and the heat, were the signs.

Uganda's national languages are English and Kiswahili, but its widely spoken languages are Luganda and Ankoli. As a result, most English-speaking Ugandans speak English only as a second language, and they have developed a rather peculiar dialect.

English in Uganda is as verbose as it can possibly be made. The simplest words are replaced with their most complicated alternatives, and a sign that could consist of three or four words in North America would have as many as possible in Uganda.

I took this photo at Makarere University.

Ugandan signs are also rife with spelling errors. I found Ugandan speech to be difficult to understand at first because of its dialectical nature. At one point, somebody said, "I require your assistance," and it took me two whole seconds to understand that they needed my help! The accent contributes to this problem as well.

I'll leave you with this sign: one of my favourites.