Africa: speaking your own language · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ted Kidane came to the United States from Ethiopia twenty four years ago as a student, with $50 in his pocket. He starts his talk with a story about misunderstanding – he was visiting a tax preparer (which he found weird as, in Ethiopia, the government never gives money back to you), and then man said “Get out of here.” Kidane didn’t know he was joking, and ran out of the office. He offers this as a lesson in the importance of understanding language and communication,” writes Ethan Zuckerman from Arusha, Tanzania.