To Mila – With French, Cheers and Love

My FASU Games experience.

By Motunrayo Sanyaolu

(Motunrayo in UNILAG Design Studio. Image Credit: Motunrayo Sanyaolu)

On behalf of the innovation hubs in the University of Lagos, a few of the students working at these hubs were asked to represent the hubs and invite people to come for a tour of design, engineering and innovation. I was one of these students and we went around the university’s sports center, talking to athletes and encouraging them to come see our spaces.

At the time I arrived last Tuesday, there was a male basketball match going on. Where I stood to watch the game, there was this lady beside me. I got to know that she was Guinean – and Francophone. Why not extend the invite to her, I thought, but I hesitated on starting a conversation because of my limited French.

(Motunrayo presenting during a session in UNILAG Designs Studio. Image Credit: Motunrayo Sanyaolu)

Eventually, I collected together my Duolingo French and moved to talk to her. We exchanged pleasantries at first – her smile was bright. I asked if she was a student and she said yes. I also asked for the name of her university (Université Général Lansana Contè de Sonfonia, Guinea Conakri) and told her I was a student of University of Lagos, the co-host university.

I told her my French wasn’t so good and she said: “Non, tu parles très bien” (“No, you speak very well.”). That was amazing to hear, coming from a native speaker! I felt like my years of learning wasn’t a waste. We kept going until I got stuck and was trying to find certain words in French. I almost dropped it, but she encouraged me to continue. Later, we would use Google Translate to continue our conversation.

I found out that she was the coach for the male basketball team. Eventually, I invited her over to the university’s Design Studio, the hub where I work, but she said she couldn’t come because she had to keep an eye on her players. Then I told her to bring all of them. By chance, her team just happened to walk by. I said hi to them as well. And they were surprised!

“Are you from Guinea?”

“No, I’m actually Nigerian.”

“Et tu parles Français?” (“And you speak French.”)

“Oui, mais just un peu.” (“Yes, but just a little.”)

I smiled.

They asked where I learnt and I said Duolingo, the language-teaching app. Lovingly, one of them offered to teach me more (yess) and asked for my name. When I told them they said it was “plus difficile” (“quite difficult”), so they shortened it. They called me Rayo. I only got the coach’s name – Mila. Mila, my newfound French-speaking Guinean friend.

They had a match later that day and I was there to watch. Throughout the match, I kept shouting, cheering them on in French. I made some small talk with their other athletes too.

( My Guinean friends are in blue. I later got to know that they won the bronze medal, beating UNILAG 70-71 in a third-place decider. Image Credit: FASU)

They won the match. And at the end, I got a few fist bumps from the other Guinean students who were cheering with me. Some of the players said thank you and I congratulated them. Then the coach (Mila) remembered my name, called out, and said thank you. It was a proud moment for me. I had managed to make some friends in French. This will stay with me for a very long time.