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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: SENEGAL FRENCH WOLOF TEACHER - Fernandes HEADLINE: French expat gains internet fame with Wolof language learning videos
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: 07/8/2024
BYLINE: Allison Fernandes
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: (Dakar, Senegal)
VIDEOGRAPHER: Allison Fernandes
VIDEO EDITOR:
PRODUCER:
ASSIGNING EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Kenochs; Baragona
VIDEO SOURCE (S):
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV __ RADIO
TRT: 2:32
VID APPROVED BY: KE
TYPE: (TVPKG/RADIO)
EDITOR NOTES:
((INTRO))
[[A young Frenchman who settled in Senegal a little over a year ago decided to master the local Wolof language. Now he’s teaching it to other people on social media. Allison Fernandes has the story and Michelle Joseph narrates.]]
((NARRATOR))
27-year-old Ludovic Baron has only been living in Senegal for a year, but he speaks Wolof fluently.
((Ludovic Baron, Apprendre le Wolof Creator)) ((Male, in Wolof))
- Hello, how are you? Is everything okay? Do you have fermented milk? -Yes. - Is your fermented milk good? - Yes. - Give me 200 francs.
((Video: Ludovic buys fermented milk at a seller))
((NARRATOR))
Ludovic’s neighbors in the Ouakam district of Dakar are pleasantly surprised, like this seller of curd milk.
((Moustapha Diop, Fermented Milk Seller))((Male, in Wolof)) “It is surprising to see a Frenchman speak Wolof fluently because most people, who come from France (to) here, only speak French.’’
((Ludovic Baron, Apprendre le Wolof Creator)) ((Male, in French))
“It helps with your adaptation. It helps you negotiate prices too, to discover the people, their culture, have good times. If I only spoke French, I couldn’t meet people in the same way.”
((NARRATOR))
In Senegal, most people speak Wolof and Baron wanted to learn. And since he couldn’t find enough online resources...
((Mandatory Courtesy: Youtube: Apprendre le Wolof))
...he launched his own YouTube channel, Apprendre le Wolof.
Now, he makes short, humorous videos.
((End Mandatory Courtesy: Youtube: Apprendre le Wolof))
((Video: Ludovic speaking in Wolof with a Senegalese about football))
Today, on the roof of his house, he is recording a video with his friend, Babacar Ndao, a student and Wolof language enthusiast. Today’s theme: Colors.
((Babacar Ndao, Baron’s Friend)) ((Male, in French))
“What we try to do is allow Senegalese people to speak pure Wolof. For example, a person from Dakar might speak a sentence with an Arabic word, an English word, and a Wolof word. We do research. We try to bring what is only Wolof and allow people from Dakar to take ownership of it.’’
((NARRATOR))
The videos are widely shared in different countries around the world, notably in France, where they are followed by many French people of Senegalese origin.
((Ludovic Baron, Apprendre le Wolof Creator)) ((Male, in French)
“I often get this feedback. The fact that…seeing a white person who can speak Wolof, at first, they feel a bit of embarrassment, shame. They say to themselves: he knows my parents’ language while I don’t. But then, after the shame comes the motivation. They say to themselves that if someone has done it from scratch, I can do it too.”
((NARRATOR))
((Mandatory Courtesy: Youtube: Apprendre le Wolof)) Between Tik Tok, YouTube, and Instagram platforms, Ludovic already has more than 600,000 followers on his Apprendre le Wolof account, and the number keeps growing
((For Allison Fernandes in Dakar Senegal, Michelle Joseph, VOA News.))
((End Mandatory Courtesy: Youtube: Apprendre le Wolof))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
