For a long time, I’ve been wondering which method is the easiest for gathering information during interviews. I tried various approaches, but the results were almost the same. Later, I discovered a new method: asking questions in Hausa to Hausa people.
There’s a hidden secret in asking questions in the native language. People tend to be more relaxed and provide more comprehensive answers.
I’m writing a book about translation. I interviewed different people in English, but only one person gave me a complete answer to what I asked. However, after translating the questions into Hausa, the results changed significantly, with a much higher percentage of useful responses.
Don’t assume those I questioned in English couldn’t speak it well. Among them were people known for their English writings. What I realized is that there’s a special understanding people have for things presented in their mother tongue.
I tested this strategy in various fields and consistently got the same results.
A similar incident occurred in another research project I’m involved in, collecting Hausa writings. The work is closely related to English, so we prepared interview questions in both languages. When analyzing the responses, I found we obtained more of the information we sought from answers to questions prepared in Hausa. Notably, among those questioned were professors and doctors.
Indeed, the mother tongue is truly amazing.