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Khalai yan with plant Khalai talks to plants Khalai parle aux plantes

Written by Ursula Nafula

Illustrated by Jesse Pietersen

Translated by Anthonia Ujene

Language Nigerian Pidgin

Level Level 2

Narrate full story The audio for this story is currently not available.


Na Khalai be dis. She be seven years. D meaning of her name na ‘good one’ for dem dialect, wen be Lubukusu.

This is Khalai. She is seven years old. Her name means ‘the good one’ in her language, Lubukusu.

Voici Khalai. Elle a sept ans. Son nom signifie « celle qui est bonne » dans sa langue, le lubukusu.


Khalai wake up begin yan with orange tree. “Abeg orange tree, dey grow oo make we for dey lick plenty orange wen ripe.”

Khalai wakes up and talks to the orange tree. “Please orange tree, grow big and give us lots of ripe oranges.”

Khalai se réveille et parle à l’oranger. « S’il-te-plait oranger, grandis et donne-nous beaucoup d’oranges mûres. »


Khalai dey tricke go school. For road na so she go dey yan with grass. “Abeg oo grass, grow make u dey fresh and make u no die oo.”

Khalai walks to school. On the way she talks to the grass. “Please grass, grow greener and don’t dry up.”

Khalai marche à l’école. En chemin, elle parle à l’herbe. « S’il-te-plait herbe, deviens plus verte et ne sèche pas. »


Khalai waka pass bush flower. “Abeg oo flower, make u grow fine fine oo make I for dey put you for hair.”

Khalai passes wild flowers. “Please flowers, keep blooming so I can put you in my hair.”

Khalai passe vers des fleurs sauvages. « S’il-vous-plait fleurs, continuez à fleurir pour que je puisse vous porter dans mes cheveux. »


For school, Khalai go talk to tree wen dey center of compound. “Abeg oo tree, make ur branches dey spreed oo make we for fit dey siddon read under your shade oo.”

At school, Khalai talks to the tree in the middle of the compound. “Please tree, put out big branches so we can read under your shade.”

À l’école, Khalai parle à l’arbre au centre du camp. « S’il-te-plait arbre, fais pousser de grandes branches pour que nous puissions lire sous ton ombre. »


Khalai dey yan to flower wen surround her school. “Abeg oo flower, make grow strong oo so yeye person no go fit enter our school.”

Khalai talks to the hedge around her school. “Please grow strong and stop bad people from coming in.”

Khalai parle à la haie qui entoure son école. « S’il-te-plait, deviens robuste et empêche les personnes méchantes d’entrer. »


Wen Khalai come back for school, she go look d orange tree come ask am, Your orange dem never ripe?”

When Khalai returns home from school, she visits the orange tree. “Are your oranges ripe yet?” asks Khalai.

Quand Khalai retourne chez elle de l’école, elle visite l’oranger. « Est-ce que tes oranges sont mûres ? » demande Khalai.


“D orange dem still never ripe oo” hmmmn. “I go see you tomorrow oo orange tree,” “maybe tomorrow go beta and I fit get ripe orange for mysef!”

“The oranges are still green,” sighs Khalai. “I will see you tomorrow orange tree,” says Khalai. “Perhaps then you will have a ripe orange for me!”

« Les oranges sont encore vertes, » soupire Khalai. « Je te verrai demain oranger, » dit Khalai. « Peut-être que demain tu auras une orange mûre pour moi ! »


Written by: Ursula Nafula
Illustrated by: Jesse Pietersen
Translated by: Anthonia Ujene
Language: Nigerian Pidgin
Level: Level 2
Source: Khalai talks to plants from African Storybook
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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