Stranger!

I am teaching a grade 12 class when a student informs me that someone has come for me. I ask if it is Fanta Fofana and he says yes. A different student then wants to know the appropriate way to refer to this person. Do we say, “Your stranger has come?”

Glad you asked, I wanted to reply. I explain, no, you only use “stranger” for a person you do not know. She is my friend, I know her, so she is not a stranger to me.

Student: But that boy who came to inform you, he did not know if you knew her or not. He did not know she was your friend.

Me: True. So he could say, ‘your visitor has arrived.’ A visitor can be someone you know already or someone you do not know.

Student:But your friend, does she know Fatoto?

Me: You mean, has she been here before? No.

Student: So then she is a stranger to Fatoto.

Me: Yes…but she is not my stranger. Is everybody finished with the test?


So, I blew it. A golden opportunity to convince students not to refer to visitors as strangers, and they end up more deeply convinced that everyone's a stranger. Even I am slightly convinced. Well, okay, I’m not, but I am at least glad to see that there is some sort of logic at work--that it's not all an error in vocabulary.