It is not an accident that the first dialogue of your local language lessons begins with greetings, for greetings are a most essential aspect of Gambian culture. Many foreigners who have lived in a village can attest to the amount of time spent going through the greetings when one Gambian meets another during the day.

The exchange of greetings is the key to successful interaction with Gambians at every level, whether in the market, on the street, in the office, or over the telephone. People are taken aback if you do not greet first before beginning a conversation even if you just want to ask a question.

Greeting serves as an icebreaker and will make the person you greet feel better
disposed toward you. Greeting in a local language is recommended (salaam alekum), but an English “Hello” will do.

For foreigners, these greetings may seem a meaningless waste of time because they are always the same and quite lengthy. You may also be baffled to see a Gambian doing something you consider “really important” stop everything to spend ten minutes greeting a friend he has seen just hours ago. But once again it is because greeting acknowledges the existence of another human being and taking the time to relate to him or her in a personal way is a priority in Gambian society which helps achieve the goal of harmony and peace in the community.
Every member of the community is expected to greet every other member of the community regardless of status or wealth.

Indeed, the greetings are a way for the Gambian to show respect for every member of the community whether they are rich or poor, noble or of slave origin, because every member has an important role to fulfill.
Shaking hands is also a part of the greeting process. People shake hands as often as they see each other during different times of the day.
Women, especially in villages, are not normally expected to shake hands when greeting.
When greeting a group of people or someone from a distance, raising clasped hands will take the place of a handshake.

When one is working or eating, the arm may be offered instead. Gambians follow a certain protocol for greeting elders: a younger person greets an elder first and avoids direct eye contact.
Also, physical affection for a loved one or emotion in general is not openly shown in public. Note that in shaking hands the right hand is used. The left hand denotes something else and is explained elsewhere.

It is also interesting to note that Gambians often express anger, not by hostile words or threats, but by refusing to greet the person. This is considered a great insult denoting a lack of respect or outright contempt for the individual. This is important to remember since in other societies a “hello” and a wave of the hand are enough to show the pleasure you get from seeing someone.

If a Gambian villager is asked why he spent so much time greeting, repeating the family name over and over, he would reply that he is not only saying the name of the individual with whom he is speaking, but that he is also acknowledging that person’s entire family, and the history of the family, the ancestors as well as the living.

Foreigners living in The Gambia (especially in a traditional village) must realize then that they may hurt people’s feelings by not greeting every individual with whom they come into contact even if the other is in the middle of a business transaction, a discussion with someone else, reading, etc.
This can be exasperating if the foreigners think that Gambians have the same priorities as they do (respect of privacy, work, time, etc) and don’t understand the capital significance the greeting ritual has in Gambian society for showing concern for the well being of the individual and his family circle.
The foreigner may think nothing of walking into an office and saying point blank “I need this or that”, because in his society he is trying not to waste the other person’s time and to get straight to the point. This foreigner may wonder why Gambians are so slow to help him out (or even seem a bit hostile) even though it may be their job. However, the Gambian feels he has not been acknowledged before getting down to what he considers secondary matters.

It is obvious that a Gambian will fare better in another society if he learns the polite way to approach people according to that society’s standards. So when the foreigner in Gambia does learn the Gambian greetings and uses them, this indicates to the Gambian that the person is one who has taken the time to learn what is important in Gambia and feels the person respects him and the customs of his society.

He is therefore much more eager to aid this individual. It is also interesting that most foreigners who learn Gambian languages participate with sincerity and learn to value this ritual, finding it difficult to return to societies whose priorities make it impossible to devote time to this type of interaction.
After you have learned the basic greetings in the local languages, have fun by using them.