Why the ridicule?

AreaDaddy · Post by **AreaDaddy** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 6:22 pm

Anything worth doing is worth doing well...In Scandinavia and Singapore people speak English as a second language fluently, and by all accounts far better than you average scouser, geordie or cockney geezer

Francophone Africans also speak French very well as a second language.

It is really an indictment of our educational system if anything.

Post by **Cellular** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 6:52 pm

I no get problem wiff pesin way wan show me say im go skool... but if you wan show say you go skool come begin spray me wit bullet (in the case of Big Shawn, WMDs), I go yab... like Nanijo tok "spoke am for pigin" make we know say you no wan put up an air...

27 · Post by 27 » Mon Apr 26, 2004 7:01 pm

When Nigerians can't speak good english, it's not because they missed english lessons at school or 'cos they're lazy so I don't see why they should be ridiculed.
I speak good english and it's not particulatly because I studied it.

Yiba · Post by **Yiba** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 9:20 pm

I hope i am not trying to generalise here but i notice many Nigerians equate the ability to use big grammer as a sign of good Education or sophistication.Also the argument that we do not speak good English because it is not our mother tongue is not correct.Anybody,who has the privilege of attaining rudimentary education in Nigeria can read and write good English.

27 · Post by 27 » Mon Apr 26, 2004 10:45 pm

Yiba, in Nigeria, School pass School.

Damunk · Post by **Damunk** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 10:50 pm

Yiba wrote:I hope i am not trying to generalise here but i notice many Nigerians equate the ability to use big grammer as a sign of good Education or sophistication.Also the argument that we do not speak good English because it is not our mother tongue is not correct.Anybody,who has the privilege of attaining rudimentary education in Nigeria can read and write good English.

The correct use of 'big grammar' is a fair indication that the person has achieved a certain degree of education.
It is the misuse of 'big grammar' that we should be wary of, and is equally a fair indicator of a substandard education.

And anyone that is using the (MTV Bass) Hip-hoppers or 'MCs' from downtown LA or the streets of Hackney London as a yardstick surely needs to go back to school.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 12:12 am

Damunk wrote:
baba no regrets wrote:Thank you mai broda. That na why I just dey tire for people like Gotti and TD wey just dey do gra gra all the time. Right now, I'm trying to improve my Yoruba to an advanced level. I want to be able to use correct adages and proper ijinle Yoruba where the thing go fit including speaking with my village accent. Having a good command of the English language does not equate intelligence.
Baba No Regrets
It is commendable that you are trying to reach levels of excellence in your own mother tongue. However you have to accept that the Yoruba language, rich and philosophical as it may be, has a limited appeal, and an even more limited application in today's global village.
Intelligence, to be of any use , has to be communicable. There's no point being a village intellectual if you cannot project and propagate your intelligence beyond your local 'borders' -- the village stream just 'over dia'.

So stop begrudging those who have chosen to master a language that has a slightly wider appeal than their mother tongue. You should admire them. Just becos someone speaks excellent English does not mean he cannot speak excellent, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and Swahili.
Believe me, there's enough room in your brain for more!

So forget what you primary school English teacher said to discourage you!!
Just keep at it!

damunk

Omo, as long as you've reached the level of understanding I have of the English language you can use Yoruba proverbs and adages in explaining things in English. The answer to some questions or explaining certain things might just be in a Yoruba proverbs. Take for example, many of the Chinese adages we use like 'a journey of a thousand mile starts with a step' Do you think it was spoken in English in Chinese?

Na wa for you o. This English language wey you dey champion so, e be like say you no even understand am. I said I tire for people and here you said I shouldn't begrudge them. I agree that one can be proficient in two or more languages. Being good in one shouldn't adversely affect the way one is in the other. But I have a problem with families' like Yetty's that object to their children speaking a Naija language. I spoke English with my Urhobo neighbour because they only spoke English in their house and a select few of my friends but at home it's Yoruba all the way. Yet, I still get A for my Junior WAEC and C when I took English As A First Language in my GCSE.

Damunk · Post by **Damunk** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 1:10 am

BNR,
I am not championing the English language. Rather, I am championing excellence in any language one chooses to speak. Shikenan!

I have no reason to doubt your own proficiency, and my post to you about your primary scholl teacher was just a joke as i'm sure you know.

Regarding Yetty's post...that worries me. There are too many parents in Nigeria who for some most foolish of reasons, discourage their kids from speaking their mother tongues in some fcuked-up belief that it's a reflection of their 'status'.
So you find a large number of naija kids from the big cities, especially Lagos and western Nigeria who speak their language poorly, if at all, and think that their 'Naija' English is a cmplete relacement. languages compliment each other, and anyone that can speak more than one is at an advantage.

"Omo mi o gbo Yoruba' (My pikin no hear Yoruba) is said with a hint of pride and superiority.

That is simply sick.

original skeepolah · Post by **original skeepolah** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 3:42 am

Verbalists are what they are..............

They cannot be divided themselves into twice so the chosen the language they are useful too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

27 · Post by 27 » Thu Jul 15, 2004 1:56 am

So you find a large number of naija kids from the big cities, especially Lagos and western Nigeria who speak their language poorly, if at all, and think that their 'Naija' English is a cmplete relacement.

Damunk, that's because to those kids, their mother tongue is a second language and English is a first.

That's my point. You're better at your first language than your second so all this ridicule is really a sign that the people laughing aren't intelligent enough and well enough travelled to observe the simple fact that people speak a first language better than a second one.

Damunk · Post by **Damunk** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 7:35 am

27 wrote:
So you find a large number of naija kids from the big cities, especially Lagos and western Nigeria who speak their language poorly, if at all, and think that their 'Naija' English is a cmplete relacement.
Damunk, that's because to those kids, their mother tongue is a second language and English is a first.

That's my point. You're better at your first language than your second so all this ridicule is really a sign that the people laughing aren't intelligent enough and well enough travelled to observe the simple fact that people speak a first language better than a second one.

Yeah, but my point is about families actively discouraging their children from speaking their own mother tongues, in Nigeria!
I find that ridiculous!
If the so-called 'elite' have so little regard for our own languages, then we can be assured that some time in the future, they will by (legislative) acts of commission and ommission, relegate it so far into the background that it will eventually start to become obsolete. It might be happening already.

Your point that a first language is more naturally spoken than a second is obviously true. But in a Nigerian household, in Nigeria, why should English be the first language, apart from in exceptional circumstances?

Personally, I think two Nigerian languages should be taught compulsorily in all primary schools, and one in secondary school up to JSS 3 level.
And if you do not pass you take a resit.
A people that loses it's language, loses it's culture.

airwolex · Post by **airwolex** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 1:16 pm

What Language do you think in? Me I noticed that most of my sweet dreams are in Yoruba aand black and white and most of my nightmare is in Engish and coloured. Is there a scientific reason for this?

27 · Post by 27 » Thu Jul 15, 2004 1:41 pm

What Language do you think in? Me I noticed that most of my sweet dreams are in Yoruba aand black and white and most of my nightmare is in Engish and coloured. Is there a scientific reason for this?

airwolex, I think that justifies starting a new thread entirely.

On the subject of what language you think in however, many people with "bad english" are like this because they construct the sentence-the grammar-in another language and just substitute the words with English ones. So they come out with statements like "There is fire in the up" or "Sleep on the down".

Damunk · Post by **Damunk** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 1:45 pm

I remember one Bini woman I was seeing in Lagos trying to describe mucus to me. She called it 'nose'.
She said "nose dey comot from him yansh" (her pikin had mucoid diarrhoea)
I was truly baffled!

living · Post by **living** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:22 pm

well I think it is necessary we can communicate with the outside world,and presently english is the preferred medium, through with we can convey whatever info we have,however that should not hinder us from learning our mother tongue.
I rememeber in my house ,just akin to that in yettycom's situation, my parents spoke to me in english but as time went on i decided to brush up my mother tongue ,cos i speak it badly and was always ashamed when i replied to them in english ,when being spoken to in yoruba.Well I will say I am making headway.Nonetheless I believe one can improve english and his mother tongue simultaneuosly

Post by **truetalk** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:20 pm

Damunk wrote:
I remember one Bini woman I was seeing in Lagos trying to describe mucus to me. She called it 'nose'.
She said "nose dey comot from him yansh" (her pikin had mucoid diarrhoea)
I was truly baffled!

Damunk! You were dating a bush woman?

Mansa Musa · Post by **Mansa Musa** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 10:50 pm

I no sabi Turancii well well. Na zane I sabi think in.

airwolex wrote:What Language do you think in?

Damunk · Post by **Damunk** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 11:59 pm

truetalk wrote:
Damunk wrote:
I remember one Bini woman I was seeing in Lagos trying to describe mucus to me. She called it 'nose'.
She said "nose dey comot from him yansh" (her pikin had mucoid diarrhoea)
I was truly baffled!
Damunk! You were dating a bush woman?

Ehn now! Are we not all from the bush?
Abi na from concrete you been come?

airwolex · Post by **airwolex** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 12:07 am

Generally, I think in English; but when I enter Yawa I generally resort to thinking in Yoruba

That is when I unconciously start mumuring: "Ye!! Temi baje leni!" (My own don spoil today)

Post by **nanijoe** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 12:25 am

and most of my nightmare is in Engish and coloured. Is there a scientific reason for this?

I think I read it someplace that we can only dream in black and white

Molue Conductor · Post by **Molue Conductor** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 7:46 pm

Damunk wrote:
Yiba wrote:I hope i am not trying to generalise here but i notice many Nigerians equate the ability to use big grammer as a sign of good Education or sophistication.Also the argument that we do not speak good English because it is not our mother tongue is not correct.Anybody,who has the privilege of attaining rudimentary education in Nigeria can read and write good English.
The correct use of 'big grammar' is a fair indication that the person has achieved a certain degree of education.
It is the misuse of 'big grammar' that we should be wary of, and is equally a fair indicator of a substandard education.

And anyone that is using the (MTV Bass) Hip-hoppers or 'MCs' from downtown LA or the streets of Hackney London as a yardstick surely needs to go back to school.

see as u take style yab Gotti