soulpatrol, i give credit to nigerians compared to some european nations, some south americans, some caribeans, the list is endless my sista, now can we improve, you bet, we could.

oh for sure. i hang with people from all over the world, so i know that i'm blessed that i dont have to learn English for the first time. i feel for people that struggle to put an English sentence togther when they want to speak, yet i'm able to do it so effortlessly. and $$Rhino, ur comment rang so true, that no matter how much u try to perfect ur English and try to talk like them oyinbo peeps, they still won't see u as equal. if u like twist ur tongue from today till tomorrow, it doesn't make u any special, just easier for them to understand u!

dude you've gone off point in numerous ways. I'm not commenting about posting on a forum, but even then, if you are speaking English not pidgin, it is only normal to use the right grammar, unless of course it was a typo

This is not a matter of hailing foreigners. use of English as official language is our choice - if that is the choice, is it too much to demand that we use the lingo appropriately?

it is not a matter of who the 'owner' of the Language is, we want English to be our official language, if we dont want it anymore, change it to pidgin or whatever you want. I have not said ALL Nigerians cannot speak English, many/most of the people I know can speak excellently far and above many oyibos, the issue is that proud heritage/standard is falling everyday, and some people like you want to excuse that on the basis of 'its not our language' or 'worshipping oyibo man's shit' or other such excuses. that is escapism and failing to address the issue at hand.

I am not talking about accent/speaking style - simply basic grammar and correct pronunciation. It isn't too much to ask is it?

my own be say, as long as u try to put a sentence together that makes sense and is understandable, then u're good. no need for fone or trying to acquire an accent. me i flow better when i'm speaking in my natural state, as long as u can hear me well, no need to please everbody. and for goodness sake, there's aboslutely nothing wrong with speaking pigdin when u're talking to ur country people. English is so over-rated! very boring on its own, and believe it or not, other countries actually appreciate it and want to learn. thank the lord for Ebonics to spice things up! there is always a place and time to speak it of course.

Pally, what other language would nigerians use as official language in a nation of more than 200 different langs, and for your info, nigerians respect pdgin more than real oyinbo, cos that is the language that everyone understands, anyhow, i wan go sleep, it is 11:33pm at night and my eyes are becoming heavy, so sweet dreams pally, make sure you speak so much grammer for ya dream oh, oyinbo boy.

debosky:

dude you've gone off point in numerous ways. I'm not commenting about posting on a forum, but even then, if you are speaking English not pidgin, it is only normal to use the right grammar, unless of course it was a typo

This is not a matter of hailing foreigners. use of English as official language is our choice - if that is the choice, is it too much to demand that we use the lingo appropriately?

it is not a matter of who the 'owner' of the Language is, we want English to be our official language, if we don't want it anymore, change it to pidgin or whatever you want. I have not said ALL Nigerians cannot speak English, many/most of the people I know can speak excellently far and above many oyibos, the issue is that proud heritage/standard is falling everyday, and some people like you want to excuse that on the basis of 'its not our language' or 'worshipping oyibo man's shit' or other such excuses. that is escapism and failing to address the issue at hand.

I am not talking about accent/speaking style - simply basic grammar and correct pronunciation. It isn't too much to ask is it?

Debosky,

You are making too much sense and your thought process is above and beyond some of these posters. All they are interested in repeating ad nauseum is oyibo, pidgin is good oooo, and other gibber gabber, without truly tackling and analyzing the points you are making.

They cannot seem to grasp that English is the official language of Nigeria, by the choice of Nigerians, and as such, her citizens should be competent and fluent in the language. If English is too cumbersome for Nigerians to learn, PICK A NEW OFFICIAL LANGUAGE.

The garbage about Americans and British people speaking poor English is a dumb one. No one is saying that there aren't people who in those countries who speak English poorly. But, aside from President Bush (who is a true embarassment), the people who come from educated backgrounds in the US speak and write English JUST fine.

Like i once said, Chinese are one of the most respectable nationalities in da world and yet they cant speak english at all, some of them have to hire americans to interprete for them, yet they are one of the nations that rules teh economy of the world, they are the reasons why we have to pay so much for gad today, so all english with no money for pocket, na useless talk, good night.

;d

my belle o

You people no go let me go sleep ohhhhhhh, this convo is just too kool to pass, soulpatrol, i beg patrol my soul jare and make sure say all dem oyinbo pikin no polute me with too much oyinbo oh. sweet dreams pidgin lover like me.

speaking of George Bush, that guy is one hell of a president o! his grammer got me cracking up everytime. and that's supposed to be the number 1 man of the country! his own better, during Obasanjo's time, when the guy gives a speech, I couldn't help but fall asleep even before he put one sentence together. why is he always taking his time? sheesh! typical yoruba man talking like a snail.

@ $$Rhino, u know say for this thread, there's no such thing as right or wrong answer. u fit argue over a topic until u grow grey hair, and nobody go win.

Rhino stop jumping helter skelter to justify this theory of yours. WHAT IS CHINA'S OFFICIAL LANGUAGE??

is it too hard to understand that making something your official language means you should be reasonably proficient in reading and speaking and comprehension??

that is all I am saying, all this bs about China being economically strong is besides the point. If you want to discuss the linkbetween language and economics, do that on a fresh thread. All this excusing mediocrity in the guise of 'its not my papa language' or the usual singsong responses you have been giving is not acceptable to me.

If we 'respect' pidgin so much, make it the official lingo ok?

BTW in Canada that we are, do you know how much these Chinese are paying to learn English in ESL classes? They will soon be able to speak it better than you very soon because they are diligent and choose to learn things, not justify their inadequacies with excuses

$$Rhino:

Like i once said, Chinese are one of the most respectable nationalities in da world and yet they can't speak english at all, some of them have to hire americans to interprete for them, yet they are one of the nations that rules the economy of the world, they are the reasons why we have to pay so much for gad today, so all english with no money for pocket, na useless talk, good night.

Hello, genius, ENGLISH is not China's official language. What part of this are you not grasping? Of course the Chinese have a difficult time speaking English, their laws and press are written in CHINESE. Lord help me, I think I'm dealing with slow people. 

debosky, u making were making sense be4 till you start talking about how much chinese are paying to learn english, they just wanna be able to speak it to the level of people understanding what they saying, and not to be a master at it.
Trust me pally, i am not trying to make my statement acceptable to you, for all i care, u could speak all ya grammer and i can speak all my pidgin, now hope u are happy, i beg i wan go sleep.

em wait o, even those Chinese people get issues o. even after all the English lessons they receive, don't they still resort to secluding themselves from English speaking people? u still find them hanging out within their communities only, and blocking others out, which isn't too helpful considering that they're trying to learn the language.

Fufu king, what is the official language of a chinese man that resides in america?
Can they speak that official lang fluently like you ?
And dude, no need for the name calling, i enjoy conversing, but draws the line when yu wanna start name calling "slow people" nothing warrants that, peace.

The Chinese people case is a side-comment and tangential to what we are discussing here.

Is it too much to expect literacy and comprehensible communication in your lingua franca?

@ Rhino, when you start school on Tuesday, I beg of you please speak pidgin when you're answering your prof in class, before long, they'll revoke your study permit

pally, aint a student, me don finish pally, where in canada are you at?
Please tell me that you are in Ontario, then, tell me the meaning of " yours to discover"

Ontario : yours to discover - what explanation does that need Its the 'motto' of the province just like 'centre of excellence' is for Lagos, or do you want me to explain what that means also?

and yes I'm in Ontario, so when you go to work on Tuesday, speak pidgin to your boss

can't we all just get along? whatever happened to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King?
_{I have a dream that all naija people will be united, in pidgin or proper English, indivisible, under one non-corrupt government, with unity and justice for all.} 

see my fellow Canadians fighting o. what a shame!

hahahahahahaha pally, everyone in my office know me as the kool nigerian guy, so even if i speak pidgin, they will just laff, where in ontario u dey, student or working?

me and Steve Harper dey share backyard for O-town jare studying/working

who dash soulpatrol Canadian? besides me i be naija until i pai

Soulpatrol, haba, fighting ke, we no fight now, we just dey have fun, dont tell me say na canada you dey too oh, where for canada you dey, make i try speak correct english be4 debousky arrest me with OPP oh.

$$Rhino:

Fufu king, what is the official language of a chinese man that resides in america?
Can they speak that official lang fluently like you ?
And dude, no need for the name calling, i enjoy conversing, but draws the line when yu want to start name calling "slow people" nothing warrants that, peace.

My friend, I seriously want you to re-think this analogy you are attempting to make.

You are comparing a scenario where the official language of one country is English, the press is in English, the laws are written in English, the schools teach English from 1 year and on, to an adult immigrant coming to a new country and learning a foreign language. My friend, HOW ARE THE TWO COMPARABLE? If I were to go to France right now, of COURSE I would have a difficult time speaking French! It would be a completely new language for me! But if I grew up in Senegal, where French is the official language, schools are taught in French, books are written in French, and I arrived in Paris speaking French poorly, then yes that would be the situation we are talking about.

English is the official language of Nigeria. I repeat, the official language of Nigeria. It is not comparable in any way to an adult foreigner coming to the US and having difficulties learning the language. How do the two even seem similar in your mind?

Ottawa is aiight, i do hang out there sometimes, when i go clubbing for Montrael.
But will be in kingston next week golfing.
Good luck with school my guy

Fufu, in nigeria, yeah english is official langs, however, depending on where you at in nija, it could be argued, anyhow, dont wanna say mauch with you, cos u seems to result to name calling all cos people dont buy your idea, so i beg, oyinbo master, fashi my side, i dont wanna continue with you, cos i dont appreciate name calling and i dont wanna be pushed to get into exchanging of such with you, cos we here to have fun, so if it makes you feel better and add more feather to your wings, u don win oh.

$$Rhino:

Fufu, in nigeria, yeah english is official langs, however, depending on where you at in nija, it could be argued, anyhow, don't want to say mauch with you, because u seems to result to name calling all because people don't buy your idea, so i beg, oyinbo master, fashi my side, i don't want to continue with you, because i don't appreciate name calling and i don't want to be pushed to get into exchanging of such with you, because we here to have fun, so if it makes you feel better and add more feather to your wings, u don win oh.

LOL, are you intimidated because I said "slow people"? My apologies, but I can impatient at times.

Anyway, the fact that you said that depending on where you are in Naija, English may or may not be well-spoken is EXACTLY the point of this thread: "The terrible state of the English language in Nigeria."

I know that some people on Nairaland like to blame oyibo for all their troubles, but I assure you, my concerns about Nigerians' competence in the English language have nothing to do with them. Professional and studied Nigerians themselves have complained about the state of English in Naija. They say they can't believe how the young people speak pidgin all the time and that they now speak it in schools. So there are many Nigerians complaining about the sad state of affairs. Wake up, Nigeria. If you want to adopt a new official language, so be it. But if you want to continue with English as the official language, the lingua franca, cut pidgin loose!

Fufu, if you read me well earlier, we could improve on everything and our grammer inclussive,however, nigerians are trying, be4 i fit take ya apology, send me some odeku larger beer and suya without pepper.
Anyhow, i feel you, we speak lots of pidgin, and all that, but i still blv that nigerians are trying, but yeah, we could improve.

I didnt say "fellow Canadians" for nothing. duh! where do u think I am? this is Nairaland, my profile doesn't exactly say where I am. I could be in the same province as either of u, for all u know. besides, guys, ya know its late o, make una go sleep and come back and continue tomorrow. if not for Labor day tomorrow, I for talk say una no gots to go to work? anyway sha.

make u go to the EX be4 dem finish oh.

$$Rhino:

Fufu, if you read me well earlier, we could improve on everything and our grammer inclussive,however, nigerians are trying, be4 i fit take ya apology, send me some odeku larger beer and suya without pepper.
Anyhow, i feel you, we speak lots of pidgin, and all that, but i still blv that nigerians are trying, but yeah, we could improve.

LOL have a guinness on me my friend.

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