dabigwalls: I have often come across people in writing substitute the use of "I'm" with "am". It is becoming a careless error that is gradually creeping into professional writing and it is to say the least appalling that even graduates have no clue. There was a time people would say "it's my lucky" rather than "it's my luck", etc

"I'm" is the abbreviated form of "I am" so when "am" is used alone, it may pass in speech but never ever in an application to a serious organisation or employer. Never write "am hoping that..." -in an email or letter. Rather in speech, it should be "I am hoping..." -and not even the correct abbreviation "I'm".

This may not affect the prices of many things in the market o but a trained and sophisticated HR recruiting unit may perceive such candidates as weak potentials - even if the contrary were true.

this is because people are generally lazier to type or write these days....people text-type a lot and it soon became a habit and they bastardise the language!

nothing makes me more antsy than the "you're" and "your" factor you get to see a lot these days....

SmoothLIFE: Good post. English is a foreign language and not our language so, if you are going to use it at least use it as it was intended to be used. I am sick and tired of the so called street English! It is only producing a generation of people who genuinely can't write and speak proper English. Local languages and proper English only please!!

I will end by saying ONLY GHANAIAN RULE can SAVE West Africa!!

intended by whom. There are so many dialects of the language as any one who has lived in the north of England or Scotland will attest. You almost NEVER hear the word; YES. Invariably it is AYE. OR I'm gaan not I'm going.

Many posters have a misapprehension of language in general and English specifically.
English language is in flux perpetually and has many RECOGNIZED international variants. eg the American use of the reflexive pronoun as a subject once considered taboo in Britain is now widespread : "You can speak to John or myself(instead of me) if you have any problems" or the more "annoying" Americanism . "I have gotten accustomed to Patience Jonathan's solecisms"
Based on our population and influence in Africa and the Commonwealth we have every right just like the Americans or Australians to establish our own standard having introduced words like opepe,iroko,sapele into the English dictionary we can and should extend our influence and not just parrot silly expression that do not chime with our rhythms.
So let us not make monkey mockery of oursef

Thank heavens for my English teacher back in primary school. You dare not miss doing your home work or fail any of her assessment. She never spared the rod in correcting us.. if not my anglais , both readin and writing would have been a mess. Miss Veronica, wherever you are. i say thank you. Your bulala really was a motivation

deols: I believe a time is coming when all of these wouldnt matter anymore. The key would be,communication and once you are able to do that,you are good to go.

Maybe not in spoken English, but definitely written English, especially in academics.

@op, I blame Instant Messaging and Social Networking without equivocation!

aribisala0: If you travel widely you will observe that many people; Japanese,Germans,French etc speak English quite poorly and no one makes fun of them. Why do we make fun of ourselves for BAD ENGLISH but not for BAD YORUBA or BAD IGBO that is the koko and indicates COLO MENTALITY.
Even in England many people have bad grammar. You hear people say "HE SHOULD OF" instead of HE SHOULD HAVE more often than not.

As we speak probably less than 10% of literate Nigerians can write in their mother tongue let us deal with that

National language of Japan = Japanese.
Official language of Germany = German.
Official language of France = French.
Official language of Nigeria = English.

I think it's safe to assume that schools in Japan, Germany, and France are conducted in their official/national languages. Our schools are conducted in English. A lot of today's generation cannot speak native tongues nor do they have a good grasp on English. That's a big problem.

People from Japan, Germany, and France are not made fun of because if they're wrong, they ask for correction. The OP has made a thread asking why we don't care about the English language, which is the official language of Nigeria. Response? "It's not our language". One of our biggest problem is our inability to realize our mistakes and correct them. Instead, we make excuses and become defensive.

There's nothing wrong with someone saying what sounds like "should of". The contraction of "should have" is "should've", which sounds like "should of". The err is when a person spells "should've" as "should of".

bealuv:
yes,here comes the Nigerian "never ready to learn and correct my mistakes" mentality.
your question is what is the pride in being an expert at anoda man's language(i.e english) right?
i'll answer with another question....how many countries in the world can you take yoruba or igbo or hausa too and you ll be whole-heartedly received??
if you can answer that then you have answered your question

I was silly enough to create a thread about how grammatical blunders irk me and sure enough plenty people played this card! It was annoying. Whatever happened to the saying "What's worth doing is worth doing well"? Things like Language Proficiency pass a quite salient message and why people don't take it seriously is a thing of concern..

strangest: Inferiority complex is when you try as much as possible to imitate a white mans language. We are Nigerians and if Americans can refer to "want to" as "wanna", "got to" as "gonna" and "twenty" as twenny, even sef the digit 1900 is referred to as Nineteen Hundred instead of one thousand nine hundred. Is that not GBAGAUN to the highest level? NO its not.. Its called American English... Who is fooling who? Abegii all those GBAGAUN that you read about everyday including the ones dey claimed Patience made are nothing but NIGERIAN ENGLISH. E0D

Here's my question. How often do you see "gonna" or "twenny" in American official publications?

ogugua88:

National language of Japan = Japanese.
Official language of Germany = German.
Official language of France = French.
Official language of Nigeria = English.

I think it's safe to assume that schools in Japan, Germany, and France are conducted in their official/national languages. Our schools are conducted in English. A lot of today's generation cannot speak native tongues nor do they have a good grasp on English. That's a big problem.

People from Japan, Germany, and France are not made fun of because if they're wrong, they ask for correction. The OP has made a thread asking why we don't care about the English language, which is the official language of Nigeria. Response? "It's not our language". One of our biggest problem is our inability to realize our mistakes and correct them. Instead, we make excuses and become defensive.

There's nothing wrong with someone saying what sounds like "should of". The contraction of "should have" is "should've", which sounds like "should of". The err is when a person spells "should've" as "should of".

One can postulate a spectrum of competence in languge ranging from proficient,expert to Master.
I am sorry but your use of English is at best tolerable and your use of logic even less so. Your rationalization "what sounds like" is at best patronizing and at worst stupid. No one said "sounds like" so save your platitudes. We are not English The reason why we are losing our languages is because some people believe that one day we shall all become "NIGERIAN" ,tribeless blank slates speaking even better Engish than the Queen. What is a "mistake" in language? Do you have even the most rudimentary understanding of how languages evolve.Americans ,Australians all speak their own versions of "English" without Self-consciousness or penitence so what are you talking about.
One day we too will wake up and start teaching Calculus in Hausa. It is impossible for us to speak English like the British because language is embedded in culture and the harder we try the more ridiculous we look.

Just like your ridiculous " The contraction SHOULD'VE" theory. Should've ko Shall've ni
shoul've is widespread and wrong just like sometimes ago or I came and met your absent. Eventually with persistent widepread use they may become accepted just as various Americanisms.No one climbed Mount Sinai and came down with rules of speech for ALL TIME. Our though rhythms are unique and so will our evolution of the use of language whether English or any other
Bottomline let us concentrate on our language



How many 10 year olds in Nigeria can possibly know any of these meanings

Nag - Horse
Wether -Castrated goat
Yearling -One year old horse
Sucker-baby pig
foal-baby horse under a year
castrated horse= gelding
all within the word set of any 8 year old in rural Ayr in Scotland. HIS CULTURE.

How mny 10 year old Nigerians know the English words for Shaki,Mess(fart) jagajaga,wuruwuru,shakara or kampe and WHY MUST THEY??. We should not alow language to DISABLE us but rather upgrade our own languages to meet our current needs

aribisala0: One can postulate a spectrum of competence in languge ranging from proficient,expert to Master.
I am sorry but your use of English is at best tolerable and your use of logic even less so. Your rationalization "what sounds like" is at best patronizing and at worst stupid. No one said "sounds like" so save your platitudes. We are not English The reason why we are losing our languages is because some people believe that one day we shall all become "NIGERIAN" ,tribeless blank slates speaking even better Engish than the Queen. What is a "mistake" in language? Do you have even the most rudimentary understanding of how languages evolve.Americans ,Australians all speak their own versions of "English" without Self-consciousness or penitence so what are you talking about.
One day we too will wake up and start teaching Calculus in Hausa. It is impossible for us to speak English like the British because language is embedded in culture and the harder we try the more ridiculous we look.

[size=14]Just like your ridiculous " The contraction SHOULD'VE" theory. Should've ko Shall've ni[/size]



How many 10 year olds in Nigeria can possibly know any of these meanings

Nag - Horse
Wether -Castrated goat
Yearling -One year old horse
Sucker-baby pig
foal-baby horse under a year
castrated horse= gelding
all within the word set of any 8 year old in rural Ayr in Scotland. HIS CULTURE.

How mny 10 year old Nigerians know the English words for Shaki,Mess(fart) jagajaga,wuruwuru,shakara or kampe and WHY MUST THEY??. We should not alow language to DISABLE us but rather upgrade our own languages to meet our current needs

Lol theory?? You know it all.

ogugua88:

Lol theory?? You know it all.

Leave English alone .That "Engish is our official language" is that reality? How many Nigerians understand English.
Northern Nigeria is the least burdened by Colo Mentality in Nigeria and we foolishly look down on them for not speaking English

aribisala0: Leave English alone .That "Engish is our official language" is that reality? How many Nigerians understand English.
Northern Nigeria is the least burdened by Colo Mentality in Nigeria and we foolishly look down on them for not speaking English

Do you really want to drag regions into this? You know fully well that Nairalanders can come up with a million and one reasons as to why the North is behind everyone else, so it's best to leave region out of this.

As for those born and raised in Nigeria, it is not a case of the white man screwing over Nigerians with kolo mentality. Ask yourself why fewer Nigerians born and raised in Nigeria cannot speak their native languages. The British left how many decades ago. They haven't mandated Nigerians to stop teaching their children native tongues. Besides, didn't most of us come from Nigerian parents? Don't they speak a native language? Why are fewer parents teaching their children native tongues? If younger generations can learn from their parents, there are more than enough resources to learn a Nigerian language, thanks to technology.

My parents both went to English-speaking schools in Nigeria. My father speaks Igbo, English, Hausa, and small Idoma as my paternal family lived in Benue before the war. My mom was born and raised in Lagos. She speaks Igbo, English, and Yoruba. They were taught Igbo by their parents/families, learned English in school, and picked up other languages from the environments in which they found themselves.

It isn't entirely society's fault. In fact, society is a scapegoat. Anyone who is willing to learn most certainly can. There is a famous Jamaican NLer who speaks pidgin English as if she was raised in Nigeria. I learned pidgin within a year as well, because I wanted to, and I'm learning Igbo, because I want to. A lot of Nigerians don't want to put the effort into learning. As much as I'd like to disagree with this notion, one that El-Rufai similarly stated a while back, it's becoming more of an undeniable fact.

datola: What's the the pride in being expert in another man's language. We can study science in our languages and be the best in innovation.

Until you can do that, and effectively communicate with the rest of us here in your language, you have no point.

ogugua88:

National language of Japan = Japanese.
Official language of Germany = German.
Official language of France = French.
Official language of Nigeria = English.

I think it's safe to assume that schools in Japan, Germany, and France are conducted in their official/national languages. Our schools are conducted in English. A lot of today's generation cannot speak native tongues nor do they have a good grasp on English. That's a big problem.

People from Japan, Germany, and France are not made fun of because if they're wrong, they ask for correction. The OP has made a thread asking why we don't care about the English language, which is the official language of Nigeria. Response? "It's not our language". One of our biggest problem is our inability to realize our mistakes and correct them. Instead, we make excuses and become defensive.

There's nothing wrong with someone saying what sounds like "should of". The contraction of "should have" is "should've", which sounds like "should of". The err is when a person spells "should've" as "should of".

That comment is for the pubs. If you want to be so particular about syntax, you should as well be as detailed about phonology.

[quote author=nitlad] [/quote
LOL. Fery peurifuuul. Terring her wellu wellu for me o.

DICKtator:

You self are olodo. Didn't you saw where he was write"I am not satisfy"?
You are correction others english yet you cannot corrected it well.
Am disappointing in you.

LOL. Ferry peutifuuul. Terram for me.

nitlad: That comment is for the pubs. If you want to be so particular about syntax, you may as well be as detailed about phonology.

Not at all. Spoken English and written English differ, the same way, say, spoken Igbo and written Igbo differ. The way you speak with your friends, parents, or strangers is different in comparison to the way one writes. Presidents Obama and Clinton are fond of saying "gonna", "wanna", and "shoulda", to appear more personable with average Americans, but I guarantee you that's not how their speechwriters wrote it.

It's in every language. I studied French for over five years and I cannot understand everyday French. What I learned as "je ne sais pas" (I don't know), has become "j'en sais pas", which now sounds like "j'ens pas". When you're amongst informal company, such as friends, then you can speak however you like and text however you like. When people start writing improperly and speaking improperly in proper settings because that's all they know, however, then we have a problem, which is what the OP stated.

Truth is most of us use 'am' for ease in typing on forums or other informal settings. Doesn't mean we don't know. Believe me, we speak/write correctly when it matters. Agreed, some people make mistakes that are really terrible and inexcusable. Thing is to keep learning the language everyday as English is the most dynamic of languages.

Thank God this is coming up. I am sick and tired of reading the same mistake, correcting them and people still argue. Before, I do use abbreviations in writings; message, letter, notes, etc but later realized it was affecting my written english so bad that I had to learn to stop. Now I have improved a great deal in my written english. It sucks to read abbreviations too.

no one can borrow perfectly,English language is a borrowed language.i think is high we switched to our native language so we develop,why do we care so much about foreign stuff at d detriment of our own,even d british make a lot of mistakes while writing,so we shouldn't try to b more perfect than d owner. in as much as d listener or reader understands what is spoken or written,being not his/her teacher,
WHO CARES.
I WOULD RATHER SPEAK MA MAMA LANGUAGE, BROKEN SEF SWEET PASS DEM GADDEM INGRISH,mtsheew

nagoma:

This has nothing to do with your mind . You either right or wrong.

i dnt care

nitlad: Coincedentally, British English is the standard bearer. So 'learned' be damned! lol

COINCIDENTALLY

caukerzee: It also pisses me off when people use 'am' in place of 'i'm'. Am could only be used to start a sentense when it is a question.

I know you did not start a sentence with it but the I in I'm should always be in capital.

Nuezha:
'Aja to maa sonu kii gbo fere olode'

english pls!

ogugua88:

Not at all. Spoken English and written English differ, the same way, say, spoken Igbo and written Igbo differ. The way you speak with your friends, parents, or strangers is different in comparison to the way one writes. Presidents Obama and Clinton are fond of saying "gonna", "wanna", and "shoulda", to appear more personable with average Americans, but I guarantee you that's not how their speechwriters wrote it.

It's in every language. I studied French for over five years and I cannot understand everyday French. What I learned as "je ne sais pas" (I don't know), has become "j'en sais pas", which now sounds like "j'ens pas". When you're amongst informal company, such as friends, then you can speak however you like and text however you like. When people start writing improperly and speaking improperly in proper settings because that's all they know, however, then we have a problem, which is what the OP stated.

So what you are saying in essence is, one should be meticulous with written english, but can afford to be sloppy with their speeches?
Every aspect of any given language is equally as important as any other.
It's hypocritical picking on one aspect of a particular language where you think you are an 'authority', whereas you are equally as culpable in the general usage of such language.
In your case, it is supposed grammatical errors that peeves you, while for someone else it is horrendous punctuation or not knowing when to capitalize.
.
P.S.: Cheryl Cole got booted off 'X Factor' because of her strong Geordie accent.

semid4lyfe:

COINCIDENTALLY

Me nor write that one o oga...
Are you that hellbent on finding errors sotey you begin invent phantom errors? The joke is on you.

Dear All,

First off, it is NOT how we write that is the MAIN CONCERN, It is our PRONOUNCATIONS that is a real TURNOFF!! After I left Nig, it took ages before I could pronounce words in the right way.

E.g (CAUSE) (CURSE)
(ASK)(AXE)
And the list goes on, am also learning by the day. God HELP US ALL.

So MANY Grammarians and Academia Pundits on NL

acidosis™:


Now that you're Queen Elizabeth of Grammar...

now that is a typographical error mister man

I was enmeshed in a ridiculous argument yesterday as I made use of the word 'stupidest'amongst my circle of friends which I authoritatively knew was correct. They all laughed hysterically at my usage of that word and even swore there isn't any word like that but 'most stupid'.

Nairalanders, please was I wrong?

So OP how can we make use of poor "am" in any context

dabigwalls: I have often come across people in writing substitute the use of "I'm" with "am". It is becoming a careless error that is gradually creeping into professional writing and it is to say the least appalling that even graduates have no clue. There was a time people would say "it's my lucky" rather than "it's my luck", etc

"I'm" is the abbreviated form of "I am" so when "am" is used alone, it may pass in speech but never ever in an application to a serious organisation or employer. Never write "am hoping that..." -in an email or letter. Rather in speech, it should be "I am hoping..." -and not even the correct abbreviation "I'm".

This may not affect the prices of many things in the market o but a trained and sophisticated HR recruiting unit may perceive such candidates as weak potentials - even if the contrary were true.

Very very true. I think it all boils down to the English language taught in schools nowadays. Like where 'being' and 'been' should be used is also a big issue e.g. 'I love being me in any circumstance'. What I see written is 'I love been me in any circumstance', which is incorrect.

Countless times in some writers, newspapers,write-ups, I see the words wrongly used in their sentences...

Adufaye: english pls!

lol it means "d dog wey go lost no go hear d hunter's whistle"

manny4life: @Op, you've tried. I'm no expert but I've seen so many misplaced or misused words that imply differently, nonetheless, as long as we understand them, it's all good. For instance, I've seen folks writing "I [b]learnt [/b]that", I thought learnt wasn't correct but learned? Hey, if it fits their boat, so be it.

Seeing this forced me to put my fingers on the keybod " both are correct , u can either use learnt or learned" confimed