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Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by fulfillment2020(m): 12:41am On Nov 10, 2012 |
afam4eva:Most Ikwerre people from Emohua can converse in Igbo confidently. I have lot of friends from there too. |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by 2ru9jaman: 6:14am On Nov 10, 2012 |
Though i'm from s/w. I can boldly say hausa language is so simple n easiest to learn and speak. |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by StarFlux: 6:30am On Nov 10, 2012 |
Too funny thread. It's just biased opinions where people aren't even trying to be objective. Do you even notice how everyone have different opinions? People saying I picked up that and that in a week, I picked up the language so easy when exposed to it etc. Do some of you even speak the language fluently? FLUENTLY. Knowing a couple of phrases and basic conversations is not knowing a language. Chances are you probably don't even know the grammatical rules, you've just picked up some material. Since when was this learning a language? And please tell me how picking up "hi" in Igbo is any different from picking it up in Hausa? If you want an unbiased opinion, you'd have to look at someone who hasn't been exposed to these languages, and preferably speaks a language from another group. Saying my language is harder than yours is stupid. No language is better than another, and imho, the difficulty of languages are irrelevant. Some say Chinese is hard to learn, did you know Chinese has no tenses (as we know it)? Very simple grammar from our point of view. The only thing you could actually call hard is the writing. But in the end, does it really matter? Having a "difficult" language really isn't a big deal, it just makes it more unnaccessable and annoying to learn, but in the end, it doesn't matter if you say "hi" in Zulu or Spanish, still the same. This is why threads like these annoy me. Learn whatever language you want to learn, enjoy it to the fullest. No need to label languages as easy or hard. 3 Likes |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by Slizbeat(m): 6:34am On Nov 10, 2012 |
This question is to be answered by someone who speaks both the 3 languages. Meanwhile i do speak the 3 of em. To me, when learning, yoruba was difficult buh i feel igbo is hardest. Hausa is more easier, why i cant say for Igbo much is because i am an igbo person and u dnt nid 2 b taught hw 2 speak it, its jst insyd you. I never grew in the southeast buh i speak igbo fluently. Yoruba language has this addictive approach, when they speak it, you get to like it and think its easy buh when learning it, it becomes complicated as u meet a word with more than 8 meanings. Hausa is one heck of a language that you dont need to be taught to learn it. Mere hearing it alone is self explanatory. Check out this word and say the truth u c in it, wich 1 dey self explanatory- "ina zua", "mó ngbó", "anam abia"? Buh to conclude, all languages are hard and easy in their own way depending on the learners. 1 Like |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by Onyenna(m): 7:42am On Nov 10, 2012 |
ChinenyeN: The hardest would have to be Igbo. Aside from the artificial dialect, there is no generally accepted standard. Then, even after learning the artificial dialect, you come to find out that it is practically useless to you, since most native speakers don't actively communicate in it. Instead, you hear tongues, accents, phonemes and even lexicon that are simply divergent. Nwanne, it's like that everywhere......Yorubas find it difficult to understand some dialects say ondo(akure)...... None is easy to learn.... I think the most important thing would be to learn the basics.... I'm currently serving in benue state(idoma zone)...I can now speak idoma a lil bit.. It took me a while to put some things together...sometimes if u wanna translate from english to idoma, people will tell u different things/versions... |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by JoannaSedley(f): 11:15am On Nov 10, 2012 |
owoo2: to me ibo is the hardest language to learnit's Igbo not Ibo, no offence |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by JoannaSedley(f): 11:20am On Nov 10, 2012 |
afam4eva:it's ogbenye not ogbe |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by dasparrow: 12:06pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
@Post I wish I knew. Hausa maybe the easiest but don't take my word for it. |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by Afam4eva(m): 12:13pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
For those of you saying that IGBO language is difficult, give it a second try here https://www.nairaland.com/1098993/want-learn-igbo-language-thread |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by deadie(m): 2:13pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
Igbo: Oke - male Oke - share/portion Oke - rat Oke - Boundary Akwa - cry Akwa - wrapper Akwa - Eggg Akwa - Nest Ara - mad Ara - breast Ara - lick Ike - strength Ike - to share Ike - Buttocks Und so weiter :-) |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by pharmow: 2:46pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
I think everything boils down to the willingness of the people of that tribe in teaching outside people their language. based on this I think Hausa and Yoruba are easy to learn cos the people willingly teach others their language. |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by aribisala0(m): 3:53pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
deadie: Igbo:Not quite sure what the point of this post is? |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by Nobody: 3:55pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
pharmow: I think everything boils down to the willingness of the people of that tribe in teaching outside people their language. based on this I think Hausa and Yoruba are easy to learn cos the people willingly teach others their language. If someone is willing to teach you his/her language, then does that not mean they're more welcoming and less hostile. That's what we've been saying about Yorubas. I'm always willing to teach anyone who cares Yoruba. Even simple phrases or greetings. Hausas are just bipolar lol. |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by aribisala0(m): 4:04pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
Joanna Sedley:Actually it is neither Igbo nor Ibo .The point must be made that we are writing here using ENGLISH alphabets. If people are mindful of that we will avoid needless arguments and controversy. gb as written with English alphabets is completely different from gb which is a stand alone alphabet in "Igbo,Ibo Eboe" or whatever the perfect spelling might be . IGBO in English will always be rendered Eeg- bo . As far as the English language is concerned The accepted forms are Igbo and Ibo as any dictionary will show and even the earlier publications of books like things fall apart. The gb sound just does not exist in English. When writing in the index alphabet Igbo is the only correct form but we are writing in English and Eeg-bo will mean different things to different people. In fact the gb sound is a quite unique and distinct one when compared to other Nigerian groups with a gb like sound and it is perhaps impossible to do that inimitable sound justice with the English Alphabet. So let us learn to be flexible and open minded |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by Jarus(m): 4:44pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
The number of Yoruba and Igbo that speak Hausa fluently is more than the number of Hausa and Igbo that speak Yoruba and both more than the number of Yoruba and Hausa that speak Igbo. For me, I have only met one non-Igbo(defined narrowly as Yoruba and Hausa, holding others constant) that speaks Igbo and but met thousands of Igbo that speak Yoruba or Hausa. On a lighter note, Zik and Ojukwu spoke the 3 languages very fluently |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by aribisala0(m): 5:13pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
Jarus: The number of Yoruba and Igbo that speak Hausa fluently is more than the number of Hausa and Igbo that speak Yoruba and both more than the number of Yoruba and Hausa that speak Igbo. For me, I have only met one non-Igbo(defined narrowly as Yoruba and Hausa, holding others constant) that speaks Igbo and but met thousands of Igbo that speak Yoruba or Hausa.what is the source of your numbers ? THe bible? I have only met one man from Sao Tome,an albino, I guess I may conclude it is a country of albinos?? |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by Thok(m): 5:14pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
The question should rather be how willing are u to learn? |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by Afam4eva(m): 5:20pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
Jarus: The number of Yoruba and Igbo that speak Hausa fluently is more than the number of Hausa and Igbo that speak Yoruba and both more than the number of Yoruba and Hausa that speak Igbo. For me, I have only met one non-Igbo(defined narrowly as Yoruba and Hausa, holding others constant) that speaks Igbo and but met thousands of Igbo that speak Yoruba or Hausa.You're not far from the truth. The reason is because Lagos and Abuja are the places that attract people from every part of Nigeria and the dominant language in these places apart from English and Pidgin are Yoruba and Hausa respectively. Kaduna and Kano are also popular with non-indigenes, so that's why hausa takes the cake followed by Yoruba. Even people in Port-hacourt where Igbo is supposed to be dominant speak more Pidgin English than Igbo. |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by Nobody: 5:29pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
It has to be one of those Niger-delta languages. |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by Afam4eva(m): 5:32pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
stillwater: It has to be one of those Niger-delta languages.You're confusing inaccessibility of a Language to difficulty. |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by Nobody: 5:41pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
afam4eva: I'm just looking at the topic now and realized it's about the three major languages, lol. |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by StarFlux: 5:43pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
Jarus: The number of Yoruba and Igbo that speak Hausa fluently is more than the number of Hausa and Igbo that speak Yoruba and both more than the number of Yoruba and Hausa that speak Igbo. For me, I have only met one non-Igbo(defined narrowly as Yoruba and Hausa, holding others constant) that speaks Igbo and but met thousands of Igbo that speak Yoruba or Hausa.And what does that prove? That you've met more Yoruba and Hausa speaking people. If you're going to make a statement, then give a good explanation. Saying a language is harder when pulling out random numbers is not really trustworthy or good arguementation. What is it that makes the language difficult? Grammar? Pronunciation? Also, spare me for the Igbo dialect thing, Igbo is not the only language with distinct dialects. Yoruba also has many dialects with variant degrees of mutual intelligibility. |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by ChinenyeN(m): 5:55pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
Lol. The truth is that no one can say this or that language is harder than these or those. All language is spoken by man. Unless certain languages are the result of different, divergent or even non-human physiological differences related to speech, then I see no reason why one language would be more difficult than the next. After all, babies supposedly have the capability of learning multiple unrelated languages simultaneously, so they (whoever "they" are) say. 1 Like |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by StarFlux: 5:58pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
ChinenyeN: Lol. The truth is that no one can say this or that language is harder than these or those. All language is spoken by man. Unless certain languages are the result of different, divergent or even non-human physiological differences related to speech, then I see no reason why one language would be more difficult than the next. After all, babies supposedly have the capability of learning multiple unrelated languages simultaneously, so they (whoever "they" are) say.As I said earlier, it really doesn't matter if one thinks a language is "harder" than another, if there even is such a thing. Language is language and is used to communicate. You can say hi in 300 different languages and the meaning is still the same or close. Point is, no language is superior. |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by aribisala0(m): 6:09pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
Actually some languages are inferior in that they fail to evolve and are no longer fit for purpose.That is exactly what is happening to all our Nigerian languages.English is dominant because it borrows widely and unashamedly from everywhere. English is essentially of Germanic origin but has taken extensively from Latin which has now DIED.Many of our languages are dying with our collusion in that process. If a language does not evolve to integrate mathematics,science and technology then I am sorry it is inferior. It is not too late for us to save our languages by modernizing them in a formal stuctured way but i doubt we have the political will I wonder how many can express the bolded in any Nigerian language |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by StarFlux: 8:41pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
aribisala0: Actually some languages are inferior in that they fail to evolve and are no longer fit for purpose.That is exactly what is happening to all our Nigerian languages.English is dominant because it borrows widely and unashamedly from everywhere. English is essentially of Germanic origin but has taken extensively from Latin which has now DIED.Many of our languages are dying with our collusion in that process. If a language does not evolve to integrate mathematics,science and technology then I am sorry it is inferior.The bolded can very easily be expressed, at least in Yoruba. Pick up any modern dictionary and see for yourself. Many technical terms are already in place, the problem is that they are useless as long as the Nigerian languages aren't used for higher education and English remains the official language. English needs to go to make way for Nigerian languages. 1 Like |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by aribisala0(m): 8:48pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
StarFlux: Don't let your own lack of knowledge drag others down. The bolded can very easily be expressed, at least in Yoruba. Pick up any modern dictionary and see for yourself.do not let your father's lack of knowledge hold you down. If he does not know how to behave among humans return him to the zoo |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by ChinenyeN(m): 9:37pm On Nov 10, 2012 |
O digbaa l'uhu ahu anyi idofuta okwu anyi we hnaznia kwoo eye kegbuo, ma m'echegh la anyi njinu erne nnaa a. It is not too late for us to save our languages by modernizing them in a formal stuctured way but i doubt we have the political will 1 Like |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by aribisala0(m): 12:41am On Nov 11, 2012 |
ChinenyeN: O digbaa l'uhu ahu anyi idofuta okwu anyi we hnaznia kwoo eye kegbuo, ma m'echegh la anyi njinu erne nnaa a.Good Job sir,Respect!! |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by OchaZA: 3:48am On Jun 01, 2017 |
I am a white South African man and I can speak 14 languages fluently. I have started to learn Igbo and I can have full conversations in it, as long as I speak with people from Anambra state. The other dialects are just too vast and I find I battle to understand people and be understood. Even grammatical differences can cause confusion. I can't speak on behalf of Hausa or Yoruba, but Igbo is definitely extremely difficult. 1 Like |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by bigfrancis21: 5:47am On Jun 01, 2017 |
OchaZA: Wow, this is nice. I am Igbo myself. Are you married to someone from Anambra state? What sparked your interest in the language? |
Re: The Hardest of the 3 Major Language to Learn by musicwriter(m): 12:32pm On Jun 01, 2017 |
StarFlux: Good point!. And be informed what you said here is not just your opinion, but the standard opinion of linguists. Languages are only difficult to learn because the learner didn't grow up speaking that language. For a child growing up speaking a language, there're no difficulties learning it, because the learning happens naturally. In fact, if a child grow up in a small community where 20 languages are spoken, he/she would learn to speak all the 20 languages with ease. This's because the learning being natural happens so effortlessly that the child have no idea he/she is even learning. "All languages are doing exactly the same thing in their own way"........... Noam Chomsky (best linguist alive) |
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