masawa:

for tpia ,the guy who takes obama as  an example, it's laughable!Africans and blacks in general are very desperate ,why take pride of someone's else sucess when you have
nothing to do with this success, obama is half WHITE Hlf black,I don't care what  whites CALL HIM,TRUTH MATTERS THE MOST, obama is of EUROPEAN descent thanks to his WHITE mother,he was raised by his WHITE folks ,he speaks english HIS MOTHER TONGUE.BI RACIALS RULE thE BLACK RACE it seems like they are the "black " kings LOL, find something else please!

does your post make sense even to you, the poster?

'nuff said.

my paternal granma never allowed my mum to teach us her native dialect, my mum is a deltan woman, and my dad a yoruba man, she really gave my mum a tough time which was not nice at all, but i pick up the language easily when it's been spoken often to me, i wish i could speak fluently,

It is indeed a shame. When I was younger my dad tried soo hard to make us learn our native tongue, Kalabari. He would bring in nannys that couldn't speak English, he would go for weeks without speaking English to us  but we strongly resisted learning the language because we just didn't see the point and the fact that my grandfather was a scholar with vast knowledge on the history, culture and language of the Kalabari people made things worse. My mum (whose mother is Kalabari) and her mum also encouraged us but with a softer approach than my dad, when all was lost my mum simply said I would regret it some day and boy has that day come.

That said, speaking good and proper English (not the half baked crap we here on AIT, NTA and from our so called English teachers in Nigeria) in this day and age is a must. It helps to bridge the communication gap between the many tribes in Nigeria and also gives us that freedom to move around the worls easier (the world is becoming more and more global by the day and it is not enough for us to just stay in our little corners of the world like we did in the 16th century).

On th whole I think the focus for African parents should be making sure their child understands and can communicate fluently in English or French(yeah right!!!) depending on the country and possibly Chinese if fortunate enough before trying to teach them the native tongue which I think serves  a very important cultural purpose but does not help one advance in life as we know it today.

I think english is a must if you plan on moving around in life but you should also at least know your native language before learning any other foreign languages. I don't think it makes sense to learn french, spanish, chinese or whatever and not your own when the french, spaniards and chinese hardly ever contemplate learning our languages. We should embrace our own culture before discovering other otherwise the next generations will lose it completely.

My relatives say that's it is a shame that I don't know how to speak igbo, and then they'll start talking about yoruba parents teaching their children at a young age. When you think about it, it really is our parents fault, they had the chance to teach me but they didn't. I do want to learn how to speak igbo I think it'll be so exciting just to speak another language other than common english.

I can't speak my mother tongue, I wish I could, but I can't and I'm not ashamed. I've learnt to live with it cos things are what they are.

Bgal:

I can't speak my mother tongue, I wish I could, but I can't and I'm not ashamed. I've learnt to live with it because things are what they are.

I'm tired of listening to that shame-crap. . . if u can't speak it because u were not taught, its not ur fault . . . i was brought up with proper English . . my pidgin sucks. .so does my native language and i can't blame me . . .hate it when people say I'm forming . . if i speak d little i know, all they do is laugh! to hell!!

Shame. Ko

English is my mother tongue and i can speak it, thanks

Creamish:

I'm tired of listening to that shame-crap. . . if u can't speak it because u were not taught, its not ur fault . . . i was brought up with proper English . . my pidgin sucks. .so does my native language and i can't blame me . . .hate it when people say I'm forming . . if i speak d little i know, all they do is laugh! to hell!!

Agree with Bgal and Creamish. I can't speak my mother tongue, I understood a lil bit but I've forgotten almost everything. My pidgin also sucks real bad.

I feel sorry for the kids who can't speak their mother tongue.

I'm so proud my parents taught me Igbo. anytime i see a naija kid especially from the igbo tribe and they can't speak the language i just feel sorry for the. but you can't blame the children cause most times it's the parent's fault. My pidigin sucks but Igbo doesn't so thank you God.

90% india, arabs, polish,chinese speak their tongue

so wah gwan with nigerians

foolish people

even when i was in nigeria, i couldnt speak my language and here in the states, it is even harder but i like many others are putting alot of effort to speak. only if we can remember how to pronounce certain words and apply them correctly in a sentence

ikeyman00:

90% india, arabs, polish,chinese speak their tongue

so wah gwan with nigerians

foolish people

eh!!

Na2day, you cant speak!!

how are we goin to do it na?

shame, shame, shame, imagine an english man saying he totally forgot about his mother, sign of colonialism and slavery still in the blood of some Nigerians, South Africans love their languages like any other thing, even when they speak english, it's like they are speaking their language, THOSE AFRICANS WHO STILL SPEAK THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGES SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE CALLED THE TRUE AFRICANS

i can hear and understand most stuff, it is stringing a correct sentence is the hard work. don't worry, before we say "i do" i will have learned it completely, have no worries by beloved flower

Gamine:

eh!!

Na2day, you can't speak!!

how are we goin to do it na?

shame what? how many languages do they have in england? abeg, i am only learning it because i want to not because it adds anything to my career

honeric01:

shame, shame, shame,  imagine an english man saying he totally forgot about his mother,  sign of colonialism and slavery still in the blood of some Nigerians,  South Africans love their languages like any other thing, even when they speak english, it's like they are speaking their language,  THOSE AFRICANS WHO STILL SPEAK THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGES SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE CALLED THE TRUE AFRICANS

Dont mind them talking about shame here n dia.

Exactly stringing a sentence can be challenging, i intend to "hear" mostly

i have no worries, my dear

na2day?:

i can hear and understand most stuff, it is stringing a correct sentence is the hard work. don't worry, before we say "i do" i will have learned it completely, have no worries by beloved flower

shame what? how many languages do they have in england? abeg, i am only learning it because i want to not because it adds anything to my career

Fine, England has only one language, Nigerian has more than 300, that should be a plus, now tell me, does it mean that you can't even speak one out of the 300 languages that identify you as being a Nigerian? i guess you don't have a tribal mark either??

thank u sweet heart

Gamine:

don't mind them talking about shame here n dia.

Exactly stringing a sentence can be challenging, i intend to "hear" mostly

i have no worries, my dear

i can speak wafi pigin, fair enough, i am as nigerian as any other

honeric01:

Fine, England has only one language, Nigerian has more than 300, that should be a plus, now tell me, does it mean that you can't even speak one out of the 300 languages that identify you as being a Nigerian? i guess you don't have a tribal mark either??

Its a very BIG shame!!!!!!!!!!!

Imagine . If you are in America or the UK the people would know you are not a native but an Immigrant If they now ask you what does something mean in your language and you tell them you dont understand yet you bear Chioma Okonkwo, Folashade Adeleye or Ekaete Akpan.

You would look so silly.

Imagine an American/Briton who cant speak English!!!!!!!!!! Or Chinese who cant speak his language

Obama speaks his mother tongue which is English His mom is from Kansas he lived with his grandmom. How many years did Obama live with his father He probably heard about his roots from his Granny

there are tons of americans and britons that cant speak english, ever been to west texas before? once again, there is nothing to be ashamed off. i speak wafi pigin, i told u that. i teach white folks pigin english and they r trilled

dayokanu:

Its a very BIG shame!!!!!!!!!!!

Imagine . If you are in America or the UK the people would know you are not a native but an Immigrant If they now ask you what does something mean in your language and you tell them you don't understand yet you bear Chioma Okonkwo, Folashade Adeleye or Ekaete Akpan.

You would look so silly.

Imagine an American/Briton who can't speak English!!!!!!!!!! Or Chinese who can't speak his language

hw did obama get into this one now?

dayokanu:

Obama speaks his mother tongue which is English His mom is from Kansas he lived with his grandmom. How many years did Obama live with his father He probably heard about his roots from his Granny

there are tons of americans and britons that can't speak english, ever been to west texas before? once again, there is nothing to be ashamed off. i speak wafi pigin, i told u that. i teach white folks pigin english and they r trilled Smiley Smiley Smiley

I disagree with you totally, there is no "AMERICAN" or "BRITON" that can't speak English, even if they can't write, speaking english is exceptional for them, if they can't speak English, what else would they be speaking?? ARIMOTOPON?

obviously u dont know what english is. come to west texas, and they will proudly tell u they speak texan, sounds like english but its not english, its their own version of pidgin english. the queen's english is the acceptable standard for the english language and not all britons can speak that.

honeric01:

there are tons of americans and britons that can't speak english, ever been to west texas before? once again, there is nothing to be ashamed off. i speak wafi pigin, i told u that. i teach white folks pigin english and they r trilled Smiley Smiley Smiley

I disagree with you totally, there is no "AMERICAN" or "BRITON" that can't speak English, even if they can't write, speaking english is exceptional for them, if they can't speak English, what else would they be speaking?? ARIMOTOPON?

na2day?:

obviously u don't know what english is. come to west texas, and they will proudly tell u they speak texan, sounds like english but its not english, its their own version of pidgin english. the queen's english is the acceptable standard for the english language and not all britons can speak that.

Stop contradicting yourself, Americans always have their own version of everything, they were colonized by the British, yet they customized their English spellings and pronunciation to American English just to make it look like theirs, some part of Texas have their own kind of customized English too, that still goes back to say they can speak their language either way, so where did the issue of me not knowing what English is here?

*********sighs***************

please come to west texas and learn

honeric01:

Stop contradicting yourself, Americans always have their own version of everything, they were colonized by the British, yet they customized their English spellings and pronunciation to American English just to make it look like theirs, some part of Texas have their own kind of customized English too, that still goes back to say they can speak their language either way, so where did the issue of me not knowing what English is here?

na2day?:

*********sighs***************

please come to west texas and learn

Come to texas to learn what? well sorry, i have more than 300 languages here in Nigeria to learn from, can't ignore my countries laguages to go learn one useless texas barren english,

******************shoots self, this dude is too dumb!***************************

honeric01:


Come to texas to learn what? well sorry, i have more than 300 languages here in Nigeria to learn from, can't ignore my countries laguages to go learn one useless texas barren english,

na2day?:

******************shoots self, this dude is too dumb!***************************

Somethings are left untold, i would really want to see the one who is dumb between you and i, i am just too matured for you to return an insult back to you, Tell the rest of the world you about your Texas language

******************the sad tale continues*********************

honeric01:

Somethings are left untold, i would really want to see the one who is dumb between you and i, i am just too matured for you to return an insult back to you, Tell the rest of the world you about your Texas language

na2day?:

******************the sad tale continues********************* 

[s]i give up trying to correct a fool @ forty[/s]

huh! u didnt tell me u were 40 i now understand ur plight

honeric01:

[s]i give up trying to correct a fool @ forty[/s]