freecocoa:

I don't see anything wrong with kids speaking pidgin english,I grew up speaking pidgin and it hasn't affected my english,some people say their kids should learn french,spanish etc instead,if these other languages don't affect their use of the english language why should pidgin? As far as I'm concerned I'd want my kids to learn whatever language they can as long as its not foul.

You see, this is exactly my point. In other countries they type, speak and write in their own language. Unfortunately its the reverse here, where children are taught to shy away from their local language. If i was given the opportunity, today i would be typing everything u are reading in esan,  And you are wrong, pidgin is NOT an "aberration". It is our own form of english. Its the same as they speak American in the USA.
No matter how hard we try, we can never speak english like the british. One day, you may find that this pdgin which you despise so much may be the only thing that will save you. We must learn to abandon this culture of importing everything importable.

ideylaff:

@ , bro don't get me wrong, I don't despise Pidgin English at all , All I said was if you start to teach a kid Pidgin which no one taught me (I just picked it up) you have a chance to confuse d kid

My bro if Yoruba was a Globally accepted  language, same for Hausa and Igbo, id gladly use it as a means/medium of conversation, but it's not

That's all we are saying, I can speak those languages 4rm here to Honolulu, if the medium in which I want to pass the message on to cant understand it,

I'm the fool then. Just imagine I fly into London and start to speak Yoruba to the immigration officer at his desk @ Heathrow, push comes to shove ,he'll say can I get an interpreter, so if im ready 4 an interpreter to do the job, fine, but whats all that stress for, when i can just say a few lines,
other way round as well an English guy lands at Murtala Mohammed International (MAM) and we start to speak to him in Hausa,

it's all a bit complex, unless we grow our language globally/make it accepted it wont work

ideylaff:

@ , bro don't get me wrong, I don't despise Pidgin English at all , All I said was if you start to teach a kid Pidgin which no one taught me (I just picked it up) you have a chance to confuse d kid

My bro if Yoruba was a Globally accepted  language, same for Hausa and Igbo, id gladly use it as a means/medium of conversation, but it's not

That's all we are saying, I can speak those languages 4rm here to Honolulu, if the medium in which I want to pass the message on to cant understand it,

I'm the fool then. Just imagine I fly into London and start to speak Yoruba to the immigration officer at his desk @ Heathrow, push comes to shove ,he'll say can I get an interpreter, so if im ready 4 an interpreter to do the job, fine, but whats all that stress for, when i can just say a few lines,
other way round as well an English guy lands at Murtala Mohammed International (MAM) and we start to speak to him in Hausa,

it's all a bit complex, unless we grow our language globally/make it accepted it wont work

blackpanda:

God bless you. This is the kind of thinking we need in order for our dear country to regain its former glory. We are a country of vast diverse and interesting cultures. We are not english or british, we are nigerian! And we must be proud of our dialect

blackpanda:

I sorry for you. Your children will join the line of those have been considered "lost". I know this because i am there too. I live abroad and unfortunately my parents didnt have the sense to teach us our native language before we left; all in the name of "English is the future". As a result i feel so ashamed whenever there is a nigerian gathering here, as i cant mutter a word in my own local dialect. When i speak with my mum on the phone, its always in english, and even the foreigners here are usually surprised when i do that.
The fact is when the going gets tough, its to your tenth o israel. Who will your children run to. It will be easier for me to get help here form my fellow nigerians if i could speak the language. Even when i tell pple i am a nigerian they dnt believe. They always have to go check my passport first. Infact i m considering switching nationality.
Did you know that even in America, they dont speak English. What they speak is "AMERICAN" which is totally diff from english. The same thing goes for most of the developed world, brazil, germany, france, china, spain, sweden, etc. Everybody is aligning themselves with their own native dialect. Shamefully, nigerians a busy looking for the nearest foreign language to adopt.

Parnassuss:

The fact hat this even a debate puzzles me. Are the two mutually reliant? I remember that the first language I learnt was Igbo then Pidgin. I never went to any posh school but my parents carefully switched to proper English when I'd come of age and could converse fluently in the former languages. I now speak French also so what's the grouse? The more the merrier, and on a serious note, if all we have is English what identity do we then have? Imagine what the Creole has done for the Caribbeans, what I feel is that this present level of Pidgin is not enough, let GEJ go and address the UN Council in proper Warri Dialect, then I feel we would have started to assert our true identity.

blackpanda:

Shame on you! Go to england or spain and see whetehr they say it is yoruba or ibo or hausa 1st. We have simply refused to drop that silly colonial mentality. Part of our problem in this nation is that we have been brain washed to believe that anything foreign is the best. In south africa, the use of local dialect and mother tongue is widely accepted. Infact, in some schools, children are taught in their mother tongue. In universities, you are allowed to write your exams in your local dialect! In our case here in nigeria, its the other way round. I weep for our children yet unborn, slowly we are wiping out our entire history, culture and very existence! GBAM!

Siena:

I feel people are confusing their native language, with Pidgin English. Your native language is just that - your native language. Pidgin on the other hand, is just crudely-spoken / broken English.

Shame on the poster, because he / she stated a preference? Another primitive trait, whereby anyone with a different opinion is either verbally abused, or shouted down.

If speaking English is "Colonial Mentality," as you say it is, then why bow under any Western influence? Cars, mobile phones, designer outfits, electricity and even this medium you're communicating with here are all Western. Why not give all this up, so you don't get labelled a slave? Sounds like "Selective Colonial Mentality," if you ask me.

globexl:

Yes , it is a well known fact that kids can handle more than 3 languages at a time. BUt, and its a big but, PIDGIN ENGLISH is not a language in the true sense of the word. It is a broken language. An improvised language that evolved to bridge the language gap between the mostly illiterate populace and the colonial administrators.
Studies after studies have shown the richness of the vocabulary of any language is directly related to the intellectual wealth of that language. Cultures whose language have a limited vocabulary seem to lag behind in intellectual prowess and achievements, compared to cultures that have a rich vocabulary.
PIDGIN ENGLISH is an improvised language with very limited vocabulary. Since Children tend to think in the language that they speak, a limited language would, therefore, have a negative effect on children's  ability to expand their intellect. This is not a speculation. This is a scientifically observed fact.
About 300yrs ago, a famous slave merchant, John Lynch, travelled to the slave colonies of the Carribean to teach slave owners how to create and sustain the perfect slave. In one of his lectures, he warned the slave owners not to allow the slaves to  speak the same language as they did, but advised them to develope a broken down and fragmented version of the their language(PIDGIN), so that MINDS of the slaves could REMAIN BROKEN AND FRAGMENTED. He further warned them that if the slave speaks like you, the slave will be as smart as you.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the colonialist adopted this logic in Nigeria.
My conclusion:.
PIDGIN ENGLISH is harmful to your child. If ytou doubt this, just take a trip to any one of  our universities.
Fragmented language=Fragmented Mind= Fragmented Reality

2mch:

Are your kids too dumb that they cannot speak more than one language? A child's ability to juggle many different languages shows intelligence.  . Nothing wrong with pidgin, it can open some doors same as polished english can. It is all about balance and a child's intelligence. There are some people that can speak pidgin and in the next minute converse in very posh english.

Princek12:

Many of the technologies you mentioned above are not all from the West. Many of those technologies were invented in Asia--Japan. You have been brainwashed to think everything novel comes from the West, which is not true.

You sound like someone who has inferiority complex.

promire2004:

yeah, u're absolutely on point dear. Cos i remember when i was much younger, i was very good with both pidgin and 'posh' english. I got acquainted with very big words and made the dictionary my 2nd closest companion after the bible. It was quite amazing to most of my friends how i balanced my pidgin and good english. Though i graduated as a scientist, English is still my forte'. Pidgin english is cool when spoken at the right time and place. At formal gatherings where you meet personalities, you simply activate your "posh english".

Siena:

You write like a confused being. Why are you embracing technology that emanated from anywhere but Nigeria? Since it makes you feel "inferior", why not stick to a horse and cart, and rely on the Bush Telegraph to communicate? Regardless of where these technologies were invented, the point remains they are not indigenous to Nigeria. Why are you therefore making use of them? By your own admission, I'm brainwashed, and have an inferiority complex.

Please, and this isn't casting aspersion on Nigeria as a nation - what is one of our notable contributions to mankind? What do we produce that would substitute to what we use today from outside Nigeria?

Siena:

I was waiting for the abuse, and you didn't let me down.

Princek12:


You are implying that it is impossible for a child to learn standard English and Pidgin English concurrently? If that is what you are implying then you have not been exposed to "balanced Nigerians" like me who have mastered regular English, Yoruba, and pidgin English. Learning pidgin English should not dilute the child's mastery of the vocabulary of standard English if the child goes to a good school where he or she is being taught properly and where he or she is only allowed to speak in standard English. Learning pidgin English will happen naturally if your child is exposed to people who speak it. But to forbid your child from speaking it is unnecessary.

globexl:

I did not imply such. I just stated what has been scientifically observed :that a language that is complex and rich in vocabulary(English,French, Yoruba etc) is much better for a child's intellectual development than a language that is broken down or fragmented(PIDGIN english or Patwa).

globexl:

I did not imply such. I just stated what has been scientifically observed :that a language that is complex and rich in vocabulary(English,French, Yoruba etc) is much better for a child's intellectual development than a language that is broken down or fragmented(PIDGIN english or Patwa).

Princek12:

True. But I don't think that the parents have to speak pidgin English to the child or teach the child pidgin English, as pidgin English is not a formal language that requires tutoring. I think that the child should learn his or her native language at home and take it as an elective in school at the appropriate time, learn standard English in school, and learn pidgin English by associating with people on the streets or through other informal means. I don't think it is necessary to forbid the child from speaking pidgin English under all circumstances.

globexl:



I partly agree with you.
But must understand that as parents, it is necessary to forbid kids from doing certain things , otherwise they would asume such to be the norm.
Children are easily influenced by their environments. They would most likely show a preference for the use of pidgin english simply because, pidgin english follows no rules and requires no discipline in its grammer. While it is inevitable that they would come into contact with pidgin english, it would be an easy way out for a lazy minded child ,if the parents do not take strong stand against it.

Princek12:

Thank you very much. My parents taught my siblings and I how to live a balanced life. I have friends who grew up in England and whose parents categorically barred them from speaking pidgin English or their native language. Their parents sent them to England so that they can speak "good English." We, on the other hand, grew up in Nigeria and were allowed to speak Yoruba at home, but we were sent to a private school where we were taught very well and spoke only regular English. We learned pidgin English by speaking it to traders in the market and to other people who cannot speak it regular English.

Now, many of my friends who thought it is badge of honor to speak only language are envious of our ability to speak all three languages fluently, while they can speak only one fluently. I am also a proud graduate of law and chemistry from a top university in America. I now speak Yoruba, pidgin, or my posh English accordingly and at the right occasion. Bottom line is that diversity is good, so your kids won't be like all these unexposed kids who can only adapt to one environment, which is typical of many of our kids today, especially Nigerian kids born and raised in the diaspora.

promire2004:

yeah, u're right. One fact about us (nigerians) is that we are just wannabes. We want to speak, dress, walk and act like the western world, and in a bid to achieving this, we tend to abandon some of our values. Surprisingly, most of these foreign expatriates here in 9ja dig our much despised "wafarian pidgin english" swag, by communicating with it. They even go about exploring our delicacies. (for example, owo and starch). Sounds weird and ridiculous but it is just the fact.