Princek12:

I completely disagree with you. Or perhaps, I guess I must be from a different planet, then. I grew up concurrently learning Yoruba at home, learning English in school, and learning pidgin on the street. I speak all three fluently, and I understood the rules of grammar perfectly. As a child, I quickly learned to separate and not confuse the languages, for I thought of pidgin as a slang and thought of standard English as formal. I went on to study chemistry and law from a top university in the United States and did well in arguments. I got good grades both in my undergraduate studies and graduate studies. In addition to pidgin English, I speak and write English and Yoruba fluently, and I am currently writing a book, to be published simultaneously in Yoruba and English. Exposure is the key, my friend.

horny4u:




Not good enough, expected much more.

globexl:


Your argument is good, except that I dont know what you disagree with . Are disagreeing wth the scientific studies on this subject or are you disagree with my own opinions.
That you spoke pidgen english and did ok in your acedemic persuits does not justify the use of pidgin english by children. I spoke pidgin english when I was in secondary too. I was mature enough and exposed enough, being well gounded in english,to adapt.
You agree that you understood it to be a slang. That is my point. Should you ground your young child's language skills on slangs? The question here is whether it may be harmful to a child's intellectual development. I say yes it can, based on the scientific studies on the effects of language on intellectual development.

sebastinta:

i fink its very wrong for parents to encourage dere kids to speak pidgin english, blive it or not it distort dere English nd accent, rather they should encourage dem to speak dere native language, u learn pidgin or not, sumhow u precipitate understad wat it means.

Princek12:

I am right about what? What do you mean? Anyway, I agree with you that our pidgin English is the envy of many countries.

pro01:

Even if I'm worth a billion dollars, God forbids that I raise my children as 'bolo' mumus without street smarts. As long as they'll live in Nigeria at any point in time during their adulthood, it is a CRITICAL NECESSITY for them to learn how to not only speak what the masses largely understand (i.e. Pidgin), but also to possess elements of street wisdom and 'street charm' - which are necessarily intertwined with an understanding of the definitive lingo (i.e. Pidgin) of the vulgar majority. All this fake, pretentious 'aje butter'  nonsense would definitely make a person a soft target in the mean streets of Naija. My children would certainly not be anything remotely close to the stereotypical aje butter mumus that are terribly detached - largely by affectation and delusion of sophistication - from everyday reality.

It would help if I send them to the sort of secondary school I went to - any of the military owned schools such as Command Sec School, Airforce or Navy. Such schools - with the mixture of upper, middle and lower class students - have a way of toughening children and balancing their perspective.

Bottomline: Pidgin English is a MUST for my kids; if my native-level fluency in pidgin hasn't diminished my fluency in English, then I don't see how it would negatively affect my kids'.

globexl:

Actually, you say you disagree, yet you agree.  i blow as much pidgin english as you do. there is no way any parent can prevent exposure to it in Nija. Exposure to it is not a problem. Parents discourage their young teens from Being Intimate, but the teens will do it anyway. The parents do it to higlite and impress upon the teens, the dangers and risks of Being Intimate, because  they are mainly concerned with the welfare of the kids.
I dont know where u live ,but most kids in Ajegunle and other areas of Lagos, learn and speak pidgin as their first language. That in my opinion, is detrimental.
I live in Lagos, and as far as I am concerend, the widespread use of pidgin english might very well be corrolated with the uncivilised and beast-like behaviour of most of the residents. LOL.
I Know that might be going too far.
Languages have character.
For example, English is rich and logical, French is said to be romantic and friendly, as does spanish, german is said to be straight and efficient, Yoruba is said to be rich, etc. The languages reflect the characters,strenghts or weaknesses of their respective peoples.
On the other hand,
Black American english reflect struggle,hope and a lot of anger. Jamaican english,Patua, reflect deep anger and resentment.Our pidgin english reflect ignorance, confusion and patch patch mentality.

pro01:

Even if I'm worth a billion dollars, God forbids that I raise my children as 'bolo' mumus without street smarts. As long as they'll live in Nigeria at any point in time during their adulthood, it is a CRITICAL NECESSITY for them to learn how to not only speak what the masses largely understand (i.e. Pidgin), but also to possess elements of street wisdom and 'street charm' - which are necessarily intertwined with an understanding of the definitive lingo (i.e. Pidgin) of the vulgar majority. All this fake, pretentious 'aje butter'  nonsense would definitely make a person a soft target in the mean streets of Naija. My children would certainly not be anything remotely close to the stereotypical aje butter mumus that are terribly detached - largely by affectation and delusion of sophistication - from everyday reality.

It would help if I send them to the sort of secondary school I went to - any of the military owned schools such as Command Sec School, Airforce or Navy. Such schools - with the mixture of upper, middle and lower class students - have a way of toughening children and balancing their perspective.

Bottomline: Pidgin English is a MUST for my kids; if my native-level fluency in pidgin hasn't diminished my fluency in English, then I don't see how it would negatively affect my kids'.

pro01:

Even if I'm worth a billion dollars, God forbids that I raise my children as 'bolo' mumus without street smarts. As long as they'll live in Nigeria at any point in time during their adulthood, it is a CRITICAL NECESSITY for them to learn how to not only speak what the masses largely understand (i.e. Pidgin), but also to possess elements of street wisdom and 'street charm' - which are necessarily intertwined with an understanding of the definitive lingo (i.e. Pidgin) of the vulgar majority. All this fake, pretentious 'aje butter' nonsense would definitely make a person a soft target in the mean streets of Naija. My children would certainly not be anything remotely close to the stereotypical aje butter mumus that are terribly detached - largely by affectation and delusion of sophistication - from everyday reality.

It would help if I send them to the sort of secondary school I went to - any of the military owned schools such as Command Sec School, Airforce or Navy. Such schools - with the mixture of upper, middle and lower class students - have a way of toughening children and balancing their perspective.

Bottomline: Pidgin English is a MUST for my kids; if my native-level fluency in pidgin hasn't diminished my fluency in English, then I don't see how it would negatively affect my kids'.

mobf:

Double twale for you!! Imagine some hash head suggesting they'd prefer their kids speaking French WTF?!
@OP you must be high on something to suggest that pidgin english has a negative influence!
Abi dem do u something for yonder?

mobf:

Double twale for you!! Imagine some hash head suggesting they'd prefer their kids speaking French WTF?!
@OP you must be high on something to suggest that pidgin english has a negative influence!
Abi dem do u something for yonder?

Siena:


Comrade, why can't you accept that parents will make their own choices, with regards to what languages their children will be taught?? Besides, not every poster here has English as a first language, there are various mixes. How sure are you that the poster you're calling a hash head doesn't have French ancestry? And even if they don't, does it really matter?

Some prefer their children are taught pidgin, some English, some their native language, some French / Spanish etc. That's their business, and no cause to insult them. Their children, their choice.

blackpanda:

Did you know that even in America, they dont speak English. What they speak is "AMERICAN" which is totally diff from english.

qleyo:

English is the world's language of communication - and we should be rather proud that some of us are able to speak it with better command than some English. Learning other languages opens your soul to so much more, French being the third most spoken language in the world opens you up, not only Africa but the other half of the world. The fact is pretty much every where you go, people speak some English or French.

When we all eventually drop our cultural differences (we have over 500 ethnic groups for heavens sake!) and begin to intermarry, what do we really think is going to happen? Chances are we will all speak English and Pidgin and possibly even have a better Nigeria as we start to think as one.

My father speaks Igala (native) and Hausa, my mother Benin (native), Yoruba and Igbo. I speak English, French and some Hausa - none of their languages. We spoke English growing up and neither parent spoke to us in pidgin - but I have come to learn it and can speak it if need be. My mother's sister on the other hand speaks pidgin to my cousins, they all speak and write equally as well as I do.

The moral of the story, each family, child, home is unique. Do as you deem fit. I will teach my children English and French simultaneously (as it opens your mind to completely different styles of thinking) and unfortunately not pidgin, as even if I wanted to, I am not comfortable enough with it to express myself in it - they will eventually learn pidgin on their own.

spyder880:

^^^ maybe not in Europe but the world over, English is most popular, USA, Canada, Australia, some Chinese, India, half of Africa, some Arab use English somehow.