₦airaland Forum

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".

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

honeric01:
And where were u while the game was going on?And where were u while the game was going on?

I could not watch the game because I am Yankee and had no access to view game, so there was nothing on which to comment. I am sure there were lots of people with access to AIT who could have watched the game and commented on it, but they did not. Bottom line, we don't support our own; we like to support the oyinbo man's stuff.

If Chelsea and Man U were playing, everyone and their grandpa would be commenting, but now that our own home-based team is playing, people are nowhere to be found.

70% sounds just about right. I don't know why people have turned this discussion in a tribalism issue.

@Annita

I agree with you to an extent, but as a guy women all too often women apply double standards to different guys, which is where many guys have a problem. The guy who is nice, who takes you out on multiple dates, and who tries to get to know you is the guy who does not get laid. The jerk or some dude who does not do much is the one who gets laid on the first date or as soon as possible. Women don't reward niceness, so that is why many guys have evolved to act like jerks.

I have seen women throw themselves at celebrities, often times wanting to sleep with those celebs as soon as possible. So why should the so called nice guy be the mugu who is waiting on the fourth date before he gets laid after presumably spending a lot of money on the dates?

If the girl wants to go on three or four dates or more before she gives up the punny, I have no problem with that as long as she pays for the every other date after the second date, if the subsequent dates involve money.

It is easy for women to want to go on one hundred dates before they give any action if they are not spending any money.

I don't believe in any rules; just go with chemistry.

chaircover:
@prince i agree there are some very picky women just as there is a shortage of good solid responsible young men. It is well.

I don't known which statistic on which women rely to conclude that there is a shortage of good, solid responsible men. It is usually the picky women who make that assertion. Let me give you an example. Say a 25-yr old woman spends 10 years of her life being the concubine of an alhaji who spends money on her; that same women will claim there is a shortage of good men when she is 35 and now searching. She will not blame herself for wasting her precious years with men just because of money.

How will such woman even know whether there is a shortage when she is walking around with an attitude?

chaircover:
It works both ways there are overly picky women just as there are irresponsible men

As for me I'd rather wait another few years & using the time to better myself[b] and pick a man that I know that I want to grow old with than rush in with Mr wrong[/b].

All said and done, marriage is not for everybody.

For me the issue is not whether you should take your time to pick a desirable partner, but the qualities you look for in a man and the attitude, your mentality, and the way you respond to men when they approach you.

Some searching women will not even give a man who does not buy them material things the time of the day, which is a silly criteria to pick a mate.

As silly as it sounds, some searching women will not talk to a stranger who approaches her unless her girlfriend introduced the man to her. That is silly. If you feel a potential connection with the stranger, then give it a try.

Some searching women walk around frowning their face and exuding a negative attitude, which makes that woman unapproachable.

I can go on and on, but you get the gist. It is usually the little things that make a big difference.

if it does, it means many of the girls here on NL are always on their period; no wonder they come here with a nasty attitude, Ms Chima especially.

@OP:

does he have a girlfriend? maybe he is not attracted to you, because you know guys are very visual and are less likely to date a girl towards whom they have no attraction; he may have relegated you to the "friend" category, and you may never know until you find out.

on the other hand, he may be attracted to you and that he is just shy, waiting for you to make the first move. you guys need to act like grown ups and communicate verbally or sexually. Do something, doggone it.

this is a prime example of how Nigeria runs:

to protect a forest, the Nigerian elected officials will form the following ministries to oversee the protection of the forest:

Ministry of Trees
Ministry of Agriculture
Ministry of Grass
Ministry of Shrubs
Ministry of Soil

Troy Davis himself said he was not personally responsible before he died, which suggests that he knows something about the murder, although he may not be the shooter.

Rokiatu Rokiatu Rokiatu

There is nothing wrong with spending money on "your woman," as in a fiance or a wife. There is something wrong in spending money on a woman you just met or with whom you have no serious, committed relationship. Men who do otherwise are mugus or fools, as many of these women will take them for a joke and a fool.

iykak47:
if such execution takes place in china or iran, hilary clinton will shout human right, human right. DOUBLE STANDARD.

sharap

in Iran the accused will be sentenced today and hung tomorrow, leaving no time for the accused to appeal his conviction and at least try to prove his innocence. This guy had 22 years to do so, and I see no human rights abuse here. He was convicted of killing a cop. He was also executed by lethal injection, which is a painless way to die because the condemned is first put to sleep before being injected with the lethal dose of chemicals. In Iran the accused would be hung or stoned to death.

I was not directly responsible for the death of the victim, Troy Davis said to the family of the victim, when he was given an opportunity to make his last statement. I think that statement shows that he claimed some indirect responsibility for the murder of the cop. And in America, an accused who killed a cop automatically gets the death penalty unless his sentence is commuted by the governor or the parole board, or the president if it is a federal crime.

M M M:
op
do u want 2 be a nanny?

nooooooooooooo. I don't want to be a nanny. I just started the thread because of I have not personally seen a male nanny before. I thought I should ask my fellow NLs