₦airaland Forum

jevic: I don't think that there is anything wrong in that.

you see, it's not about what you think, what i think or what anybody thinks!
it is about the rule that governs the use of the language; and if you must be a correct language user, then you must conform to this rule.
Just like CHIMSKY put it, "it is very bad English" and there's no amount of argument that can validate it.
Language rules can't be reasoned out: they are just like Math formulae that should be taken the way they come.
one only gets good in its use with constant practice.

for instance, it might be permissible to say, "I want to lick some ice-cream" in some of our indigenous languages but it is not in English.
They would rather say "eat" or "have" in the place of "lick". And i mean, you can't say that whether it it "lick" or "eat", it means the same thing.
every language sets its standard, it doesn't matter how economically lucrative the language is; neither does it matter whether it makes sense to non-natives or not. and that is why we make the effort to correct people when they use our language incorrectly.

but of course, since language is dynamic and seems to change with needs, we have what we call Nigerian English which is English with a heavy colouration of our native language sound system, structure and style.

angel106: Hello my dear nairalanders, can you kindly contribute to the topic. A colleague of mine came to work and was pissed at the response she got when she innocently greeted a friend and asked her "How was your night?".

The friend flared up and asked her to stop asking her such question, that why would she want to know how her night was? That why was she interested in knowing what she did with her husband .

Na wetin concern dead body with overload?

To me, it is just a simple remark of knowing that you had a good night rest without troubles. But i can be wrong, so my dears....you have the floor.

Thanks.

though your colleague over-reacted; she must have been angered by someone or something else
but the appropriateness of the expression given the context (domain, culture, closeness of the parties involved, etc) just might be questioned.
this, owing to the fact that the meaning is ambiguous and therefore, could be misinterpreted; hence a reaction.

i understand that for the Germans, you don't ask the question, "how was your night?" because it immediately raises a feeling of fear, suspicion, and uncertainty for what could possibly have happened (the night before) without their being consciously aware of it, which could have been caused by many factors.
for them, it is more tolerable to say, "Hast du gut geschlafen?" - to mean, "did u rest/sleep well?".
be that as it may, i still think your colleague simply blew it out of proportion.

just to make an addition, i personally feel that Nigerians use language recklessly. many times, people say things they absolutely do not understand or know its implications. what one can do is to try to understand by making excuses for them.

Adesiji77: @TimePiece...thanks a great deal

You're welcome!

Adesiji77: Hi All, please where can I learn the following European languages in either Lagos or Ibadan- Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and German?

Moderators,please help move to the front page to get maximum response.

if you're in Lagos, you can go enroll for a german language course at Goethe Institute in City Hall.
City Hall is opposite St. Nicholas Hospital, on Lagos Island.
i think you'll find them on the 2nd floor, not sure now.
but ask around, you won't miss it.

in Ibadan, you can just go to the University of Ibadan, to the Dept of European Studies, Faculty of Arts, ask for Mr. Okuseinde, he is one of the german lecturers and will put you through regarding german and any of the European languages that you have listed.
goodluck!

@ poster.
the type that he feels and knows will make him happy.
after all, haven't i trained him to make the right choice by sticking to the values that he himself grew up being conscious of?

bayooooooo: http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2012/11/bank-englands-new-governor

We have a great lesson to learn by simply appointing competent candidates who have no choice but to perform.

sorry but your leaders have to, first of all, do a course in recognizing competence, then in accepting competence, afterwards, in appointing competence and finally, in allowing competence operate.
then we can start talking.

Raymondson: u are right about onething. I am not just admiring, i am actually having good conversations with her, and getting closer each passing day. I also have a feeling dat she accepting me, becos she smiles when sees me.

that could be a sign right there.
but don't be in a haste to make conclusions!
remember i said, COULD BE, so that you don't go hurting afterwards

why don't you take her out on a real date if you haven't yet.
but have this in mind, if you must give a gift, keep it simple and small so that she doesn't feel harassed.
sounds ridiculous right? but believe me, kind gestures could go wrong esp when there isn't an obvious reason for them.

Raymondson: @timepiece, teddy bears and chocolates still looks foreign a little bit.

they may look foreign but are still appreciated by some girls down here esp if you're professing this love for the first time.
many might disagree with me but that won't make it untrue.

you can also try to find out what she might like, i'm sure you haven't only been admiring her from a distance but have actually had a word with her.
whatever the case, my first suggestions, i think, will be in place

you could actually save me a lot time and data by pasting whatever it is you're interested in letting us know.

you could buy her a teddy bear/box of chocolates with a nicely-worded card.
i know ladies who would appreciate this sort of gesture.

Ok!