Day 15 Part 05 Blogging Challenge: Learning A New Language
Nigeria is very diverse when it comes to languages and although English is the dominant language, there are three predominant languages spoken majorly. One of these languages is Hausa spoken mostly in the northern region of Nigeria. It's one of the official languages in Nigeria, Niger and Ghana.
Two years ago I happened to have my national one year service in a northern state and communication was an issue because I had no prior knowledge of the Hausa language. It was easier at my workplace because the staff understood English and would switch to that because of me. Outside the office was a struggle, using public transport and especially bargaining in the market was so hard.
The common pidgin English spoken across the country wasn't enough to bridge the language gap with most of the villagers. A colleague who understood Hausa had to help me with translation whenever I had to attend to a person who didn't understand English or pidgin English. I was able to learn the basic words and greetings but I wish I had dedicated ample time to learn more.
Soon I'll be moving to the northern parts and although more people speak English where I'm headed to, I still need to learn Hausa for easier communication. I hear it's one of the easiest Nigerian languages to learn and I think that's true. It also sounds really good especially with an Hausa accent. Hopefully my daily interaction will greatly influence learning fast.
I cannot understand any language other than English and pidgin English, not even the native languages of my parents. So this is an exciting opportunity for me to learn something new and different.
That sounds like a great thing to start to experience! I lived in Italy for 2 months and it was a truly wonderful time. I studied Italian for a year before going there but living in the area with the people and learning to write and speak their language is such an incredible experience to have. I seriously recommend everyone do it because it’s so different than what we are used to.
I kind of thought of it the way people emigrated to a completely new country such as the Italians did leaving Italy and coming to America, not knowing or knowing minimal English and having to now live and learn it. It’s scary as hell! I thought a few times that I wanted to leave and give up but thankfully I didn’t and although I don’t remember much of it now, I’m planning on starting it back up in the near future with our son.
I’ll try to see if I can find any language updates from you, this type of stuff is near to my heart because it’s so interesting! I’m glad you are doing it.
It really is scary being in a strange place and not able to communicate properly. Italian is such a beautiful language to learn, I love the way the words roll out. If I ever want to learn a foreign language it should be Italian and then Spanish.
When I move and begin learning the language, I'll keep you updated.