Walking Conflict: Earl Ankrah Throws-In

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• NANAKIA 10 years ago

  IT'S OK. LET ME ALSO READ OKYEAME KWAME'S BLOG THEN I CAN BOLDLY COMENT LOL

  IT'S OK. LET ME ALSO READ OKYEAME KWAME'S BLOG THEN I CAN BOLDLY COMENT LOL

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• Debbie 10 years ago

  Mr. Ankrah, I haven't read such utter bull in a long time. Why are we so quick to distance ourselves from anything Ghanaian? Why do we tend to think everything western is better?
  
  Firstly, from a purely scientific point of ...
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  Mr. Ankrah, I haven't read such utter bull in a long time. Why are we so quick to distance ourselves from anything Ghanaian? Why do we tend to think everything western is better?
  
  Firstly, from a purely scientific point of view, it has been proven that there's a "window" of language learning that opens at about 10 months of age and from then until about the age of 7, a child can speak and distinguish between as many languages as they are taught. Moreover, when a child is brought up in a multilingual environment, they develop enhanced mental function.
  
  Secondly, language is the very core of our culture, our identity as a people, and I am sorry to say that you're doing your son a great disservice by robbing him of his very identity.
  
  I was brought up in Ghana, spoke Twi at home when I was growing up, had my entire education in English and I daresay I have a great command of the English language and can also reasonably express myself in French. Speaking my mother tongue has had no adverse effect on my ability to grasp other languages. It saddens me when I see Africans, especially those who are public figures and supposed to be role models, desperately trying to discard their "Africanness" and adopt western cultures.
  
  I migrated to a Western country some years ago and it is my ability to speak Twi that gave me my first job as an interpreter for public service providers - an extremely well-paying job. Language is always an asset. Have you never heard of people being given protective status because they speak an uncommon language that is becoming extinct? I speak Twi at home to my children although we live in an English-speaking country. Heck, I would speak Ga, Ewe, Hausa, Swahili etc to them if I could speak those languages, because contrary to your opinion that you are hurting your child's future by teaching him a Ghanaian language, I firmly believe I am giving them a great advantage in life by teaching them several languages irrespective of the global status of the language. I'd rather my children were polyglots in Ghanaian languages than monolingual in an European language.
  
  I saw this phenomenon a lot when I was growing up in Ghana - parents speaking English to their children. Then, I admired it so and whished my parents would do same. Not anymore. Living and working in a different country has changed my whole perception of my cultural heritage. It has made me prouder of my cultural identity. Educated Ghanaians ought to realise that our pretentiousness towards our local culture doesn't earn us any respect in the eyes of foreigners.
  
  So what we don't discuss evolution or technology in our local language and that automatically makes it inferior? That's all part of our identity as a people. Afterall, what is language but a medium of communication? We discuss the things that matter to us and the things that matter to us shouldn't be the same as the things that matter to another race for them to be worthy of discussion. My two cents.

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