They can hardly speak English, bush people. And they think Ghana is for them.
They can hardly speak English, bush people. And they think Ghana is for them.
ZoRRo 10 years ago
What we are seeing is the result of former President Kuffuor's nepotism: giving government positions to his family members and distant relatives to move to Accra, disserting their villages. Now Twi has become a manace, as its ... read full comment
What we are seeing is the result of former President Kuffuor's nepotism: giving government positions to his family members and distant relatives to move to Accra, disserting their villages. Now Twi has become a manace, as its native speakers refuse to learn english.
Old Dirty Bastard 10 years ago
These bush people are so backward that they don't know Twi won't get them any education.
These bush people are so backward that they don't know Twi won't get them any education.
ZoRRo 10 years ago
Let them go to the British embassy and insist on speaking twi.
Let them go to the British embassy and insist on speaking twi.
Massa, mesee hmmmmmmmmmm! 10 years ago
Ataa naanwomo eeiii.
Charlie minisane koraaa?
We the right correct proper Ga people, we dey like we no dey, aloo?
Na gbeshie do them make them bring themselves like that ooooo, yooooo.
So Cameroon and Tunisia drew ... read full comment
Ataa naanwomo eeiii.
Charlie minisane koraaa?
We the right correct proper Ga people, we dey like we no dey, aloo?
Na gbeshie do them make them bring themselves like that ooooo, yooooo.
So Cameroon and Tunisia drew goalless and you think it's a joke.
I'm the origi SoncoMan, aloo?
The gov't must implement proper solid state policy like if you don't speak twi, you must shape up or ship-out of GH, anaa?
But first, we must implement comprehensive address system and permanent records keeping database system across the whole 275 constituencies, coupled with right to information act. Otherwise, we can talk till the cows come home, our blight or predicament of revolving door for drudgery, dearh of responsibility, and pure criminality will persist in GH.
Bounced.
asallamalleikum 10 years ago
It is better to stop English than broken twi because it gives different interpretations example woho tesen? bokoo. Mihuu wo tw3 wopim no y3 kokoo!
Meaning: I saw your vagina.. and your cretolis is red.But he means: its long ... read full comment
It is better to stop English than broken twi because it gives different interpretations example woho tesen? bokoo. Mihuu wo tw3 wopim no y3 kokoo!
Meaning: I saw your vagina.. and your cretolis is red.But he means: its long time since I met you. You plantain(apim) is red (in your farm).
Dziwornu, Jasikan 10 years ago
If all Ghanaians could speak one language, would that not be a blessing? Consider the advantages in all Ghanaians speaking one language. Tribalism would be reduced, no one can differentiate between us and nepotism would be re ... read full comment
If all Ghanaians could speak one language, would that not be a blessing? Consider the advantages in all Ghanaians speaking one language. Tribalism would be reduced, no one can differentiate between us and nepotism would be reduced and brotherly and sisterly love promoted. There would no insults. During Nkrumah's time, the choice of one language as national language became a tug of war and if the choice is being made naturally, let us keep quiet and accept it in good faith, It will be Ghana that will enjoy the advantages of that. If we all speak one language the question of who is an Ashanti, Ewe or Gonja etc will be out. It will be needless and of course difficult to determine who is who and who does that and who does not that. Every one will keep his/her tribe to him/herself. Identification of foreigners would be the only problem for the government. Education would see improvement when we all speak the same language, Discussing national issues would not be a problem, even local trade would see improvement. Look at how developed and advanced countries which do things in their local language are. Example,countries like Germany, France, China, Israel etc,etc. Let us stop arguing and insulting each other on this topic and pray for oneness.
Ada Boy 10 years ago
Racial identity is also important. In the western democracies, new migrants are funded to keep their culture and language. Kenya speak one national language (swahili) and Somalia speak one language only but that did not stop ... read full comment
Racial identity is also important. In the western democracies, new migrants are funded to keep their culture and language. Kenya speak one national language (swahili) and Somalia speak one language only but that did not stop the the post election massacre in Kenya or the civil conflict that persist in Somalia. I was born overseas and dont understand a word of Ga/dangbe but I wont rush to go and learn a language with a narrow focus as twi.
Chief 10 years ago
One language will help with trade but may not necessarily result in unity and lessen triblism. Even b4 all the tribes were forced into one country what was story among the Akans who supposedly speaks the same language?
Th ... read full comment
One language will help with trade but may not necessarily result in unity and lessen triblism. Even b4 all the tribes were forced into one country what was story among the Akans who supposedly speaks the same language?
The Asante wont give any of them a briefing space. The so called Akan unity that we see today is all because of the presence of Ewes and Northners. Even among the Ewes, they have their own differences. So this one language idea can help with communication but may not reduce tribalism.
Language is never a uniting factor.
PK 10 years ago
Kenyans may have one national language but there are much smaller ethnic groups, the perceived suppression of which contributed to the election-related violence in 2007. Moreover, Swahili was a regional language project. In c ... read full comment
Kenyans may have one national language but there are much smaller ethnic groups, the perceived suppression of which contributed to the election-related violence in 2007. Moreover, Swahili was a regional language project. In contrast, no one is forcing anyone to adopt Twi as a national language. It is spreading as a language of commerce, radio and entertainment. Furthermore, while the Akans are in the majority they don't necessary dominate the political landscape the way majority ethnic groups do in other African countries.
Although your observation about Somalia is correct, the problem in that country has more to do with Islamic fundamentalism than with ethnicity. Wherever Islamic fundamentalism rears its ugly head, there shall be bloodshed!
Ada Boy 10 years ago
PK I take your point but you need to understand that fundamentalism in islam has its head embedded in old and useless native culture which has nothing to do with religion itself.Female circumcision practiced overwhelmingly i ... read full comment
PK I take your point but you need to understand that fundamentalism in islam has its head embedded in old and useless native culture which has nothing to do with religion itself.Female circumcision practiced overwhelmingly in muslem nations has nothing to do with religion more that long held cultural practice.The problems in Rwanda and Kenya stemmed from the imposition of tribes on the other and Ghana must avoid that scenario. I have an African father and European mother and I value both heritages equally.
Sydney 10 years ago
HI PK,
I think you got it wrong on Kenya.the largest ethinic group in Kenya is Kikiyu and they have their own language.Swahili is more often pidgin spoken by Nigerias. in the sense most of the Swahili words are coined from t ... read full comment
HI PK,
I think you got it wrong on Kenya.the largest ethinic group in Kenya is Kikiyu and they have their own language.Swahili is more often pidgin spoken by Nigerias. in the sense most of the Swahili words are coined from the arabs and indigenous costal people.Whereas the Kikuyus are the majority but based in Nairobi which is far from the coast.In Ghana I think Ewes have serious inferiority complex just as the writer as I do not see why EWEs cannot speak their own language with the numerical strengh they equally have which might not necessarily be as huge as combining three regions but quite big.Perharps you may want to do a random sample to acertain this for yourself.
Krikri,, 10 years ago
In 2000 when the narcotic peddlars party won the election, their first victory song was "NKRANFUO YE DA MU ASEOOOO, Y3 DZI Y3 MAN". This focus is not only narrow, it is PRIMITIVE, so I will not rush to learn the Twi language
In 2000 when the narcotic peddlars party won the election, their first victory song was "NKRANFUO YE DA MU ASEOOOO, Y3 DZI Y3 MAN". This focus is not only narrow, it is PRIMITIVE, so I will not rush to learn the Twi language
KOLA,LONDON MAIN 10 years ago
They never learn to speak other languages and even English. In UK they still speak twi in work places where Englisg language ought to have been sopken.
They find themselves in such predicament that they hardly could write ... read full comment
They never learn to speak other languages and even English. In UK they still speak twi in work places where Englisg language ought to have been sopken.
They find themselves in such predicament that they hardly could write English because Twi has taken over their conscience and thought.
kwapea 10 years ago
Those of you who claim mastery over the English language did not get the import of Amenyo's article so, you launched your impish selves on the usual trajectory of Akan bashing. How many English people speak French, German,or ... read full comment
Those of you who claim mastery over the English language did not get the import of Amenyo's article so, you launched your impish selves on the usual trajectory of Akan bashing. How many English people speak French, German,or Spanish but, many people from the aforementioned language groups speak English as a second language. When you go to Amsterdam, virtually everyone speaks English in the streets because that is the language of business. The French language nearly over took English but for the dominance of America and proliferation of computers and the accompanying microsoft and other software.
So if Akans speak Twi on the factory floor in London it is because it dominant where it comes from and it is not because of anything hegemonistic. Even the Ga Mantse speaks Twi at convenient times to feel accepted.
KOLA,LONDON MAIN 10 years ago
The English man speaks French when he is France and when he finds himself in Ghana speaks Ghanaina language depending which region he finds himself however the same cannot be said of those who speak Twi.
Learn to speak oth ... read full comment
The English man speaks French when he is France and when he finds himself in Ghana speaks Ghanaina language depending which region he finds himself however the same cannot be said of those who speak Twi.
Learn to speak others Language to braoden your knowledge.
TEACHER 10 years ago
Illiterate fool, read your first sentence on this comment. Do you even read or write proper English? Is that how you write "broaden? BRAODEN
How many white people have you seen in Ghana especially English people who have l ... read full comment
Illiterate fool, read your first sentence on this comment. Do you even read or write proper English? Is that how you write "broaden? BRAODEN
How many white people have you seen in Ghana especially English people who have learned how to speak the local language? They have no need to learn the language since English is widely spoken. People learn new languages when they know they need to.
KOLA INSIDE LONDON 10 years ago
MR. "CHAILD RAPIST".... AKA "ESTERMINATOR"...AKA "ENSNARLED"....AKA "POLITICAL DISCOMPENSATION"...HAHAHAHAHHAHAHHEHEH
HEHEHESTSTTSTSTSTSTKRRRYTY=JAHAHAHAH
HEI!!!....MR. ABUDUCTION....AKA "AN ONCE OF BRAIN".....HAHAHAHAHAH ... read full comment
MR. "CHAILD RAPIST".... AKA "ESTERMINATOR"...AKA "ENSNARLED"....AKA "POLITICAL DISCOMPENSATION"...HAHAHAHAHHAHAHHEHEH
HEHEHESTSTTSTSTSTSTKRRRYTY=JAHAHAHAH
HEI!!!....MR. ABUDUCTION....AKA "AN ONCE OF BRAIN".....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH...HOT THERE!!
ALL THESE GRAMMATICAL MADNESS HAVE ENTANGLED YOU FEARLESSLY. INSTEAD OF YOU TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL TO FIGHT THEM BACK YOU ARE HERE FOOLING AS USUAL....AMONSEEE..!!!
NOW...ROMMERS....IF YOU WANT TO KNOW SARPONG PROPER GET THIS BOOK FREE FROM KAMPU THE PUBLISHER...ALL RIGHTS RESERVED....JUST FOR YOUR READING COMFORT....A TENTH OF HIS GRAMMATICAL ERRORS...
SARPONG'S BOOK FAIR
===================
SARPONG'S HOME MADE ENGLISH....
1. "...BUT NOWHERE (DID HE ENDORSED) HIM"
2. "IT DOES NOT (BODES) WELL FOR PRESUMED INTELLIGENCE"
3. "BECAUSE OF (AN PERCEIVED) EIGHT YEAR OLD"
4. "AS USUAL YOU IDIOT (IS FORGOT) TO BRING YOUR BRAINS TO THIS FORUM"
5. "I THOUGHT YOU (WILL) BE COMMENTING ON.."
6. "I AM JUST WAITING TO SEE HOW YOU GUYS (IS) GOING TO MAKE UP"
7. "I DIDN'T KNOW YOU (CAN) BOW YOUR HEAD UP"
8. "I HAVE TODAY OFF, AND WHAT A BETTER PLACE TO WHILE IT AWAY THAN GHANAWEB WITH NDC FOOLS......TOTAL MADNESS!!!!HAHAHAHAAAAHHAHAHAHAHA THIS GUY IS SO STUPID...DOES HE UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANS..???? ANYWAY LET'S MOVE ON TO...
9. "HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE (THAT)"
10."(ATART) APPEARING ON ACCRA STREETS"
11."THE GUY ALREADY (HAVE) A HIT LIST"
12."YES I DO BELIEVE THAT FOOL (HAVE) A COMPILED LIST"
13."WE ALSO HAVE FREELANCE JOURNALIST"
14."FINNS ARE BEING (NOTIFIES) THAT"
15."KOFI DIDN'T SAID"
16."WHEN DID A COUP CLASSIFIED"
17."EFO JATO IS BEING DEITIFY"
18."THE GUY IS MORE THAN QUALIFIED TO BE PRESIDENT (SO IS) OF THE OTHER NPP CONTESTANTS"...HAHAHAHAH..(SO IS OTHERS)...
19."I CAN BE A THORN (0N) YOUR FLESH"
20."BUT THAT IS NOT (A FAR FETCHED)"
21."HOW DID RAWLINGS (MANAGED) TO BE PRESIDENT"?
22."ENERGY IS FOREVER (BANISHED IN) THIS FORUM"
23."DIDN'T HE (KILLED) THE PRESIDING TRIBUNAL JUDGE"?
24."WHERE DID A LAWYER GOT"
25."CORNEY, DON'T LET ME (GOES) BANANAS ON YOU"
26."WHERE DID THE CONSTITUTION (SAYS)"
27."IF WE (GOES) BY THIS ARTICLE
28."THAT IS WHY THESE PEOPLE (GOES) THROUGH"
29."PRESIDENT BUSH WAS (STUCKED) WITH D. QUAYLE"
30."YOU ARE REALLY (STUCKED) WITH THIS CRAP"
31."THAT IS DIFFERENT (THAN) CHANGING YOUR RUNNING MATE"
32."WE ARE NOT PRACTICING (MONACHY) IN GHANA"
33."THEY HAVE NOT (CHOOSEN) A NORTHERNER"
34."NDC AND THEIR NATION (WREAKERS)
35. THIS WILL GIVE (CREDENCE TO THE ACCUSATION... SOME CREDIBILITY)
36."YOU DON'T EVEN (KNOWS)"
37."MAKE (MICE MEAT) OF THE EKORO"
38."NOW, THESE FOOLS (HAS) SQUANDERED"
39."AND YOU PEOPLE (HARE) TO CAUSE A MISCHIEF"
40."EVEN WITHOUT (PYSICAL IMPROVEMENT)"
41."WE WERE RIDING (DONKETS)"
42."BUT THE PEOPLE (NJUST) NEEDED CHANGE"
43."WE (SDID) HELP EFO JATO"
44."ANANE IS A (MISCRANT)"
45."BEING A LATER (CRTIC) OF ANANE"
46."KAMPUI THOUGHT YOU (ARE) A SMART PERSON"
47."DO YOU KNOW WHY ATTA MILLS (HAVE) LOST TWO TIMES?"
48."HIS POPULARITY DOES NOT (TRANSCENDS) TO MILLS"
49."THE ARMY AND THE POLICE (HAS) STANDING ORDERS"
50."MR ODINGA AND HIS (ECHOLONS) (HAS) THEIR FAMILIES (WERE TUGGED) IN EUROPE"
51."THE PRESIDENT TO BAPTISE FOOLS WHO (HAS) A PENCHANT"
52."I AM NOT (SURPRISE) AT ALL"
53."I AM WATCHING AND WAITING READY TO (POUNCED) ON YOU"
54. THE TSATSU'S IN THIS WORLD ARE THEMSELVES A LOT OF (JARM)" ...AHAHAHAHAH..JARMING..!!!
55."DID YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THE ARTICLE (IS) ABOUT AT ALL"?
56."THESE ARE FACTS, ANYBODY (WYTH AN ONCE OF BRAIN)...AHAHAHAHAHA
57."YOU SAID ADOPTATION (IS) A GENETIC THEORY"
58."WHAT ARE YOU ILLITERATE (IS) TRYING TO SAY"
59."BAAH WIREDU (SEEKED) ATTENTION"
60."YOU (COMES)HERE WITH KNEE JERKED REACTION"
THE BOOK IS HERE....SARPONGLISH...NEW EDITION FOLLOWS SOON....
Ben 10 years ago
The ability to understand and speak other languages other than one's mother tongue is an asset! This is not an issue that should divide and bring the worst out of us. As/when we make an effort to master the English language, ... read full comment
The ability to understand and speak other languages other than one's mother tongue is an asset! This is not an issue that should divide and bring the worst out of us. As/when we make an effort to master the English language, we could also try to learn other languages, especially Twi and French. Why? Twi is spoken throughout Ghana and makes communication easier, and French would definitely help when we cross the borders out of Ghana.NB it is wonderful to be able to understand and speak other languages!
TEACHER 10 years ago
This dumb villager from trokosi region has no idea what he is talking about. Even in USA, there are many factories where Spanish is used as the language. In some of the Electronic and phone manufacturing companies like Flextr ... read full comment
This dumb villager from trokosi region has no idea what he is talking about. Even in USA, there are many factories where Spanish is used as the language. In some of the Electronic and phone manufacturing companies like Flextronics, you hear Vietnamese language on the floor because they have a lot of the Assemblers from Vietnam.
This illiterate fool has no clue why he hears Twi at his watchman's job in London.
Trokosi Basher 10 years ago
You are funny and smart, Teacher. Kola is like a trapped animal.
You are funny and smart, Teacher. Kola is like a trapped animal.
TEACHER 10 years ago
In work places? Write At work places.
" In work places where English language ought to have been spoken"
What kind of English is that? WRITE
At work places where. English ought to be spoke.
Listen to this dum ... read full comment
In work places? Write At work places.
" In work places where English language ought to have been spoken"
What kind of English is that? WRITE
At work places where. English ought to be spoke.
Listen to this dumb trokosi filthy illiterate trying to be what he is not. This dumb illiterate who wrote;
"A GROUP OF CHILDREN IS CHILDRENS "
KOLA INSIDE LONDON 10 years ago
Illiterate Sarpong now calls himself a Teacher........hahahahahahahaha!!
No wonder India was engulfed in a strongest Tornado ever, a sign of the end time. Jesus, stay there and never come down because we are not ready yet ... read full comment
Illiterate Sarpong now calls himself a Teacher........hahahahahahahaha!!
No wonder India was engulfed in a strongest Tornado ever, a sign of the end time. Jesus, stay there and never come down because we are not ready yet as one Aponkye-Mb3333 called Sarpongkyi, the chartered illiterate has now turned a teacher.....hahahahahaha!!!
Chief 10 years ago
It seems he is teaching you to write proper English as he is pointing out your mistakes and correcting them, London boy.
It seems he is teaching you to write proper English as he is pointing out your mistakes and correcting them, London boy.
John Quaye 10 years ago
I agree with your comments,Lola London Main
It is time those Two speaking people of GHANA. Kept their big mouths shut for ever.
The fact that they have all left their Homelands to Accra does not give them the right to order ... read full comment
I agree with your comments,Lola London Main
It is time those Two speaking people of GHANA. Kept their big mouths shut for ever.
The fact that they have all left their Homelands to Accra does not give them the right to order the indigenous GA People of ACCRA what language the GA People should speak on their own homeland
The GA People have never been conquered, dominated OR ruled by any other African Tribe except the British (our colonial rulers)
We do no want to start a TRIBAL WAR in GHANA
Gbeho 10 years ago
You can speak Russia or French or Arab in Ghana and nobody cares so long as it makes you convenient. Mind you nobody is forcing the Twi language upon Ghanaians, the language is spreading naturally even to Togo Burkina Faso an ... read full comment
You can speak Russia or French or Arab in Ghana and nobody cares so long as it makes you convenient. Mind you nobody is forcing the Twi language upon Ghanaians, the language is spreading naturally even to Togo Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast as the writer said. If you have the means to stop the spread, go ahead.
C.Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago
I really didn't want to comment on this subject not only cos of lack of time but I had done so sufficiently in the past. But seeing the simplistic assumptions being paraded, and the dearth of critical insight being expressed, ... read full comment
I really didn't want to comment on this subject not only cos of lack of time but I had done so sufficiently in the past. But seeing the simplistic assumptions being paraded, and the dearth of critical insight being expressed, I'm forced to write a few words.
I will like to refer Dziwornu and those who think like him to Burundi, Rwanda (the dominant minority Tutsis even adopted the language of the majority Hutu) and Somalia to argue that, using the same language in each of those countries hasn't stopped them from imploding into the blood-letting and ethnic genocides they have witnessed since indep. And there are other countries all over the world speaking the same lingo but it hasn't stopped them from degenerating into conflicts so long as other fissures exist to accentuate the differences b/n the various composite units.
Now, from what I've seen of the spread of Twi so far and its use in the public sphere without an iota of respect, concern and consideration for non-Twi speakers, be they Ghanaians or non-Ghanaians, it is simply uncouth and unpolished and must be reviewed. Such things as we witness on TV, as happening at rallies, officials speaking to the public on govt policies, etc. and doing so in Twi, can NEVER happen in Nigeria and other African countries!
I recollect what happened when Papa Ankomah was elected Leader of the Majority and he came on his 1st visit to London. There was so much hype about the man and I decided to listen to him when being interviewed on one of the London FM stations, I think by Space. In response to a qs, he said that he'd like to answer in Fanti so that he could express himself better! Phew! Is that the kingpin of the NPP and he couldn't express himself soundly in English? Anyway, the rest of the interview turned into Twi and I tuned into my favourite Jazz station instead of continue to listen to their type of "jass".
When in Ghana in Dec. 2002, I witnessed the New Yr show on GBCTv. The MCs were speaking a lot of Twi on a national programme with even white people in the audience without any interpretation! Since my sisters could speak Twi [and Ga], I found out that they weren't concerned about what was happening. I was disgusted!
Ghana makes so much noise about being the Gateway to W. Africa and we have such a provincial language "policy" by default? That's why as soon as Ivory Coast recovers from the mayhem inflicted upon it by the ill-thought of Ivoirite policy, no one should be surprised when the whites and Asians relocate back to that country!
One major policy that Mahathir Mohamad, former Malaysian Premier, implemented upon coming into office and reversed upon eve of leaving office was the imposition of Malay as the national language on the country, in place of English. This was aimed at the economically dominant Chinese and Indian minorities, [among other measures against them] who now found out that they must perforce learn Malay to get a job in the public sector, etc. They did but made sure their children also continue to be perfect in English by means of private educ. unlike Malays who can't even speak English well after completing univ. Who does the foreign investors want to deal with in Malaysia and recruit in Asia? Your guess is as good as mine! Now, Malaysian is trying to attract some of those Malaysian Indians and Chinese back home! They have choked on their Malay! The same way, some shall choke on their Twi one day!
The grown ups in the family have passed on a joke to we the younger ones. It goes like this.
When Gbedema took Nkrumah and Co. to Anloga to seek the support of Torgbui Sri II and the chiefs of Anlo to get Independence Now, he listened attentively, gave his approval, and then made a strange request: they should leave one white man for him after sacking the rest! He was very old but his mind was still very sharp! Of course, he was no illiterate chief, being able to speak English, German, French and a number of W. African languages, having lived in Sa Leone (with the Williams Family) and the German Cameroons (as a merchant on his own) for many years b4 being recalled to become Awoamefia in 1906. So when things are going bad in the country, the growns will say: this why Torgbui said they shld leave one "yevu" for him!
As for me and my children, we shall stick to English and other worldly languages, instead of another foreign, local language of no consequences beyond the borders of Ghana! My last born, a girl born in Norway, just returned from a year's stay in China, perfecting her Chinese
she's studying at univ.
Andy-K
F. Boadu 10 years ago
those of you who are insulting Akans of speaking their language i will say you should think again. you don't need to speak english to be educated, chinese, germans, france, netherlands, etc spoke their own language and they h ... read full comment
those of you who are insulting Akans of speaking their language i will say you should think again. you don't need to speak english to be educated, chinese, germans, france, netherlands, etc spoke their own language and they have most educateds people. no one calls them bush people or backwards just that they don't speak english
Ganyobi Ayitey 10 years ago
well said efo Dziwornu,i think todia Amenyo and shadow minded tribalistic commentators on this issue should all listin to your wise advice,one should travelled to EAST AFRICA and see the benefit of speaking a single language, ... read full comment
well said efo Dziwornu,i think todia Amenyo and shadow minded tribalistic commentators on this issue should all listin to your wise advice,one should travelled to EAST AFRICA and see the benefit of speaking a single language,do you people think all the natives of Germany,Spain,China and the likes speakes one language? big no, but they adopted a single language for the sake of national unity and development,or you think all the people from UK speak english? ask and ye shall be told. Please lts yhink and behave like modern people, afterall the whole World is crying to become a global village;a word to the wise......
Mr. Figure-Out 10 years ago
English speaking Gas and Trokosi men, in this modern times, defecates, alongside their women in the wide open at the beaches. Better be a shoe shine or dog chain seller than an ignorant educated buffoons who brag with the adu ... read full comment
English speaking Gas and Trokosi men, in this modern times, defecates, alongside their women in the wide open at the beaches. Better be a shoe shine or dog chain seller than an ignorant educated buffoons who brag with the adulterated AfricaEnglish. Empty vessels make the loud noise. Ho is infested with millions of rats because there are no cats to take care of them. Ghana is not moving because those who speak fluent English are considered intelligent by ewes and Gas, alas, we have many idiots in the ruling NDC government.
ASHANTI TRIBALISTS 10 years ago
There are RATS in Ho because WE DONT EAT THEM. There are No RATS and RAT SHIT in Kumasi because YOU EAT THEM!!!
There are RATS in Ho because WE DONT EAT THEM. There are No RATS and RAT SHIT in Kumasi because YOU EAT THEM!!!
Trokosi Basher 10 years ago
The whole volta region has been taken over by rats not because you don't eat them because you do. The problem is that cats that check the population of mice have been exterminated by trokosis who eat cats.
The whole volta region has been taken over by rats not because you don't eat them because you do. The problem is that cats that check the population of mice have been exterminated by trokosis who eat cats.
Vodoo Xebieso 10 years ago
Which explains the animal shit odour peculiar to your stock!!
Which explains the animal shit odour peculiar to your stock!!
Mr Figure-Out 10 years ago
.......better lives in Kumasi, the Kookoase capital. There was this Efo Kuravi and wife,Daavi Ajovi, who lived in storeroom and worked as washman and yorko-gari seller respectively in Asawasi, a suburb in Kookoase. And the fu ... read full comment
.......better lives in Kumasi, the Kookoase capital. There was this Efo Kuravi and wife,Daavi Ajovi, who lived in storeroom and worked as washman and yorko-gari seller respectively in Asawasi, a suburb in Kookoase. And the funny thing about them was the way Daavi and her husband used to strugglewith the Twi language. When you get there late and Daavi has run out of food, Davi seeing you on sight will quickly say," edwie ni gari, abi ni hc instead of adua ne gari, ebi nni ho" and Efo would shout from afar, "asha lalalala instead of ,asa dadadada". Infact we live happily with Trokosis but their foolish kids of today are making idiots of themselves by bastardizing everything Ashanti, the hands that once fed them. Jealousy go shame and kill Trokosis.t
guitar boy 10 years ago
I was born and raised at Asawasi and I know this family you are talking about.
I was born and raised at Asawasi and I know this family you are talking about.
Mensah 10 years ago
I can't stop laughing
I can't stop laughing
Busumru 10 years ago
Fantastic article. well balanced. speaking English must not to be the yardstick of civility. not all English people are civil although they speak perfect English. in the UK African (accent) flavoured English from even a PhD b ... read full comment
Fantastic article. well balanced. speaking English must not to be the yardstick of civility. not all English people are civil although they speak perfect English. in the UK African (accent) flavoured English from even a PhD background is mostly met with 'eh what?' , pardon? , meaning they don't understand. So cherish your own native languages.
Vodoo Xebieso 10 years ago
You are a blatant liar. Where have you seen Gas and Trokosi men defecating alongside their womenfolk? Maybe in your dirty and wild dreams.
Have you ever seen one million cats in your life? And how do you know Ho has mill ... read full comment
You are a blatant liar. Where have you seen Gas and Trokosi men defecating alongside their womenfolk? Maybe in your dirty and wild dreams.
Have you ever seen one million cats in your life? And how do you know Ho has millions of cats? Did you conduct a census/enumeration of cats in Ho? If you really want to see rats, go to Athens in Greece and leave Ho alone. Even Ho has no more rats than your village.
CORNEY 10 years ago
Don't blame these people insulting Ewes when it comes to this article but this Kofi Ameyo guy who wrote this article perhaps to get favor from these idiots insulting Ewes.
What is the reason for writing this article, to pr ... read full comment
Don't blame these people insulting Ewes when it comes to this article but this Kofi Ameyo guy who wrote this article perhaps to get favor from these idiots insulting Ewes.
What is the reason for writing this article, to promote the Twi language that he claims some of his family members said are better than his own language, do we know anybody in his right mind that will say others language is better than his?
By the way who told him only young ladies can be called Daavi, is it because his fluency in Twi makes him to think grandmothers cannot be called Daavi?
Instead of being ashamed to speak others language at the expense of ours we are now writing articles to promote those languages forgetting that If we were proud of our heritage as these people are our language will not find itself at where it is today.
These are some of the people who even speak Twi in their homes to their siblings and other family members forgetting that no matter how fluent you are in Twi you cannot be Akan and Akans will always refer to you as Efo or Daavi even if you are from Kete Krachi they will still call you Efo or Daavi.
Nyansasem 10 years ago
Corney, learn to chill. Those of you who are castigating Amenyo are the tribalists among us. This article should not cause anyone to insult Amenyo or any Ewe. Amenyo has written worse article than this. In this article, he is ... read full comment
Corney, learn to chill. Those of you who are castigating Amenyo are the tribalists among us. This article should not cause anyone to insult Amenyo or any Ewe. Amenyo has written worse article than this. In this article, he is facing the reality with all boldness.
Can you link with that borborbor in Twi:
Mede m'akoma nyinaa bedowo / Wo na woye me kwankyerefo ... Agyenkwa Yesu ee
Biko 10 years ago
It has been such a long time since I read in full some of these articles posted on the ghanaweb. This one is good. Amenyo wrote it for enlightenment. I am not an Akan, but I can say with certainty that other tribes in Ghana a ... read full comment
It has been such a long time since I read in full some of these articles posted on the ghanaweb. This one is good. Amenyo wrote it for enlightenment. I am not an Akan, but I can say with certainty that other tribes in Ghana are more tribalistic than them. The Akans welcome Ewes and the Northerners to stay with them in their towns and villages without fear, but these are the same people who exhibit immense hatred towards them in every sphere of life. Take a look at this; how many Akans reside with the Ewes and the Northerners in their towns?
CORNEY 10 years ago
Amenyo and the likes can play Agbadza in Twi as he is advocating but those of us who are proud of who we are will not be part of that senseless thing.
Only fools will say they have to be fluent in the language of their bos ... read full comment
Amenyo and the likes can play Agbadza in Twi as he is advocating but those of us who are proud of who we are will not be part of that senseless thing.
Only fools will say they have to be fluent in the language of their boss to be his favorites even if his language is not the working language.
No wonder we cannot make any progress in that country because we don't care about competence rather who can speak the Twi language.
F. Boadu 10 years ago
ZoRRo go to British embassy and explain to them your view of speaking of English language and you will know how fool you're because british people knows that speaking their language does not make you wise
ZoRRo go to British embassy and explain to them your view of speaking of English language and you will know how fool you're because british people knows that speaking their language does not make you wise
Kwadwo NJ 10 years ago
Its unfortunate you are biased and disrespectful to the Ashantis like that. what we have seen is the constant hatred for this ethnic group. The jews went through the same predicament. In Luanda the tutsis went through similar ... read full comment
Its unfortunate you are biased and disrespectful to the Ashantis like that. what we have seen is the constant hatred for this ethnic group. The jews went through the same predicament. In Luanda the tutsis went through similar demeanor. It all start with hate but i pray for you because hatred would not bring you far in life. We are all one people . At the end of the day we want to feed our family and be happy. Dont let hatred take control of you ! Its a paralysis.
John Quaye 10 years ago
II AGREE WITH YOUR COMMENTS Dirty Bastard 100 Percent.
THIS FOOLISH , ETHNOCENTRIC and DANGEROUS Article by this IIGNORANT, CLUELESS man. (AMENYO) is ONLY FIT For the DUSTBIN.
We don't want any TRIBALWAR in GHANA
Like we h ... read full comment
II AGREE WITH YOUR COMMENTS Dirty Bastard 100 Percent.
THIS FOOLISH , ETHNOCENTRIC and DANGEROUS Article by this IIGNORANT, CLUELESS man. (AMENYO) is ONLY FIT For the DUSTBIN.
We don't want any TRIBALWAR in GHANA
Like we have seen in other AFRICAN countries
Such as Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Liberia, Sudan and many others
Amenyo should stay away from TRIBAL POLITICS
Gbeho 10 years ago
Don't make mistakes, the Twi language is not Asante language. Twi language is spoken by the Akans, notably, the Ashantis, the Fantes, the Brones, the Akwapims, the Akins, some Ewes and some Guans. It is therefore wrong to s ... read full comment
Don't make mistakes, the Twi language is not Asante language. Twi language is spoken by the Akans, notably, the Ashantis, the Fantes, the Brones, the Akwapims, the Akins, some Ewes and some Guans. It is therefore wrong to say that twi is the language of the Ashantis.
Askantwi 10 years ago
ENGLISH IS NOT OUR LANGUAGE, IDIOT. Go to the white man's country and try to speak your language to him and see what happens. Putting English before your language is the reason why it is being phased out, idiot.
ENGLISH IS NOT OUR LANGUAGE, IDIOT. Go to the white man's country and try to speak your language to him and see what happens. Putting English before your language is the reason why it is being phased out, idiot.
Old Dirty Bastard 10 years ago
That is why Ashantis in Accra are selling dog chains, they can't speak English, and can't get any serious education in Twi.
That is why Ashantis in Accra are selling dog chains, they can't speak English, and can't get any serious education in Twi.
JOE ATISO 10 years ago
ASANTES AND OTHER TWI SPEAKING AKANS DOMINATE ALL ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN ACCRA PERIOD!THE ASANTES SELLING DOG CHAINS ARE MAKING AN HONEST LIVING AND DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT?THESE ASANTES MUST BE ENCOURAGED THAN TO JOI ... read full comment
ASANTES AND OTHER TWI SPEAKING AKANS DOMINATE ALL ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN ACCRA PERIOD!THE ASANTES SELLING DOG CHAINS ARE MAKING AN HONEST LIVING AND DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT?THESE ASANTES MUST BE ENCOURAGED THAN TO JOIN FORCES WITH OTHER NON-TWI SPEAKING THUGS WHO ARE ARMED ROBBERS AND TERRORISTS.YOU'RE INDEED AN OLD DIRTY BASTARD WHO DESERVES A BULLET TO THAT WORTHLESS BRAIN.
okofo 10 years ago
Time out Joe: you're speaking to a person with colonized mindset who thinks that speaking English language rather than a native one makes one "civilized". How far can you go on with such a damaged soul?
Time out Joe: you're speaking to a person with colonized mindset who thinks that speaking English language rather than a native one makes one "civilized". How far can you go on with such a damaged soul?
KWAME, BELGIUM 10 years ago
This Atiso you wrote here is not your name but please, don't insult people. Insults will not help you send your wise message across.
This Atiso you wrote here is not your name but please, don't insult people. Insults will not help you send your wise message across.
JOE ATISO 10 years ago
THERE ARE PROGRESSIVE MINDED EWES AND THERE ARE EWES WHO ARE NATURALLY BORN TO HATE ASANTES/AKANS. IF YOU WERE EXPECTING THIS JOE ATISO TO TOW THE LINE OF INWARD-LOOKING AND ANTI-ASANTE/AKAN EWES, YOU'RE GOING TO WAIT TILL TH ... read full comment
THERE ARE PROGRESSIVE MINDED EWES AND THERE ARE EWES WHO ARE NATURALLY BORN TO HATE ASANTES/AKANS. IF YOU WERE EXPECTING THIS JOE ATISO TO TOW THE LINE OF INWARD-LOOKING AND ANTI-ASANTE/AKAN EWES, YOU'RE GOING TO WAIT TILL THE END OF THE WORLD. OPEN THE EWE CLOSED MIND TO LEARN SOMETHING OF VALUE FROM ASANTES/AKANS.
Akadu Mensema 10 years ago
It is sad that well-educated Ewes, albeit masons, etc. hav always rented homes, even uncompleted houses from Asante dog-chain-sellers.
It is sad that well-educated Ewes, albeit masons, etc. hav always rented homes, even uncompleted houses from Asante dog-chain-sellers.
Dog Chain Sellers don't Shit In The O 10 years ago
English speaking Gas and Trokosi men, in this modern times, defecates, alongside their women in the wide open at the beaches. Better be a shoe shine or dog chain seller than an ignorant educated buffoons who brag with the a ... read full comment
English speaking Gas and Trokosi men, in this modern times, defecates, alongside their women in the wide open at the beaches. Better be a shoe shine or dog chain seller than an ignorant educated buffoons who brag with the adulterated AfricaEnglish. Empty vessels make the loud noise. Ho is infested with millions rats because there are no cats to take care of them.
Houdini 10 years ago
The so called educated Ewes still slave for Akans as Watchmen and cocoa farm laborers.
The so called educated Ewes still slave for Akans as Watchmen and cocoa farm laborers.
Vodoo Xebieso 10 years ago
While your men folk are busy carrying Ewe shit at the Grande Marche in Lome and Dantokpasime in Cotonou, and your women are still practising prostitution in Lome. Just check it out.
While your men folk are busy carrying Ewe shit at the Grande Marche in Lome and Dantokpasime in Cotonou, and your women are still practising prostitution in Lome. Just check it out.
Houdini 10 years ago
If you are carrying shit in Lagos or selling gari and beans at Agege, do your own thing but don't drag any Akan to the menial jobs you trokosis do. No Akan will migrate to a poor place like Cotonou much less engage in shit ca ... read full comment
If you are carrying shit in Lagos or selling gari and beans at Agege, do your own thing but don't drag any Akan to the menial jobs you trokosis do. No Akan will migrate to a poor place like Cotonou much less engage in shit carrying. Shit carrying we all know is for Trokosis and Northerners in Ghana.
Vodoo Xebieso 10 years ago
You are a fool. It is only the tortoise who never rents a house.
You are a fool. It is only the tortoise who never rents a house.
Akadu Mensema 10 years ago
Thanks for proving my point: tortoise have permanent homes, while Ewes live in Akan-built rented homes!
Thanks for proving my point: tortoise have permanent homes, while Ewes live in Akan-built rented homes!
TROUBLE-MAKER 10 years ago
I said it before that your folks are sleeping rough in lotto kiosks everywhere in Accra.
How many houses have you idiot built in your miserable life?
I said it before that your folks are sleeping rough in lotto kiosks everywhere in Accra.
How many houses have you idiot built in your miserable life?
Akadu Mensema 10 years ago
You are the only one who would use such a stupid word here!
You are the only one who would use such a stupid word here!
Nutsudeka Justice 10 years ago
Is lack of proper upbringing and an uncouth behaviour for some to think they are more of Ghanaians than the others!! Bloody Fools of bush akan extraction
Is lack of proper upbringing and an uncouth behaviour for some to think they are more of Ghanaians than the others!! Bloody Fools of bush akan extraction
Man of God 10 years ago
This a good article that needs appropriate discussion, not the insult from u. I dont think the writer will be proud of this.
Thank You
This a good article that needs appropriate discussion, not the insult from u. I dont think the writer will be proud of this.
Thank You
Old Dirty Bastard 10 years ago
He wants to show that Ashantis are not semi-literates who can't speak English and other languages. But that is what they are.
He wants to show that Ashantis are not semi-literates who can't speak English and other languages. But that is what they are.
Ayanya 10 years ago
Ayigbefuo are failures in our country that is why they hate, they go into politics to create, loot and share to enrich themselves.we work hard to become rich not by stealing thank God our northeners have seen the difference ... read full comment
Ayigbefuo are failures in our country that is why they hate, they go into politics to create, loot and share to enrich themselves.we work hard to become rich not by stealing thank God our northeners have seen the difference between Ghanaians and trokosi Togolese, they've seen you came to steal and destroy hence Citizen vigilante have swone heaven and earth to get what belongs to his country that have been stolen.Everyone in Ghana knows how you people hate Ashantis but can't do foko.Sometimes I ask myself if prof.Mills is really a fanti? If so how come he surrounded himself with these trokosis to lead to his early demise? If he were to be a trokosi and had surrounded himself with fantis which had lead to his early passing away eeeeeeeeeiiiii they would never, ever had forgiven the fantis till thy kingdom come.
KOO MININI 10 years ago
Kofi Amenyo??? "Wheiar"(Ewe english) did you get the name KOFI from Ayegbe boy? You should be very very grateful to the AKANS and therefore the TWI language!
Kofi Amenyo??? "Wheiar"(Ewe english) did you get the name KOFI from Ayegbe boy? You should be very very grateful to the AKANS and therefore the TWI language!
Ami 10 years ago
I wonder why we have similar names. Mine is not Ashanti in origin, it is Ami.
I wonder why we have similar names. Mine is not Ashanti in origin, it is Ami.
JJ LAWLINGS (Twi for RAWLINGS) 10 years ago
No-I got my name fLom Liver Volta (Ashanti English of- fRom River Volta-)
No-I got my name fLom Liver Volta (Ashanti English of- fRom River Volta-)
rabbit 10 years ago
This is an excellent piece.the writer did not seem to have problem with the dominance of the twi language, its only an observation and an emphasis that one needn't be a twi speaker to be a Ghanaian, just that. im an Akan, but ... read full comment
This is an excellent piece.the writer did not seem to have problem with the dominance of the twi language, its only an observation and an emphasis that one needn't be a twi speaker to be a Ghanaian, just that. im an Akan, but in my opinion,this is not a tribalistic article, its far from that.nice piece Kofi
joseph ganyobi 10 years ago
THE ASHANTIS WHO SPEAK THE GA LANGUAGE ARE PROUD THAN THEIR FELLOW ASHANTIS WHO NEVER KNOW A WORD IN GA. THEY ARE THE BUSH ONCE ....
THE ASHANTIS WHO SPEAK THE GA LANGUAGE ARE PROUD THAN THEIR FELLOW ASHANTIS WHO NEVER KNOW A WORD IN GA. THEY ARE THE BUSH ONCE ....
Ayanya 10 years ago
You call yourself ganyobi? And you have the audacity to insult Ashantis when you go to ease yourselves at the beach, a place that should be preserved for tourists attraction to give revenue , aboabi kwa. If Ashanti were to b ... read full comment
You call yourself ganyobi? And you have the audacity to insult Ashantis when you go to ease yourselves at the beach, a place that should be preserved for tourists attraction to give revenue , aboabi kwa. If Ashanti were to be along the coast they would have fence walled it to collect revenue, begin to talk like a trokosi and you will get a matching answer kwasia.You may not be Ga but a desperate trokosi who is trying to bring in the Gas in your failed battle, you have chosen to use names of other tribes including even your enemies the akan/Ashanti names to spew your hatred in this website but who cares about you.
KOO MININI 10 years ago
USELESS GA PEOPLE. THE MOST STUPID TRIBE EVER TO IMMIGRATE TO AKAN LAND WITH FULL STUPIDITY!!!
THEY EAT BESIDES TOILETS! I ONCE FUCKED A MOTHER AND HER TWO DAUGHTERS AND THEY WERE ALL GAS AND THAT'S WHAT THEY DO BEST! SERV ... read full comment
USELESS GA PEOPLE. THE MOST STUPID TRIBE EVER TO IMMIGRATE TO AKAN LAND WITH FULL STUPIDITY!!!
THEY EAT BESIDES TOILETS! I ONCE FUCKED A MOTHER AND HER TWO DAUGHTERS AND THEY WERE ALL GAS AND THAT'S WHAT THEY DO BEST! SERVING DICKS!!! HEHEHE
Trokosi Basher 10 years ago
"THEY ARE THE BUSH ONCE"
Sad you cannot even write proper English but a tribalist illiterate.
You meant BUSH ONES not ONCE.
"THEY ARE THE BUSH ONCE"
Sad you cannot even write proper English but a tribalist illiterate.
You meant BUSH ONES not ONCE.
Akadu Mensema 10 years ago
While we are it, don't forget your heavy-accented English even as Asantes speak Twi!
While we are it, don't forget your heavy-accented English even as Asantes speak Twi!
Mr Figure-Out 10 years ago
When a typical Trokosi man from Togo pronounce three, the ending e-e letters resonates like a concord air plane trying to land at Trokosi Kwabena Kotoka Airport in Accra. If that is what they call good English then I would al ... read full comment
When a typical Trokosi man from Togo pronounce three, the ending e-e letters resonates like a concord air plane trying to land at Trokosi Kwabena Kotoka Airport in Accra. If that is what they call good English then I would always prefer to speak Twi with my accented 'l and r ' problems.
Brute 10 years ago
hahahahahaha. my ribs. a landing concord airplane paa? agyeei!.
hahahahahaha. my ribs. a landing concord airplane paa? agyeei!.
ranger 10 years ago
Well done Kofi. You need to publish this in the Daily Graphic or the Ghanaian Times. it is a good academic exercise, well done.
Well done Kofi. You need to publish this in the Daily Graphic or the Ghanaian Times. it is a good academic exercise, well done.
zongo president 10 years ago
YES GHANA IS FOR US,,,,,IF HAVE PROBLEM GO BACK TO YOUR COUNTRY,YES WE ARE ASHANTIS ,YES WE ARE AKYEMS, YES WE ARE FANTIS,YES WE ARE AKUAPEMS,YES WE ARE BRONGS ,ETC ETC. WE ARE ORIGINAL GHANAIANS AND WE ARE PROUD OF OURSELVE ... read full comment
YES GHANA IS FOR US,,,,,IF HAVE PROBLEM GO BACK TO YOUR COUNTRY,YES WE ARE ASHANTIS ,YES WE ARE AKYEMS, YES WE ARE FANTIS,YES WE ARE AKUAPEMS,YES WE ARE BRONGS ,ETC ETC. WE ARE ORIGINAL GHANAIANS AND WE ARE PROUD OF OURSELVES, TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT....WHEN YOU GOES TO ROME YOU DO WHAT ROMANS DO PERIOD......TWI IS OUR LANGUAGE, IS GHANA NATIONAL ETHER YOU LIKE OR NOT THAT IS THE WAY IT IS....PEPENII. PUTONII,
Akua 10 years ago
I really find it hard to believe that in this day and age intellectuals will argue and make nasty comments about each others tribe. I'm an Ashanti and my husband is Ewe, but never have we had any argument based on our tribe. ... read full comment
I really find it hard to believe that in this day and age intellectuals will argue and make nasty comments about each others tribe. I'm an Ashanti and my husband is Ewe, but never have we had any argument based on our tribe. We have so many economic challenges such unemployment and infrastructure and yet we waste time discussing tribalism. Ghanaians really need to wake up!
AFIA SERWAA 10 years ago
YOUR NAME TELLS IT ALL-IDIOT YOU ARE. DID KUFOUR FORCE RAWLINGS TO SPEAK TWI? WHAT OF MAHAMA? WE TWI SPEAKERS ARE DOMINANT IN GHANA AND THE WISEST.
EWE'S ARE NOT PROUD OF THEIR LANGUAGE NEITHER THE NORTHERS. KUFOUR IS NOT T ... read full comment
YOUR NAME TELLS IT ALL-IDIOT YOU ARE. DID KUFOUR FORCE RAWLINGS TO SPEAK TWI? WHAT OF MAHAMA? WE TWI SPEAKERS ARE DOMINANT IN GHANA AND THE WISEST.
EWE'S ARE NOT PROUD OF THEIR LANGUAGE NEITHER THE NORTHERS. KUFOUR IS NOT THE CAUSE, WE ARE SIMPLY DOMINATING YOU.
BBC NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!! 10 years ago
Bawumia is the only idiot from the north,does he think he will get a chance in "Y3N AKANFO" PARTY? He should go and ask the late ALIU MAHAMA THIEF KUFOUR'S VICE. When kufour was travelling allover the world, vice president AL ... read full comment
Bawumia is the only idiot from the north,does he think he will get a chance in "Y3N AKANFO" PARTY? He should go and ask the late ALIU MAHAMA THIEF KUFOUR'S VICE. When kufour was travelling allover the world, vice president ALIU was the one does the dirty job for "Y3N AKANFO" PARTY. At the end of all this struggling by ALIU, the evil "Y3N AKANFO" PARTY NPP denied him the presidency,and humble VICE PRESIDENT ALIU got heart attack which ends him up in his early GRAVE.
Asem nono 10 years ago
Bawumia is never an idiot. He is more intelligent than every one in mahama's government that is why we Akans love and respect him. We will not sit down and allow a "Gyini, Gyimi president to rule us.
Bawumia is never an idiot. He is more intelligent than every one in mahama's government that is why we Akans love and respect him. We will not sit down and allow a "Gyini, Gyimi president to rule us.
Isaiah N 10 years ago
Although Twi is widely spoken in Ghana, the manner in which those who cannot speak the language are viewed is very nauseating. I was insulted on legon campus for my inability to speak twi, another trader asked whether i was t ... read full comment
Although Twi is widely spoken in Ghana, the manner in which those who cannot speak the language are viewed is very nauseating. I was insulted on legon campus for my inability to speak twi, another trader asked whether i was truly a Ghanaian since i could not speak Twi.After these two encounters i have vowed not to learn how to speak this language and i still hold my Ghanaian citizenship until the state require that i denounce my citizen because i cannot speak Twi. I owe my loyalty first to my family, then to my tribe and to the country at large. Ill-conceived comments on language issues could have damaging ramifications for the future of Ghana
Sankofa 10 years ago
Isaiah, you are comfortable speaking English, yet you take issue with those who would expect you to speak Twi.
Those with whom you take issue got it wrong, but that should not be an excuse for you to refuse to learn Twi. L ... read full comment
Isaiah, you are comfortable speaking English, yet you take issue with those who would expect you to speak Twi.
Those with whom you take issue got it wrong, but that should not be an excuse for you to refuse to learn Twi. Let us take pride in what is ours, and stop embracing foreign cultures.
ranger 10 years ago
Well done Sankofa. You have hit the nail on the the head. When I was in Nigeria, UK, and USA, I met several Togolese, Malians, Burkinabes, Beninois, and Nigeria, who could speak, very little or good Twi, and we were like brot ... read full comment
Well done Sankofa. You have hit the nail on the the head. When I was in Nigeria, UK, and USA, I met several Togolese, Malians, Burkinabes, Beninois, and Nigeria, who could speak, very little or good Twi, and we were like brothers. They were always happy to be and move with Ghanaians, because of their ability to speak Twi, some even considered themselves as Ghanaians, and are treated so, sometimes, all because of the 'power' of the Twi language.
Kojo! 10 years ago
They're only trying to project their laziness as virtue.
They can't pronounce words correctly in other language except twi and no matter how hard you try to teach them. The're retards, that's what they truely are and not ... read full comment
They're only trying to project their laziness as virtue.
They can't pronounce words correctly in other language except twi and no matter how hard you try to teach them. The're retards, that's what they truely are and not otherwise. Kofi Amenyo sounds also like a retard. Your analysis is flawed and very myopic. You believe in your folly. Other tribes in Ghana can learn and master several languages in addition to their own language but asantes can't and you are so silly to think asantes inability to speak other languages properly is smart but it's not. Come to europe and see them butchering german, french, norwegian,swedish, dutch and others then you'll notice it's a retardation rather than style as you sought to potray here. Movitor! Those evedome people singing borborbor in twi are part akans so what's the big deal?
Old Dirty Bastard 10 years ago
The bush Ashantis cannot speak English and cannot learn other languages.
The bush Ashantis cannot speak English and cannot learn other languages.
Kojo! 10 years ago
You can take that to the bank
You can take that to the bank
GAWUKO 10 years ago
//Mede m'asem ma Nyame loo oo, wobe ka mame oo,
Mede m'asem ma Nyame loo oo, wobe ka me me o.//
//Agyanka m'anya 'sem mu, whana beka ma me,//
Aoo, mede m'asem ma Nyame lo oo, wobe ka mame oo.
Mede m'asem ma Nyame lo oo, w ... read full comment
//Mede m'asem ma Nyame loo oo, wobe ka mame oo,
Mede m'asem ma Nyame loo oo, wobe ka me me o.//
//Agyanka m'anya 'sem mu, whana beka ma me,//
Aoo, mede m'asem ma Nyame lo oo, wobe ka mame oo.
Mede m'asem ma Nyame lo oo, wobe ka mame ooooooooo.
Alan 10 years ago
We all know most Northern Voltarians are mixed Ewes/Akans/and Guans but at the end of the day they all identify thmeselves as Ewes so whats the big deal?
We all know most Northern Voltarians are mixed Ewes/Akans/and Guans but at the end of the day they all identify thmeselves as Ewes so whats the big deal?
GAWUKO 10 years ago
Isaiah N, I had the same problem when I came to Accra to sttart secondary school. On the third day after my arrival in accra I started saying my first words in Ga. then at school I said something which was definitely wrong an ... read full comment
Isaiah N, I had the same problem when I came to Accra to sttart secondary school. On the third day after my arrival in accra I started saying my first words in Ga. then at school I said something which was definitely wrong and my mates broke out laughing. I asked what the matter was and they told me what i said was funny and wrong. I asked if thet was the reason to laught at me knowing that I was new in Accra. From that day I vowd not to spaek Ga. many years later I made a second attempt to learn the language but my mind was blocked. I regret today that I cannot speak Ga, though I understand it fairly well. I hope it iis not too late for you to learn Twi. It is an enrichment for you, not to the native speakers. Some of them are sad they can speak only Twi and English whereas their non-Akan friends speak English, twi, Ga, Hausa, Ewe and other languages. Our Bishop visited us last and perfectly spoke the native language of almost every member. That was about 8 Ghanaian languages, including naturally Twi. A friend who is Ashanti lamented "OMG, what have I done to myself?".
Kojo Antwi 10 years ago
If the boss is Twi speaking then all have to speak Twi? How about if the boss speaks Gonja? Some of these Ewes want to be accepted so much that they will abandon common sense.
If the boss is Twi speaking then all have to speak Twi? How about if the boss speaks Gonja? Some of these Ewes want to be accepted so much that they will abandon common sense.
Sankofa 10 years ago
Kofi Amenyo, is it not even more shocking for Ghanaians to be using English, a foreign language imposed on us through colonial rule, as our official language?
Is it not welcome that Twi is now being spoken more by many Gha ... read full comment
Kofi Amenyo, is it not even more shocking for Ghanaians to be using English, a foreign language imposed on us through colonial rule, as our official language?
Is it not welcome that Twi is now being spoken more by many Ghanaians? may it long continue. We want the radio stations to speak unadulterated Twi and stop mixing it with English.
JOE ATISO 10 years ago
STOP SPREADING THE KOFI AWONNOR'S ETHNOCENTRIC DOCTRINE BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH TWI BEING THE PREDOMINANT LANGUAGE. I DON'T BELIEVE THAT THERE IS AN IOTA OF TRUTH THAT ANYONE IMPOSED TWI ON NON-SPEAKING GHANAIANS. ... read full comment
STOP SPREADING THE KOFI AWONNOR'S ETHNOCENTRIC DOCTRINE BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH TWI BEING THE PREDOMINANT LANGUAGE. I DON'T BELIEVE THAT THERE IS AN IOTA OF TRUTH THAT ANYONE IMPOSED TWI ON NON-SPEAKING GHANAIANS. IT'S SIMPLY A MATTER OF ECONOMIC SURVIVAL IN GHANA TO SPEAK TWI,PERIOD!
Old Dirty Bastard 10 years ago
Leave Awoonor out of this? Can you speak good English with L and R?
Leave Awoonor out of this? Can you speak good English with L and R?
JOE ATISO 10 years ago
THE TRUTH CUTS ACROSS TRIBES SO LEARN TO EMBRACE IT. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AN ASANTE TO ACCEPT THE HARD FACT THAT TWI IS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND EVERY ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN GHANA. JUST AS AMENYO ADMITTED,TWI IS NOT ONLY DOMINA ... read full comment
THE TRUTH CUTS ACROSS TRIBES SO LEARN TO EMBRACE IT. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AN ASANTE TO ACCEPT THE HARD FACT THAT TWI IS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND EVERY ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN GHANA. JUST AS AMENYO ADMITTED,TWI IS NOT ONLY DOMINANT IN GHANA BUT ABROAD AS WELL. SO,SENSELESS "KETA" BIGOT JOIN THE BANDWAGON OR BE LEFT BEHIND. WHAT A SHAME!
Vodoo Xebieso 10 years ago
Fucking bastard JOE ATISO!! Why can't you use your animal shit name instead of adopting a Trokosi name? Are you ashamed of your real name?
Fucking bastard JOE ATISO!! Why can't you use your animal shit name instead of adopting a Trokosi name? Are you ashamed of your real name?
JAK- USA 10 years ago
Some people try to learn and speak other languages for levelness others refuse to learn other languages for self-conceitedness hatred and what have you, but the almighty created life, and in his wisdom, CAN WIPE AWAY LIFE an ... read full comment
Some people try to learn and speak other languages for levelness others refuse to learn other languages for self-conceitedness hatred and what have you, but the almighty created life, and in his wisdom, CAN WIPE AWAY LIFE and all its_"PROUD" intehtion.I lived in 4 different localities in Ghana, I learnt and can rattle 4 different Languages. That is the BEST way of HUMAN life. To those who have EARs to hear & Eyes to see, this should provoke your thoughts. Sankofa says English is a foreign language but forgets that Twi is as foreign as English to any Non Akan_
Sankofa 10 years ago
JAK, how can you say Twi is a foreign language?
Are Akans not your own fellow countrymen? Is Twi not an indigenous Ghanaian language?
All our people hold certain values, philosophies, mores, culture and norms in commo ... read full comment
JAK, how can you say Twi is a foreign language?
Are Akans not your own fellow countrymen? Is Twi not an indigenous Ghanaian language?
All our people hold certain values, philosophies, mores, culture and norms in common. Our languages have much more in common than you think.
English is a foreign language imposed on us by colonial rule. It is completely alien to our way of life, philosophy and thinking. It became our official language by an accident of history. I look forward to the day when we will consign it to the dustbin of history and adopt Twi or any of our indigenous languages as our official language.
English is the official language here in England, despite centuries of colonisation by the Romans who used Latin as the official language, and the Normans who used French. Mandarin Chinese is the official language in China. Russian is the official language in Russia, and Japanese the official language in Japan. Why do we continue to use English as our official language?
kofi kofi 10 years ago
Stupid man hiding behind an ewe name to start a civil war. I do not speak twi and will never speak it. You little monkey.
Stupid man hiding behind an ewe name to start a civil war. I do not speak twi and will never speak it. You little monkey.
Old Dirty Bastard 10 years ago
He is another primitive Ashanti fool pretending to be Ewe.
He is another primitive Ashanti fool pretending to be Ewe.
OGYANI 10 years ago
AMENYO"S ARTICLE IS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! AT LEAST THE HATED BRITISH LEFT US A SIMPLE TOOL FOR ALL GHANAIANS TO COMMUNICATE AMONGST OURSELVES.NOT BAD EH!
AMENYO"S ARTICLE IS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! AT LEAST THE HATED BRITISH LEFT US A SIMPLE TOOL FOR ALL GHANAIANS TO COMMUNICATE AMONGST OURSELVES.NOT BAD EH!
and many many blunders that only a retard would make. They are stool possessed retards.
Askantwi 10 years ago
KOFI AMENYO, IF SOMEONE ASKS YOU "WOYE GHANANII NA WONTE TWI? it only means that TWI language is so dominant and spoken by almost everyone in ghana now, so it is almost natural or even more easiar for people to speak it. so ... read full comment
KOFI AMENYO, IF SOMEONE ASKS YOU "WOYE GHANANII NA WONTE TWI? it only means that TWI language is so dominant and spoken by almost everyone in ghana now, so it is almost natural or even more easiar for people to speak it. so sometimes it is quite strange that one doesn't speak it. Your perception of that question is totally wrong. You sound like those Ashanti haters who is desperately trying to raise ill sentiments against them. Shame on you, IDIOT.
Agyeman 10 years ago
Wow,i'm Akan but still i wish we in Ghana were like in East Africa where swahili is the lingua franca.The beauty of swahili is it doesn't belong to a particular tribe.At least east africans don't have this tribal overhung of ... read full comment
Wow,i'm Akan but still i wish we in Ghana were like in East Africa where swahili is the lingua franca.The beauty of swahili is it doesn't belong to a particular tribe.At least east africans don't have this tribal overhung of speaking your rival tribes language no matter how dominant the tribe is.E,Africa has no tension over language dominance like the way some Ghanaians feel tension/guilt or envy in over the use of Twi.Swahili has been a vey unifying language unlike our local divisive tongues.
Alan 10 years ago
What are u talking about Agyemang? Have u heard of Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, DR Congo? Tribalism is a cancer everywhere in Africa
What are u talking about Agyemang? Have u heard of Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, DR Congo? Tribalism is a cancer everywhere in Africa
Agyeman 10 years ago
Yes ,you're right but at least their tribalism is not about language.Their issues are about power (political & economic) about land and about spreading govt funding equally.They never fight about language.
Yes ,you're right but at least their tribalism is not about language.Their issues are about power (political & economic) about land and about spreading govt funding equally.They never fight about language.
PK 10 years ago
"... at least their (East African) tribalism is not about language" (Agyeman).
Uncle Agyeman, so how do they know one person is from this tribe and the other is not if tribalism is not about language differences? Can you a ... read full comment
"... at least their (East African) tribalism is not about language" (Agyeman).
Uncle Agyeman, so how do they know one person is from this tribe and the other is not if tribalism is not about language differences? Can you always tell a Fanti from an Ewe by merely looking at their faces? That should also tell us that there is nothing natural about "tribe"!
G. Dart. (US) 10 years ago
How about a Fanti who speaks fluent Ewe and an Ewe who speaks fluent Fanti? PEOPLE ARE RUNNING INTO A VERY CONFUsED SITUATION WITH SUCH IRRELEVANT MATTERS Habba! Just be proud you are a faithful product of GOD and live peacef ... read full comment
How about a Fanti who speaks fluent Ewe and an Ewe who speaks fluent Fanti? PEOPLE ARE RUNNING INTO A VERY CONFUsED SITUATION WITH SUCH IRRELEVANT MATTERS Habba! Just be proud you are a faithful product of GOD and live peacefully in his name, WITHOUT THIS EXTREME NONSENSE!
Pelicles 10 years ago
The spread of Twi in Ghana is a natural phenomenon. The tribe that is the largest always has advantage over the others. If Ewes are the majority, I think we will see a surge of that language in Ghana and I will have no pro ... read full comment
The spread of Twi in Ghana is a natural phenomenon. The tribe that is the largest always has advantage over the others. If Ewes are the majority, I think we will see a surge of that language in Ghana and I will have no problem with that so, let move on.
Those who hate to see Twi spreading far and wide across, cannot do anything about it because it is something natural. The last time I went to Ghana, my niece who was attending SHS, told me that the government has instituted a measure for students to learn an additional language plus her native tongue. For example, if a Ga student is attending SHS in Tamale, she should learn Dagomba and I saw that as an attempt by the government to see balance things.
Twi is spreading because Twi speakers are the largest tribe in Ghana and imagine an Ewe man who have travelled to a Twi speaking area to make ends meet, why do you think he will hang on to his native tongue knowing too well that he will lose sticking to that mentality?
Nyansasem 10 years ago
Normally, I don't comment on tribal tosh like this. However, I find this article to be both funny and sad.
Funny, because I realize that, Amenyo writes better in TWI and I believe he speaks Twi very well. I will encourage ... read full comment
Normally, I don't comment on tribal tosh like this. However, I find this article to be both funny and sad.
Funny, because I realize that, Amenyo writes better in TWI and I believe he speaks Twi very well. I will encourage him to start writing in TWI here. Secondly, I would have loved to see his face when he found out that his people were using Twi for the Borborbor songs. Did he try to stop them from singing? I really like to see him singing agbadza in Twi. That would be nice.
It is sad, because ALMOST ALWAYS, these tribalists want to draw the Gamei into their tribal fights. That is what bothers me. Because, with this, some Gamei will believe in this and unnecessary insult others. Why can't they fight their own fight and instead try to use Gamei to fight for them?
In all, I don't think he was too hard on the TWI folks. He has come to a realization that he can't do anything about the spread of TWI language. All he is asking is, TWI folks should give him and other non-TWI people more time to learn the language, instead of forcing it on them. I will call it a satirical essay, instead of a tribal tosh.
I am still enjoying borborbor vicariously with this:
Mede m'akoma nyinaa bedowo / Wo na woye me kwankyerefo ... Agyenkwa Yesu ee
KK 10 years ago
It seems you're confused about the article. You don't know if it's a satire or something else. The guy says nobody is forcing Twi down their throats and then gives the example of Ewes playing borborbor in Twi. Then he invites ... read full comment
It seems you're confused about the article. You don't know if it's a satire or something else. The guy says nobody is forcing Twi down their throats and then gives the example of Ewes playing borborbor in Twi. Then he invites Anlos too to play in Twi. And you think this is a negative thing he said? I can see him enjoying the borborbor in Twi a lot.
Then he ends by saying he doesn't speak Twi - in perfect written Twi! What does that tell you, Nyansasem?
Or are you also just following the crowd?
Nyansasem 10 years ago
Read that again, this time slowly.
Read that again, this time slowly.
KK 10 years ago
I've read the part again slowly. I urge u to also re-read it. I am sure the guy brought the borborbor in to show that it's good for Ewes to play borborbor in Twi. I don't think he was laughing at them, as u think.
I've read the part again slowly. I urge u to also re-read it. I am sure the guy brought the borborbor in to show that it's good for Ewes to play borborbor in Twi. I don't think he was laughing at them, as u think.
Nyansasem 10 years ago
Don't you get me? My only problem with the article was trying to bring Gamei (Accra) into this. I don't have problem with this article. He told the "unpleasant truth" however sad it may be. I have read worse article from him. ... read full comment
Don't you get me? My only problem with the article was trying to bring Gamei (Accra) into this. I don't have problem with this article. He told the "unpleasant truth" however sad it may be. I have read worse article from him. I don't consider this one as a bad one. Read my response to CORNEY, an EWE who is furious with Amenyo.
I really want to listen or see a video of borborbor in TWI. Could you please link me up?
Mede m'akoma nyinaa bedowo / Wo na woye me kwankyerefo ... Agyenkwa Yesu ee
Akadu Mensema 10 years ago
Twi will spread to every corner of Ghana! It is that simple.
Twi will spread to every corner of Ghana! It is that simple.
KK 10 years ago
Pelicles, your points are just exactly what amenyo is saying.
Twi is spreading because it has the advantage of being the largest language.
Nobody can stop the spread of Twi because it is spreading naturally.
He sa ... read full comment
Pelicles, your points are just exactly what amenyo is saying.
Twi is spreading because it has the advantage of being the largest language.
Nobody can stop the spread of Twi because it is spreading naturally.
He said it all in the article.
Kasha 10 years ago
It beats my imagination that anyone worth his kind like Amenyo will seek to make mountain out of an ant's hill.What is wrong with people speaking twi in Ghana and elsewhere? And what is wrong with the question",If you say you ... read full comment
It beats my imagination that anyone worth his kind like Amenyo will seek to make mountain out of an ant's hill.What is wrong with people speaking twi in Ghana and elsewhere? And what is wrong with the question",If you say you a Ghanaian,how come you don't speak twi?".Only narrow minded people like Amenyo has a problem with that.I find it so difficult for the likes of Amenyo to find nothing wrong with the spread of foreign languages such as English and may be Hausa,and yet complain about the spread of our own indigenous language such as twi?Such people should be counseled otherwise they could spread falsehood about the use of twi language in Ghana.
I am a native Bisa but I am more comfortable with the use of twi than my own language,for the simple reason that many people understand me better in twi.
Ewe language can never compete with twi because native ewes do not feel comfortable employing non ewes whenever they find themselves in responsible positions in this country?The phenomenon is more pronounced in the civil and public services.Go the national security for instance and you will be amazed how many ewes work there as compared to other non ewe natives.I can say with certainty that ewes constitute 98.7% of the total workforce at the national security.It is one of the institutions in Ghana where the boss,his deputy,the chief security and his deputy as well as the gate man and his deputies are all ewes.
Can Mr.Amenyo justify the growing ewenization of the civil and public services to the exclusion of original natives who were part of the Gold Coast before it became Known as Ghana?.Can he explain why some ewes will arrogantly and pretentiously tell you that," as for me I don't understand that language" ,whenever twi speakers communicate with them?.
I personally believe that if we as Ghanaians settle on the twi language as our national language,Ghana will develop as a faster pace than it is now because it will become one nation,one,people,one language one destiny and it will become fruitless to seek to employ only ewes in the civil and public services.
Ewes are too tribalistic!
Agyeman 10 years ago
Did you know there's another tribe in Zambia also called Bisa just like your folks?
Did you know there's another tribe in Zambia also called Bisa just like your folks?
ASHANTI TRIBALISTS 10 years ago
NONSENSE!!! How may Ewes do you know? Can you speak Ewe? GET THE FUCK OUTTA here before I bark at you!!!
NONSENSE!!! How may Ewes do you know? Can you speak Ewe? GET THE FUCK OUTTA here before I bark at you!!!
AMOH 10 years ago
I pity all those who are jealous of Twi speakers. they wanted to be like us but they could not be. I have never seen any Akan hiding his/her identity in any part of this world but i can tell you with proves the number of peop ... read full comment
I pity all those who are jealous of Twi speakers. they wanted to be like us but they could not be. I have never seen any Akan hiding his/her identity in any part of this world but i can tell you with proves the number of people who try to hide their identity outside Ghana. Now Twi is studied in some Universities in America and some countries in Europe. Is it our making that we love our language?.Why do you insult us?.Please i think some people should be more matured and get some sense of etiquette because no tribe can ever bring Akan down in Ghana.
JojoD 10 years ago
You claim, among other things, that, "The Gas, themselves, are now speaking better Twi (which they used to call "Fante")than they ever did."
The implicit implication, when you punctuate Fante in quotation marks is that no su ... read full comment
You claim, among other things, that, "The Gas, themselves, are now speaking better Twi (which they used to call "Fante")than they ever did."
The implicit implication, when you punctuate Fante in quotation marks is that no such language exists. I hate to burst your bubble, but there is a Fanti language, and it is alive and well. And, to the contrary, lots of Gas, especially those who had the opportunity to school in the Central and Western regions spoke Fanti (and not Twi) very well.
I can see, in-the-not-too-distant future, either you or someone writing that Kojo (or, Jojo), Kobina, and Kwesi (instead of Kwadwo, Kwabena, and Akwasi, respectively) are Twi names (just because lots of Asantes are using those names), but used to be inappropriately called "Fante"
kofikooko 10 years ago
I can see some jealousy on the Amenyo. If you cannot stop the Twi,stop accussing speakers.Nobody force anyone to speak twi language.
I can see some jealousy on the Amenyo. If you cannot stop the Twi,stop accussing speakers.Nobody force anyone to speak twi language.
Pumpuni 10 years ago
"Yes, meye Ghananii na enso mente Twi."
Wo te Twi paa!!!
"Yes, meye Ghananii na enso mente Twi."
Wo te Twi paa!!!
Ayanya 10 years ago
What is the problem of this writer? Still they haven't got a place in Ghana? They can't fit into Ghanaian society? Look, even some Nigerians speak Twi to show to people that they know Ghana , So many west African states nat ... read full comment
What is the problem of this writer? Still they haven't got a place in Ghana? They can't fit into Ghanaian society? Look, even some Nigerians speak Twi to show to people that they know Ghana , So many west African states natives see Ghanaians as Twi speaking people if you can't take it leave Ghana, but you koraa what is your population in Ghana? It hurts the trokosis that the Gas are not speaking Ayigbe because they think they have annex Accra, just forgeting that they came to meet the Gas and the Akans as one people in Gold Coast and that their lies about Akans/Ashantis and their manipulations of other tribes in Ghana against their own people Akans/Ashantis had outlived its usefulness and they can't take anymore of their lies and stealing, now Kofi Amenyo and his people are desperate attacking the Twi language hoping to win back those tribes who have seen the light.But its too little too late.
WARD GDX - WE THE PEOPLE 10 years ago
They are against anything that does not service or satisfy their narrow selfish ethnocentric parochial agenda.
They are a dangerous bunch.
They are against anything that does not service or satisfy their narrow selfish ethnocentric parochial agenda.
They are a dangerous bunch.
ranger 10 years ago
Ayanya, please be informed that, the original Gold Coast Colony, was made up of (1.) Eastern Region including Anlo or Keta and Accra (2.) Central Region (3.) Western. Ashanti, the Northern Territories, and Northern Volta, whi ... read full comment
Ayanya, please be informed that, the original Gold Coast Colony, was made up of (1.) Eastern Region including Anlo or Keta and Accra (2.) Central Region (3.) Western. Ashanti, the Northern Territories, and Northern Volta, which used to be German Togoland(Hohoe, Kadjebi, Nkwanta, Yendi were all later additions.
COM'DE-VA 10 years ago
You have done well by giving the facts about the trend even you as an Ewe having the name Kofi which is typical akan spelling said it all.But, I don't think there is any tribal sentiments or motives behind your writtings.Keep ... read full comment
You have done well by giving the facts about the trend even you as an Ewe having the name Kofi which is typical akan spelling said it all.But, I don't think there is any tribal sentiments or motives behind your writtings.Keep it up.
Ghanaian Patriot 10 years ago
I do not see the reason for insulting Mr. Amenyo. Is it because of his Ewe second name?
The reason for Dr, Nkrumah for establishing Berau of African Languages was to parashoot a Ghanaian language over English. If he surv ... read full comment
I do not see the reason for insulting Mr. Amenyo. Is it because of his Ewe second name?
The reason for Dr, Nkrumah for establishing Berau of African Languages was to parashoot a Ghanaian language over English. If he survived to do this, Ghanaians would have added this to his litany of dictatorship.
Now we are in fix. The English we learn is not good enough to produce quality engineers or better scientists to propel inventions. 50 years of KNUST has failed the nation miserably.They have not livid up to the name. As a result, they have formed UNEMPLYED GRADUATES ASSOCIATIN to maintain their unemployment status.
This is a comment not an article, so I will end with this piece. Can Ghana emulate Malaysia who imposed Malay on the citizens, and they are advancing in every aspect of MADE IN MALAYSIA products! GOD BLESS GHANA.
Boss 10 years ago
This article is very well written but what's the point? Twi is widely spoken in Ghana so?
This article is very well written but what's the point? Twi is widely spoken in Ghana so?
Joe Turkey 10 years ago
Do some thinking; you'll get the point. Lazy reader and thinker
Do some thinking; you'll get the point. Lazy reader and thinker
Akadu Mensema 10 years ago
This is rubbish! Just say what you wish to say without this foolish caveat:
"I wish to state at the outset that I, personally, do not think the increasing use of Twi in Ghana is a bad thing. It is not."
This is rubbish! Just say what you wish to say without this foolish caveat:
"I wish to state at the outset that I, personally, do not think the increasing use of Twi in Ghana is a bad thing. It is not."
WARD GDX - WE THE PEOPLE 10 years ago
They are against anything that does not service or satisfy their narrow selfish ethnocentric parochial agenda.
They are a dangerous bunch.
They live in fear, insecurity, envy and jealousy.
Just plain evil.
They are against anything that does not service or satisfy their narrow selfish ethnocentric parochial agenda.
They are a dangerous bunch.
They live in fear, insecurity, envy and jealousy.
Just plain evil.
Kofi Amenyo 10 years ago
I am not in any way worried about Akans. I have absolutely no reason to be. I've lived closely with them all my life and I will continue doing so. This article has nothing to do with hatred of any body or any tribe.
I just ... read full comment
I am not in any way worried about Akans. I have absolutely no reason to be. I've lived closely with them all my life and I will continue doing so. This article has nothing to do with hatred of any body or any tribe.
I just don’t want my identity as a Ghanaian to be defined by my ability (or otherwise) to speak Twi! Most Ghanaians, including Akans, respect this. That is what the article is about as you can see from the specially chosen title and the last paragraph. I have described trends in Ghana as accurately as I have seen them. You may disagree with how I see them but I have not said anything bad about Akans or any other group. I have not belittled Akans or called them horrible names. I have not insulted anybody. And I have not said anything negative about the Twi language!
This is just an identity thing. It is not the identity of being Ewe or Ga or Akan. It is my identity as a Ghanaian. Even if I am not able to utter a word of Twi, that should not mean I am not a Ghanaian. And if I speak Twi better than you, Akadu, that should not be the defining characteristic of my status as a Ghanaian.
So if you ask me why I am a Ghanaian but don't speak Twi, I won't quite enjoy that question.
Stop all these deliberate misreadings of a harmless text!
Akadu Mensema 10 years ago
"I just don’t want my identity as a Ghanaian to be defined by my ability (or otherwise) to speak Twi!"
"I just don’t want my identity as a Ghanaian to be defined by my ability (or otherwise) to speak Twi!"
Joni U.S.A. 10 years ago
Akadu, there's nothing bad about Amenyo's article. In fact, this piece, from an Ewe, gives credit to the Akans for the pervasiveness of their language. Amenyo is just trying to have a conversation about Ghanaian languages, bu ... read full comment
Akadu, there's nothing bad about Amenyo's article. In fact, this piece, from an Ewe, gives credit to the Akans for the pervasiveness of their language. Amenyo is just trying to have a conversation about Ghanaian languages, but you want to put a spin on it and make this wonderful writer look bad. Perhaps you need to examine yourself and see where all the hate is coming from. You are slowly becoming a nuisance on GWEB.
Nyansasem 10 years ago
I would love to listen to this borborbor in Twi. I have combed the Utube, could not find it. Could you please link me that song/dance?
Mede m'akoma nyinaa bedowo / Wo na woye me kwankyerefo ... Agyenkwa Yesu ee
I would love to listen to this borborbor in Twi. I have combed the Utube, could not find it. Could you please link me that song/dance?
Mede m'akoma nyinaa bedowo / Wo na woye me kwankyerefo ... Agyenkwa Yesu ee
Mr Figure-Out 10 years ago
Jealousy go killTrokosis . They hate the 'uneducated' Asante Kookoase nkurasefuo to the core but proud themselves in Akan(Asante) names like Kofi, Kwesi, Kojo, etc. It is high time trokosis disabuse their minds of the master- ... read full comment
Jealousy go killTrokosis . They hate the 'uneducated' Asante Kookoase nkurasefuo to the core but proud themselves in Akan(Asante) names like Kofi, Kwesi, Kojo, etc. It is high time trokosis disabuse their minds of the master-slave thing because they gain their independence from slavery in Kookoase farm laboring/Washmen long time ago when their messiah, the killer of Asante judges, Rawlings , together with Kofi Awonoo and Kojo Tsikata rescue them some 34-years ago. Though some Trokosi still voluntarily avail themselves for slavery in Kookoase for better lives, sleeping in shanty towns and in kiosks, doing their washman and cassava grating thing, asantes are no more claiming masters over them. We are now one people with common destiny despite their Togolese origin. Enough of the hate.
Chief 10 years ago
Your coments denotes a typical Kokoase monkey. Come to the coast and learn vivility bush man. This piece was an excellent piece devoid of tribalism. It is only a monkey tribalist as ugly as you that will put a tribal spin on ... read full comment
Your coments denotes a typical Kokoase monkey. Come to the coast and learn vivility bush man. This piece was an excellent piece devoid of tribalism. It is only a monkey tribalist as ugly as you that will put a tribal spin on it. Kokoase devil
Mr Figure-Out 10 years ago
You mean I shoul d come tto the coast and learn to shit in the open at the beaches? Kookoase even cat covwe its shit but not you so called educated buffoons at the coast
You mean I shoul d come tto the coast and learn to shit in the open at the beaches? Kookoase even cat covwe its shit but not you so called educated buffoons at the coast
KWAME, BELGIUM 10 years ago
Gradually, Twi is becoming the lingau franca in West Africa. Go to Nigeria, Togo, Ivory Coast and the rest. Come to Belgium and visit any African-Asian shops and you will see that the Twi language is making a way ti live.
Gradually, Twi is becoming the lingau franca in West Africa. Go to Nigeria, Togo, Ivory Coast and the rest. Come to Belgium and visit any African-Asian shops and you will see that the Twi language is making a way ti live.
WARD GDX - WE THE PEOPLE 10 years ago
The tribalist Ewes hate that.
And the fact that they cannot stop it drives them nuts.
The tribalist Ewes hate that.
And the fact that they cannot stop it drives them nuts.
Mama Tula 10 years ago
Yes, it is not that they are [proud of the language but because they refuse to go to school and prefer to shine shoes, sell dog chains and other petty trading from the age of ten, then they managed to make their way to Europe ... read full comment
Yes, it is not that they are [proud of the language but because they refuse to go to school and prefer to shine shoes, sell dog chains and other petty trading from the age of ten, then they managed to make their way to Europe, the only language they can affiord to speak is the twi. No doubt you give them a simple form to fill in english for hours and they will be holding the pen and looking on the form unless some one goes to rescue them
KOO 10 years ago
Mr. Amenyo, This is a nice write-up.
Mr. Amenyo, This is a nice write-up.
KOO 10 years ago
Mr. Amenyo, This is a nice write-up.
Mr. Amenyo, This is a nice write-up.
KOO MININI 10 years ago
LISTEN TO THE CASSAVA BUSH FARMER;
"As the Twi language spreads even more than it has done so far, it will be enough for many of us non-native speakers to try to speak it"
YOU ARE A FOOOOL,AMENYO! DON'T YOU KNOW THAT ... read full comment
LISTEN TO THE CASSAVA BUSH FARMER;
"As the Twi language spreads even more than it has done so far, it will be enough for many of us non-native speakers to try to speak it"
YOU ARE A FOOOOL,AMENYO! DON'T YOU KNOW THAT THE NAME KOFI WAS ADOPTED BY YOUR TRIBE FROM INTERACTING WITH AKANS?
YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT!!! DON'T YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE A LIVING TRADE-MARK OF THE AKAN/TWI INFLUENCE AND POWER !!!
Leeeee 10 years ago
they want to steal our names but they don't want to speak our language.
they want to steal our names but they don't want to speak our language.
Pontius Pilate 10 years ago
the Chinese, Japanese just name them are busily learning to speak other languages and so are the Americans, British and the rest. even these foreigners are busily trying to understand and use native African dialects. why? sim ... read full comment
the Chinese, Japanese just name them are busily learning to speak other languages and so are the Americans, British and the rest. even these foreigners are busily trying to understand and use native African dialects. why? simply because as visionary as they are, they have realized early enough that language breaks barriers and promote cohesion which they cannot do without.
on the contrary we are digging deep to do exactly the opposite. I think we should positively promote the speaking of all languages in Ghana importantly so when inter-ethnic marriages are on the ascendancy. I will be extremely proud if I can speak many languages. infact today many people make a fortune just because they speak many languages.
let's think about the positive aspect. the article was generally fine with me but for the distorted political twist and the unfortunate ending
Joni U.S.A. 10 years ago
Did you even understand the piece you just read? Your shallow understanding of things on GHanaweb makes me wanna puke! Did you complete JSS? Whew!
Did you even understand the piece you just read? Your shallow understanding of things on GHanaweb makes me wanna puke! Did you complete JSS? Whew!
WARD GDX - WE THE PEOPLE 10 years ago
Gee.
Everything they don't like is linked to NPP/Kuffour this and that.
They won't blame anything on the prior 20yrs they were in charge and ruled Ghana under p/ndc.
Why are these people such a complaining stock? ... read full comment
Gee.
Everything they don't like is linked to NPP/Kuffour this and that.
They won't blame anything on the prior 20yrs they were in charge and ruled Ghana under p/ndc.
Why are these people such a complaining stock? Anything not going their way needs to be undermined or brought down.
They are always acting like children throwing infantile tantrums and hauling baseless complaints when things don't go their way.
They are almost the only tribe with some sick ones getting offended when twi is spoken to them.
The predominance of twi is a fact of nature given the demographics of Ghana and the earlier these sickos get used to that reality, the better for their sanity.
Joni U.S.A. 10 years ago
Amenyo's piece is actually meant to promote a dialogue about languages in Ghana, not an attack on anyone. Anyone who has followed Amenyo's writing on GWEB knows that he is an honest, fair-minded, educated fella who abhors tri ... read full comment
Amenyo's piece is actually meant to promote a dialogue about languages in Ghana, not an attack on anyone. Anyone who has followed Amenyo's writing on GWEB knows that he is an honest, fair-minded, educated fella who abhors tribalism and promotes unity. Why anyone sees tribalism in this articles shocks me to the core: perhaps Rawlings' educational system has not helped many of you very much.
Ami 10 years ago
Sometimes it is good to pretend one does not understand Twi because they like to insult us in their language. I understand it but I will not speak it.
Sometimes it is good to pretend one does not understand Twi because they like to insult us in their language. I understand it but I will not speak it.
Nii - Accra 10 years ago
They all come to " see"Accra and then they stay. Once the Kumasi Mall, which is bigger, is completed, I think the presence of the Asante in Accra will decline small. From the village they will go straight to Kumasi and stay ... read full comment
They all come to " see"Accra and then they stay. Once the Kumasi Mall, which is bigger, is completed, I think the presence of the Asante in Accra will decline small. From the village they will go straight to Kumasi and stay there. Those from the North will also stop in Kumasi and in 20 years time most of the people in Oseikrom will speak Dagbani. Already, there are areas where Hausa is the lingua franca.
WARD GDX - WE THE PEOPLE 10 years ago
Acca would have been all slums and ghettos if the superior Culture of wealth creation and management of the Akans groups has taken hold of that place.
That place is still dirty.
Go to Kumasi and breath some fresh air ... read full comment
Acca would have been all slums and ghettos if the superior Culture of wealth creation and management of the Akans groups has taken hold of that place.
That place is still dirty.
Go to Kumasi and breath some fresh air and observe some neatness and order.
Earl Jones 10 years ago
Even Twi is dying. It will be taken over by English language. The world is becoming a global village and any language which is not spoken internationally and not wildly written or read will die. Even Latin is dead. Twi will d ... read full comment
Even Twi is dying. It will be taken over by English language. The world is becoming a global village and any language which is not spoken internationally and not wildly written or read will die. Even Latin is dead. Twi will die. If a language spreads naturally, there is nothing anybody can do to stop it. That is exactly what is happening with English language.
Houdini 10 years ago
"Not spoken Internationally and not wildly written or read".
The word is WIDELY not WILDLY.
I know as a trokosi moron that you are, that is what you wish but Twi will continue to have a mass appeal even in other countri ... read full comment
"Not spoken Internationally and not wildly written or read".
The word is WIDELY not WILDLY.
I know as a trokosi moron that you are, that is what you wish but Twi will continue to have a mass appeal even in other countries.
Nana Yaw, U.S. Navy 10 years ago
Who told you Twi is dying, Twi is the only Ghanaian language offered as foreign language in U.S. Navy Foreign languages. I just took one recently and i was amazed how much rasty i was but very refreshing to know that Twi is c ... read full comment
Who told you Twi is dying, Twi is the only Ghanaian language offered as foreign language in U.S. Navy Foreign languages. I just took one recently and i was amazed how much rasty i was but very refreshing to know that Twi is considered standard in an all important instutiton like the U.S. Navy. Best and most powerful force in the World.
Koo the boy 10 years ago
The Great Ashanti
The Great Ashanti
Yaw Buor 10 years ago
Good article. But it will be a sad day if in decades to come, some languages in Ghana disappear.
Good article. But it will be a sad day if in decades to come, some languages in Ghana disappear.
Odurose 10 years ago
Mr Amenyo, I commend you for your excellent write up. I did not detect a sinle error in your piece nor indeed a single inflection of tone to denote anger or exasperation. You are well educated and it shows in your writing. Br ... read full comment
Mr Amenyo, I commend you for your excellent write up. I did not detect a sinle error in your piece nor indeed a single inflection of tone to denote anger or exasperation. You are well educated and it shows in your writing. Bravo!
The only cavil I would enter here is your assertion that the growth of Twi speaking became more pronounced during the Kufour presidency of 2001-2008. It has been increasingly pronounced since the 1970s and all through the 80s and 90s. and certainly with the explosion in the growth of our population.
As for the spread of Twi in the sub-region I was very surprised when having lunch at an eatery in Ouagadougou in 1986 I found that all the women providing the meals spoke Twi. Upon enquiry only one of them was a native Twi speaker. Talk of a lingua franca or a commercial language.
Again thanks for a very well written article!
Kofi Amenyo 10 years ago
Thanks, Odurose
You seem to be one of the few who read the text the way I intended it to be read. I owe you a response.
Truth be told, I had no anger or exasperation in my heart when I wrote the piece. I am surprised th ... read full comment
Thanks, Odurose
You seem to be one of the few who read the text the way I intended it to be read. I owe you a response.
Truth be told, I had no anger or exasperation in my heart when I wrote the piece. I am surprised that everybody is taking it so differently. As I explained elsewhere, all I am saying is that I don’t think the ability to speak Twi should be my ticket of Ghanaian citizenship, my own proficiency in the language notwithstanding. There are still many in Ghana who don’t speak Twi and will be surprised if they are asked why they don’t but still call themselves Ghanaians!
On your second point, it is true that the spread of the language started long before Kufuor came to the scene. The argument is that the speed increased during his time. Actually, this is not my own argument (indicated in the piece) since I did not live in Ghana during Kufuor’s term and I also agree that a lot of political twist has been put on that particular argument.
As I argued elsewhere in the piece, the germ for the spread of the language was sown long before our independence (because of numbers) and I even expressed surprise that it is only now that the language is conquering Ghana. It could have happened even earlier.
You mentioned that the increase has been pronounced since the 70s. I agree. But note that most of the visitors to ghanaweb belong to the younger generation of Ghanaians who were born after 1970 and may not have remembered a time when Twi was not so dominant in Ghana as to make someone surprised at meeting a Ghanaian who didn’t speak it. That is why I mentioned at the beginning of my piece that Twi-speakers of the older generation never ask such a question. There is a generational thing here too. Those of us born before independence still know that it is not “a matter of course” that a person born Ghanaian necessarily speaks Twi to such an extent that he can be identified by it.
Yes, it is true that the language has spread to the neighbouring countries too. I only mentioned Lomé as one example.
Thanks again for your contribution.
Natural Mystic 10 years ago
I enjoyed the article and was rather amused that some folks have deemed it necessary to abuse or assign ludicrous reasons for the write up. Undergrads or postgrads in disciplines such as sociology, Ghanaian languages or even ... read full comment
I enjoyed the article and was rather amused that some folks have deemed it necessary to abuse or assign ludicrous reasons for the write up. Undergrads or postgrads in disciplines such as sociology, Ghanaian languages or even marketing could further explore the topic for their thesis etc. During "my time", Ga was the language of choice in secondary schools in Akan and non-Akan areas.
Kez 10 years ago
Kofi Ameyo,I get your point and might also add that there is also now a phenomenon of people embracing Twi spoken by the rural folk if they live in Accra or Tema. In fact it is a badge of honour to speak ‘big Twi’. Now, I ... read full comment
Kofi Ameyo,I get your point and might also add that there is also now a phenomenon of people embracing Twi spoken by the rural folk if they live in Accra or Tema. In fact it is a badge of honour to speak ‘big Twi’. Now, I say that because I was born and grew up in Tema, until my late teens, back then although the widely spoken language was Twi(some will say it should have been Ga) it was a cosmopolitan version ie that we those born in Tema to parents coming from all the various tribes had our version, don’t know how but we did. We then made fun of the Twi spoken by those who joined us from the rural areas although we saw nothing wrong with the way our own parents spoke if they were Twi. I live outside of Ghana now and sometimes listen to discussions on Asempa or say Peace Fm and do get lost with some of the Twi spoken but whereas I would have been proud not to understand ‘big Twi’ back then, I now learn and appreciate it. Now, I proudly use sika opipipipii anase sika dosopoo.
John 10 years ago
These are my thoughts too, Odurose. Well written article minus the reference to NPP/KUFOUR.
These are my thoughts too, Odurose. Well written article minus the reference to NPP/KUFOUR.
Ni-Akompi Ofadi Nsuro 10 years ago
Ablekumo Aba Kua Wo.
What a hell is going on in Ga-Mashie?
I Nii Akompi Ofadi Nsuro must speak Twi in Ga-Mashie Land? CHIA PO Nye Ba yia. Kua Gyii. The day is Coming
Ablekumo Aba Kua Wo.
What a hell is going on in Ga-Mashie?
I Nii Akompi Ofadi Nsuro must speak Twi in Ga-Mashie Land? CHIA PO Nye Ba yia. Kua Gyii. The day is Coming
Asafo Agladza 10 years ago
Kwasia sem - We will do everything to to resist Twi being used as a National Language in Ghana. This is normally the question "Are you a Ghanaian and you dont speak Twi?" as if it is compulsory for every Ghanaian to speak twi ... read full comment
Kwasia sem - We will do everything to to resist Twi being used as a National Language in Ghana. This is normally the question "Are you a Ghanaian and you dont speak Twi?" as if it is compulsory for every Ghanaian to speak twi and to throw my language to the dogs ?? It will never happen in Ghana.
Joni U.S.A. 10 years ago
Nobody is trying to make Twi the national language. Amenyo just wants Twi natives to stop showing surprise when they meet non-Twi speakers from Ghana. After all, there still are Ghanaians who do not speak Twi at all, perhaps ... read full comment
Nobody is trying to make Twi the national language. Amenyo just wants Twi natives to stop showing surprise when they meet non-Twi speakers from Ghana. After all, there still are Ghanaians who do not speak Twi at all, perhaps because they grew up in an area where there were no Twi speakers, or they just lacked what it took to learn a new language (biological deficiency).
AMEGAYI 10 years ago
Twi becomes operational and Ewe strategic cos of those concepts.
Twi becomes operational and Ewe strategic cos of those concepts.
phil 10 years ago
its crazy.is it by force to know how to speak twi???is twi a national language or an ethnic language???nonsense!!!anyone who asks dat question shd be ignored.de ryt question is;oye asantenii na onte twi???not oye ghananii.gha ... read full comment
its crazy.is it by force to know how to speak twi???is twi a national language or an ethnic language???nonsense!!!anyone who asks dat question shd be ignored.de ryt question is;oye asantenii na onte twi???not oye ghananii.ghananii n so what???we r ppl of different tribes.y shd I leave my language n come n learn or speak urs???Ghana na ur own???nonsense!!!
F. Boadu 10 years ago
speaking english at british embassy does not make you super powerful
speaking english at british embassy does not make you super powerful
Gbagbladza-Pinksheets 10 years ago
This is wonderful piece nd the bare truth about the spread of the Twi Language in Accra/Ghana. Indeed, Kpakpo Allotey sounded desperate in his article on the dying Ga language. Even if he establsihes 10 radio stations in Accr ... read full comment
This is wonderful piece nd the bare truth about the spread of the Twi Language in Accra/Ghana. Indeed, Kpakpo Allotey sounded desperate in his article on the dying Ga language. Even if he establsihes 10 radio stations in Accra alone he can never stop the onslaught of the Twi language in Accra. It simply has come to stay. But I agree that nobody should force anybody to speak Twi neither should anybody anywhere assume that all Ghanaians are automatically Twi-speakers. Surely. next time I shall be there when Twi is being spoken in Accra or even Lome.
F. Boadu 10 years ago
Kufuor speaking of twi did not prevent him from studing at one of best university in the world Oxford university. Is time our politicians comes out and say benefits of having one common language
Kufuor speaking of twi did not prevent him from studing at one of best university in the world Oxford university. Is time our politicians comes out and say benefits of having one common language
NII Adjetey Adjei 10 years ago
This TWI thing is bullshit. What is TWI? Does it include Fante, NZEMA, Akyem etc. this whole thing of spilling TWI everywhere even when English is called for smacks of superiority complex. I heard a radio station insisting th ... read full comment
This TWI thing is bullshit. What is TWI? Does it include Fante, NZEMA, Akyem etc. this whole thing of spilling TWI everywhere even when English is called for smacks of superiority complex. I heard a radio station insisting that a Ga chief speak TWI in an interview. What nonsense? This whole thing boils down to tribalism and bigotry. Nobody can force me to speak TWI instead of my beautiful Ga.
AGYA 10 years ago
NONSES, THE DUTCH PEOPLE SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH BUT THEY WILL NEVER SPEAK IT AND LEAVE THEIR OWN LANGUAGE ASIDE..
DO YOU THINK YOU ARE IN USA SO GHANAIANS SHOULD STOP THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE AND TAKE ENGLISH... YOU ARE LOST MR.EW ... read full comment
NONSES, THE DUTCH PEOPLE SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH BUT THEY WILL NEVER SPEAK IT AND LEAVE THEIR OWN LANGUAGE ASIDE..
DO YOU THINK YOU ARE IN USA SO GHANAIANS SHOULD STOP THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE AND TAKE ENGLISH... YOU ARE LOST MR.EWE MAN. TELL YUOR EWE PEOPLE TOSPEAK EWE WHEN THEY GO TO TOGO.
Dziko Kwame 10 years ago
Fo Kofi
Someone has asked this already:
"I wan to know where and which town that Borborbor group plays their rhythm with Twi songs.
You said this: Today, Ewes are singing borborbor in Twi (Mede m'akoma nyinaa bedowo ... read full comment
Fo Kofi
Someone has asked this already:
"I wan to know where and which town that Borborbor group plays their rhythm with Twi songs.
You said this: Today, Ewes are singing borborbor in Twi (Mede m'akoma nyinaa bedowo / Wo na woye me kwankyerefo ... Agyenkwa Yesu ee ...). It now remains for the Anlos to sing agbadza in Twi. That will be the day!
I am too eager to know this.
Cheers and long live Ghana.
Pastor Oppong Tabiri 10 years ago
Excellent piece of admonition to all of us.You simply do not demean someone because they do not speak your native tongue. Let's learn to respect our diversities and thereby exploit it to our own advantage. Again I appreciate ... read full comment
Excellent piece of admonition to all of us.You simply do not demean someone because they do not speak your native tongue. Let's learn to respect our diversities and thereby exploit it to our own advantage. Again I appreciate your humor and approach. Hope to read another great piece from your desk. Godbless.
Joni U.S.A. 10 years ago
You're one of the few readers who understood what this article is about: a conversation about Ghanaian languages, and the need to respect those who don't speak Twi.
You're one of the few readers who understood what this article is about: a conversation about Ghanaian languages, and the need to respect those who don't speak Twi.
Kofi Amenyo 10 years ago
It seems some people get what all this is about. Non-native Twi speaking Ghanaians have no problem in grasping it. Most of those who don't get it are our Akan brothers and sisters.
All what I am saying is that even if I sp ... read full comment
It seems some people get what all this is about. Non-native Twi speaking Ghanaians have no problem in grasping it. Most of those who don't get it are our Akan brothers and sisters.
All what I am saying is that even if I speak Twi, do not assume that because I am a Ghanaian I must be able to understand Twi. It is not all Ghanaians who speak Twi even if Twi is spreading like wildfire in Ghana. If I tell you I don’t speak Twi, do not look at me as if I am less of a Ghanaian than you are. And for goodness sake, do not ask me why I am a Ghanaian but cannot speak Twi! I FEEL INSULTED!!!
Mike Olongo, USA 10 years ago
You did great, Kofi. There's nothing preventing any Ghanaian from learning a second or third Ghanaian language. I speak four Ghanaian languages fluently (Twi included). So if I happen to meet a Ghanaian who cannot speak Twi ... read full comment
You did great, Kofi. There's nothing preventing any Ghanaian from learning a second or third Ghanaian language. I speak four Ghanaian languages fluently (Twi included). So if I happen to meet a Ghanaian who cannot speak Twi I present other options rather than scornfully ask why as a Ghanaian the one cannot speak Twi. That question is rather demeaning to those whose mother tongue is anything other than Twi.
naa 10 years ago
Kofi, Ashantis largely control trade and commerce in ghana not because of their population, I personally think is because of their mentality. If you take jews in the states for instance they are not many than other races bu ... read full comment
Kofi, Ashantis largely control trade and commerce in ghana not because of their population, I personally think is because of their mentality. If you take jews in the states for instance they are not many than other races but yet they control every aspect of usa economy
So I personally think it is a natural phenomenon than them posing the language on us. They have this entrepreneurial spirit I wish we all have as Ghanaians.
Ablade 10 years ago
So you accept that all languages should die off in favour of twi eh?. I feel a lot of pain when I remember that a non - twi speaker like me have my son being forced to study twi in a Ga area like Tema.
So you accept that all languages should die off in favour of twi eh?. I feel a lot of pain when I remember that a non - twi speaker like me have my son being forced to study twi in a Ga area like Tema.
Ablade 10 years ago
kuffuor only succeeded in promoting that language. Egbole mli ni ebaa yoo!
kuffuor only succeeded in promoting that language. Egbole mli ni ebaa yoo!
odum 10 years ago
Woye wopotoni manfrani aboa bi
Woye wopotoni manfrani aboa bi
TROUBLE-MAKER 10 years ago
Well done,Kofi Amenyo. There`s nothing wrong learning other people`s language.But to say if you are a Ghanaian,why can`t you speak Twi is completely foolish.You don`t force me to speak your language when you can`t say a singl ... read full comment
Well done,Kofi Amenyo. There`s nothing wrong learning other people`s language.But to say if you are a Ghanaian,why can`t you speak Twi is completely foolish.You don`t force me to speak your language when you can`t say a single word of my language.
Every language is difficult to learn but Twi speaking people are lazy to learn other people`s language.The usual excuse is that your language is too difficult.
I can speak Twi but simply refused to ,and it has helped me in many ways.There was this woman who nearly conned me of a plot of land.I was only saved because I heard her telling her sons everything in Twi.
They had no idea why I changed my mind.
Nana- London 10 years ago
Well done, is about time Ghanains speak one language to build one strong unity and advanncement to progress in so many avenues.
Example, computers, syllabus etc.
God bless us and God bless Ghana
Well done, is about time Ghanains speak one language to build one strong unity and advanncement to progress in so many avenues.
Example, computers, syllabus etc.
God bless us and God bless Ghana
asuo 10 years ago
you are equating twi with akan. there is a difference there.
you are equating twi with akan. there is a difference there.
Dan K. 10 years ago
Very good article. Twi has been and will remain the most widely spoken local language in Ghana. Nothing wrong with that. It's good if a non-native Twi speaker learns to speak it. But no one should be forced to speak it. More ... read full comment
Very good article. Twi has been and will remain the most widely spoken local language in Ghana. Nothing wrong with that. It's good if a non-native Twi speaker learns to speak it. But no one should be forced to speak it. More importantly, no Ghanaian's citizenship should ever be questioned simply because he/she cannot speak Twi; that's disrespectful and doesn't promote unity.
Kofi Amenyo 10 years ago
I cannot find a better summary of the article than this. That is just the crux of the whole argument. I wrote the piece and your contribution summarizes my point accurately. Thanks.
I cannot find a better summary of the article than this. That is just the crux of the whole argument. I wrote the piece and your contribution summarizes my point accurately. Thanks.
KYEI KORMI 10 years ago
well, l speak ewe everywhere l find myself in Accra. to me, they are inferior. they exhibit their inferiority in many ways. you know, am really proud of my God given Ewe language. l consider myself very fortunate and superior ... read full comment
well, l speak ewe everywhere l find myself in Accra. to me, they are inferior. they exhibit their inferiority in many ways. you know, am really proud of my God given Ewe language. l consider myself very fortunate and superior to have ewe as my mother tongue, indeed a select group. All Ewes who choose Twi over Ewe are indeed suffering and are really stupid, excuse my word. fellow ewes l invite to become proud of your language and speak it everywhere.
Joseph Ganyobi 10 years ago
Ashantis are stupid ...they can pronoused words in English yet still they want people to speak their language.......there will be a time when most of them will return to their villages and ACCRA Will be free from monkeeeey
Ashantis are stupid ...they can pronoused words in English yet still they want people to speak their language.......there will be a time when most of them will return to their villages and ACCRA Will be free from monkeeeey
I am a Ga and I will never ever speak Twi. I have my own language THE GA LANGUAGE.I will speak it and English all the time. NO TWI FOR ME.
I am a Ga and I will never ever speak Twi. I have my own language THE GA LANGUAGE.I will speak it and English all the time. NO TWI FOR ME.
Ada Boy 10 years ago
I agree with you,and why should you?
I agree with you,and why should you?
Joseph Ganyobi 10 years ago
Former Presidet Kuffuor an ASHANTI couldnt pronoused words correctly when he wass at the UN......stupid another kumasi monkey
Former Presidet Kuffuor an ASHANTI couldnt pronoused words correctly when he wass at the UN......stupid another kumasi monkey
Joseph Ganyobi 10 years ago
Norwaygean kumasi idiots Ashanti smell like monkeeeey and they eat them
Norwaygean kumasi idiots Ashanti smell like monkeeeey and they eat them
Mensah 10 years ago
go back to school, and get proper deucation
go back to school, and get proper deucation
joseph ganyobi 10 years ago
Go back to school and get good education ........not proper ducation...Ashanti monkey check your spelling ...monkey boy from Kumasi like Kuffour..
Go back to school and get good education ........not proper ducation...Ashanti monkey check your spelling ...monkey boy from Kumasi like Kuffour..
National Alliance Liberals! 10 years ago
This article is not calling for a fight among the minority and the majority. The article, to me,is to start public discussion of what is obvious. Yet, we still do find idiots trying to use this beautifully written piece to co ... read full comment
This article is not calling for a fight among the minority and the majority. The article, to me,is to start public discussion of what is obvious. Yet, we still do find idiots trying to use this beautifully written piece to cover their ugly ideological tendencies, with the underlying affections of their pure jealousy, towards the Akans. If you can get along speaking your own dialect in your every day dealings, nobody is asking or forcing you to speak Twi. Speak, speak and speak till someone can understand you. Do not blame anyone if nobody 'hears' you.
Kwajo Nyarko-Mensah 10 years ago
Twi is the original and oldest language on Earth. The names of the first created man and woman, Adam and Eve are Twi. Adam means the sleeper - the DA in Adam's name means SLEEP in Twi and Eve is the same as Efe / Afi or Afu ... read full comment
Twi is the original and oldest language on Earth. The names of the first created man and woman, Adam and Eve are Twi. Adam means the sleeper - the DA in Adam's name means SLEEP in Twi and Eve is the same as Efe / Afi or Afua. The AMEN you say after prayers is Twi also. AMEN means SATISFIED in Twi and it the word God may have spoken when He was satisfied with Creation. That is why Akans call God Onyame(n)- the satisfied One or the only Object of satisfaction.
Read about this and more in my upcoming book: THE SOUL DAY NAMES OF AFRICA AND CREATION.
Akua 10 years ago
its really sad that in this day and age, intellectuals will argue and insult each other on a trivial issue such as tribalism. I'm an Ashanti married to an Ewe and where we come has never been an issue in our marriage. we have ... read full comment
its really sad that in this day and age, intellectuals will argue and insult each other on a trivial issue such as tribalism. I'm an Ashanti married to an Ewe and where we come has never been an issue in our marriage. we have so many economic issues such as infrastructure and unemployment affecting us as a nation and yet we waste time discussing tribes. Ghanaians really need to wake up!
Okponglo Guy 10 years ago
Your Akan brother who admires your writing style and objectivity and who also respects the fact that politically, you may belong to different camps. Keep up the simple and eloquent pieces.
Your Akan brother who admires your writing style and objectivity and who also respects the fact that politically, you may belong to different camps. Keep up the simple and eloquent pieces.
Kofi Amenyo 10 years ago
To Okponglo Guy if you see it...
Thanks for your very kind words, Okponglo Guy. It's a long time I saw you here on these pages. You are not a daily visitor.
As a matter of fact, I don't think you and I belong to differe ... read full comment
To Okponglo Guy if you see it...
Thanks for your very kind words, Okponglo Guy. It's a long time I saw you here on these pages. You are not a daily visitor.
As a matter of fact, I don't think you and I belong to different political camps. I know you go for NPP but for me I really don't support any party. Naturally, it is difficult not to have some small sympathy for some party or candidate. But for me, that sympathy changes from election to election. At any rate, I don't even have a vote. What I wish best is for a strong party that really embraces us all and does good to us all. But, right now, it is clear that our top politicians of all parties are far more interested in the personal gains they make from entering politics than doing the right things. I may write something on this some time.
It is unfortunate that many people have taken my present piece as an attack on Akans and Twi. But that has never been my purpose. After all, I have a habit of using a lot of Ewe and Twi words and sentences in my articles to ghanaweb. Remember my article entitled: "Okwantuni mmobro – the traveller in Ghanaian popular music"? It used a lot of Twi. I have never been afraid of using Twi in my articles.
Thanks again.
NO NONSENSE 10 years ago
MEYE GHANANI ENSO (MENNTE) TWI
MEYE GHANANI ENSO (MENNTE) TWI
Kofi Amenyo 10 years ago
Thanks a lot for the correction, NO NONSENSE. It came late but it is very much appreciated. I saw it myself only when you pointed it out.
What surprises me is all the native Twi speakers who commented on the article and sa ... read full comment
Thanks a lot for the correction, NO NONSENSE. It came late but it is very much appreciated. I saw it myself only when you pointed it out.
What surprises me is all the native Twi speakers who commented on the article and saw the mistake but not one of them pointed it out. Perhaps they didn't know it was a mistake but it is such a mistake which shouldn't escape any native Twi speaker.
They can hardly speak English, bush people. And they think Ghana is for them.
What we are seeing is the result of former President Kuffuor's nepotism: giving government positions to his family members and distant relatives to move to Accra, disserting their villages. Now Twi has become a manace, as its ...
read full comment
These bush people are so backward that they don't know Twi won't get them any education.
Let them go to the British embassy and insist on speaking twi.
Ataa naanwomo eeiii.
Charlie minisane koraaa?
We the right correct proper Ga people, we dey like we no dey, aloo?
Na gbeshie do them make them bring themselves like that ooooo, yooooo.
So Cameroon and Tunisia drew ...
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It is better to stop English than broken twi because it gives different interpretations example woho tesen? bokoo. Mihuu wo tw3 wopim no y3 kokoo!
Meaning: I saw your vagina.. and your cretolis is red.But he means: its long ...
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If all Ghanaians could speak one language, would that not be a blessing? Consider the advantages in all Ghanaians speaking one language. Tribalism would be reduced, no one can differentiate between us and nepotism would be re ...
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Racial identity is also important. In the western democracies, new migrants are funded to keep their culture and language. Kenya speak one national language (swahili) and Somalia speak one language only but that did not stop ...
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One language will help with trade but may not necessarily result in unity and lessen triblism. Even b4 all the tribes were forced into one country what was story among the Akans who supposedly speaks the same language?
Th ...
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Kenyans may have one national language but there are much smaller ethnic groups, the perceived suppression of which contributed to the election-related violence in 2007. Moreover, Swahili was a regional language project. In c ...
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PK I take your point but you need to understand that fundamentalism in islam has its head embedded in old and useless native culture which has nothing to do with religion itself.Female circumcision practiced overwhelmingly i ...
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HI PK,
I think you got it wrong on Kenya.the largest ethinic group in Kenya is Kikiyu and they have their own language.Swahili is more often pidgin spoken by Nigerias. in the sense most of the Swahili words are coined from t ...
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In 2000 when the narcotic peddlars party won the election, their first victory song was "NKRANFUO YE DA MU ASEOOOO, Y3 DZI Y3 MAN". This focus is not only narrow, it is PRIMITIVE, so I will not rush to learn the Twi language
They never learn to speak other languages and even English. In UK they still speak twi in work places where Englisg language ought to have been sopken.
They find themselves in such predicament that they hardly could write ...
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Those of you who claim mastery over the English language did not get the import of Amenyo's article so, you launched your impish selves on the usual trajectory of Akan bashing. How many English people speak French, German,or ...
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The English man speaks French when he is France and when he finds himself in Ghana speaks Ghanaina language depending which region he finds himself however the same cannot be said of those who speak Twi.
Learn to speak oth ...
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Illiterate fool, read your first sentence on this comment. Do you even read or write proper English? Is that how you write "broaden? BRAODEN
How many white people have you seen in Ghana especially English people who have l ...
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MR. "CHAILD RAPIST".... AKA "ESTERMINATOR"...AKA "ENSNARLED"....AKA "POLITICAL DISCOMPENSATION"...HAHAHAHAHHAHAHHEHEH
HEHEHESTSTTSTSTSTSTKRRRYTY=JAHAHAHAH
HEI!!!....MR. ABUDUCTION....AKA "AN ONCE OF BRAIN".....HAHAHAHAHAH ...
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The ability to understand and speak other languages other than one's mother tongue is an asset! This is not an issue that should divide and bring the worst out of us. As/when we make an effort to master the English language, ...
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This dumb villager from trokosi region has no idea what he is talking about. Even in USA, there are many factories where Spanish is used as the language. In some of the Electronic and phone manufacturing companies like Flextr ...
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You are funny and smart, Teacher. Kola is like a trapped animal.
In work places? Write At work places.
" In work places where English language ought to have been spoken"
What kind of English is that? WRITE
At work places where. English ought to be spoke.
Listen to this dum ...
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Illiterate Sarpong now calls himself a Teacher........hahahahahahahaha!!
No wonder India was engulfed in a strongest Tornado ever, a sign of the end time. Jesus, stay there and never come down because we are not ready yet ...
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It seems he is teaching you to write proper English as he is pointing out your mistakes and correcting them, London boy.
I agree with your comments,Lola London Main
It is time those Two speaking people of GHANA. Kept their big mouths shut for ever.
The fact that they have all left their Homelands to Accra does not give them the right to order ...
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You can speak Russia or French or Arab in Ghana and nobody cares so long as it makes you convenient. Mind you nobody is forcing the Twi language upon Ghanaians, the language is spreading naturally even to Togo Burkina Faso an ...
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I really didn't want to comment on this subject not only cos of lack of time but I had done so sufficiently in the past. But seeing the simplistic assumptions being paraded, and the dearth of critical insight being expressed, ...
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those of you who are insulting Akans of speaking their language i will say you should think again. you don't need to speak english to be educated, chinese, germans, france, netherlands, etc spoke their own language and they h ...
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well said efo Dziwornu,i think todia Amenyo and shadow minded tribalistic commentators on this issue should all listin to your wise advice,one should travelled to EAST AFRICA and see the benefit of speaking a single language, ...
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English speaking Gas and Trokosi men, in this modern times, defecates, alongside their women in the wide open at the beaches. Better be a shoe shine or dog chain seller than an ignorant educated buffoons who brag with the adu ...
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There are RATS in Ho because WE DONT EAT THEM. There are No RATS and RAT SHIT in Kumasi because YOU EAT THEM!!!
The whole volta region has been taken over by rats not because you don't eat them because you do. The problem is that cats that check the population of mice have been exterminated by trokosis who eat cats.
Which explains the animal shit odour peculiar to your stock!!
.......better lives in Kumasi, the Kookoase capital. There was this Efo Kuravi and wife,Daavi Ajovi, who lived in storeroom and worked as washman and yorko-gari seller respectively in Asawasi, a suburb in Kookoase. And the fu ...
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I was born and raised at Asawasi and I know this family you are talking about.
I can't stop laughing
Fantastic article. well balanced. speaking English must not to be the yardstick of civility. not all English people are civil although they speak perfect English. in the UK African (accent) flavoured English from even a PhD b ...
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You are a blatant liar. Where have you seen Gas and Trokosi men defecating alongside their womenfolk? Maybe in your dirty and wild dreams.
Have you ever seen one million cats in your life? And how do you know Ho has mill ...
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Don't blame these people insulting Ewes when it comes to this article but this Kofi Ameyo guy who wrote this article perhaps to get favor from these idiots insulting Ewes.
What is the reason for writing this article, to pr ...
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Corney, learn to chill. Those of you who are castigating Amenyo are the tribalists among us. This article should not cause anyone to insult Amenyo or any Ewe. Amenyo has written worse article than this. In this article, he is ...
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It has been such a long time since I read in full some of these articles posted on the ghanaweb. This one is good. Amenyo wrote it for enlightenment. I am not an Akan, but I can say with certainty that other tribes in Ghana a ...
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Amenyo and the likes can play Agbadza in Twi as he is advocating but those of us who are proud of who we are will not be part of that senseless thing.
Only fools will say they have to be fluent in the language of their bos ...
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ZoRRo go to British embassy and explain to them your view of speaking of English language and you will know how fool you're because british people knows that speaking their language does not make you wise
Its unfortunate you are biased and disrespectful to the Ashantis like that. what we have seen is the constant hatred for this ethnic group. The jews went through the same predicament. In Luanda the tutsis went through similar ...
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II AGREE WITH YOUR COMMENTS Dirty Bastard 100 Percent.
THIS FOOLISH , ETHNOCENTRIC and DANGEROUS Article by this IIGNORANT, CLUELESS man. (AMENYO) is ONLY FIT For the DUSTBIN.
We don't want any TRIBALWAR in GHANA
Like we h ...
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Don't make mistakes, the Twi language is not Asante language. Twi language is spoken by the Akans, notably, the Ashantis, the Fantes, the Brones, the Akwapims, the Akins, some Ewes and some Guans. It is therefore wrong to s ...
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ENGLISH IS NOT OUR LANGUAGE, IDIOT. Go to the white man's country and try to speak your language to him and see what happens. Putting English before your language is the reason why it is being phased out, idiot.
That is why Ashantis in Accra are selling dog chains, they can't speak English, and can't get any serious education in Twi.
ASANTES AND OTHER TWI SPEAKING AKANS DOMINATE ALL ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN ACCRA PERIOD!THE ASANTES SELLING DOG CHAINS ARE MAKING AN HONEST LIVING AND DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT?THESE ASANTES MUST BE ENCOURAGED THAN TO JOI ...
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Time out Joe: you're speaking to a person with colonized mindset who thinks that speaking English language rather than a native one makes one "civilized". How far can you go on with such a damaged soul?
This Atiso you wrote here is not your name but please, don't insult people. Insults will not help you send your wise message across.
THERE ARE PROGRESSIVE MINDED EWES AND THERE ARE EWES WHO ARE NATURALLY BORN TO HATE ASANTES/AKANS. IF YOU WERE EXPECTING THIS JOE ATISO TO TOW THE LINE OF INWARD-LOOKING AND ANTI-ASANTE/AKAN EWES, YOU'RE GOING TO WAIT TILL TH ...
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It is sad that well-educated Ewes, albeit masons, etc. hav always rented homes, even uncompleted houses from Asante dog-chain-sellers.
English speaking Gas and Trokosi men, in this modern times, defecates, alongside their women in the wide open at the beaches. Better be a shoe shine or dog chain seller than an ignorant educated buffoons who brag with the a ...
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The so called educated Ewes still slave for Akans as Watchmen and cocoa farm laborers.
While your men folk are busy carrying Ewe shit at the Grande Marche in Lome and Dantokpasime in Cotonou, and your women are still practising prostitution in Lome. Just check it out.
If you are carrying shit in Lagos or selling gari and beans at Agege, do your own thing but don't drag any Akan to the menial jobs you trokosis do. No Akan will migrate to a poor place like Cotonou much less engage in shit ca ...
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You are a fool. It is only the tortoise who never rents a house.
Thanks for proving my point: tortoise have permanent homes, while Ewes live in Akan-built rented homes!
I said it before that your folks are sleeping rough in lotto kiosks everywhere in Accra.
How many houses have you idiot built in your miserable life?
You are the only one who would use such a stupid word here!
Is lack of proper upbringing and an uncouth behaviour for some to think they are more of Ghanaians than the others!! Bloody Fools of bush akan extraction
This a good article that needs appropriate discussion, not the insult from u. I dont think the writer will be proud of this.
Thank You
He wants to show that Ashantis are not semi-literates who can't speak English and other languages. But that is what they are.
Ayigbefuo are failures in our country that is why they hate, they go into politics to create, loot and share to enrich themselves.we work hard to become rich not by stealing thank God our northeners have seen the difference ...
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Kofi Amenyo??? "Wheiar"(Ewe english) did you get the name KOFI from Ayegbe boy? You should be very very grateful to the AKANS and therefore the TWI language!
I wonder why we have similar names. Mine is not Ashanti in origin, it is Ami.
No-I got my name fLom Liver Volta (Ashanti English of- fRom River Volta-)
This is an excellent piece.the writer did not seem to have problem with the dominance of the twi language, its only an observation and an emphasis that one needn't be a twi speaker to be a Ghanaian, just that. im an Akan, but ...
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THE ASHANTIS WHO SPEAK THE GA LANGUAGE ARE PROUD THAN THEIR FELLOW ASHANTIS WHO NEVER KNOW A WORD IN GA. THEY ARE THE BUSH ONCE ....
You call yourself ganyobi? And you have the audacity to insult Ashantis when you go to ease yourselves at the beach, a place that should be preserved for tourists attraction to give revenue , aboabi kwa. If Ashanti were to b ...
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USELESS GA PEOPLE. THE MOST STUPID TRIBE EVER TO IMMIGRATE TO AKAN LAND WITH FULL STUPIDITY!!!
THEY EAT BESIDES TOILETS! I ONCE FUCKED A MOTHER AND HER TWO DAUGHTERS AND THEY WERE ALL GAS AND THAT'S WHAT THEY DO BEST! SERV ...
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"THEY ARE THE BUSH ONCE"
Sad you cannot even write proper English but a tribalist illiterate.
You meant BUSH ONES not ONCE.
While we are it, don't forget your heavy-accented English even as Asantes speak Twi!
When a typical Trokosi man from Togo pronounce three, the ending e-e letters resonates like a concord air plane trying to land at Trokosi Kwabena Kotoka Airport in Accra. If that is what they call good English then I would al ...
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hahahahahaha. my ribs. a landing concord airplane paa? agyeei!.
Well done Kofi. You need to publish this in the Daily Graphic or the Ghanaian Times. it is a good academic exercise, well done.
YES GHANA IS FOR US,,,,,IF HAVE PROBLEM GO BACK TO YOUR COUNTRY,YES WE ARE ASHANTIS ,YES WE ARE AKYEMS, YES WE ARE FANTIS,YES WE ARE AKUAPEMS,YES WE ARE BRONGS ,ETC ETC. WE ARE ORIGINAL GHANAIANS AND WE ARE PROUD OF OURSELVE ...
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I really find it hard to believe that in this day and age intellectuals will argue and make nasty comments about each others tribe. I'm an Ashanti and my husband is Ewe, but never have we had any argument based on our tribe. ...
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YOUR NAME TELLS IT ALL-IDIOT YOU ARE. DID KUFOUR FORCE RAWLINGS TO SPEAK TWI? WHAT OF MAHAMA? WE TWI SPEAKERS ARE DOMINANT IN GHANA AND THE WISEST.
EWE'S ARE NOT PROUD OF THEIR LANGUAGE NEITHER THE NORTHERS. KUFOUR IS NOT T ...
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Bawumia is the only idiot from the north,does he think he will get a chance in "Y3N AKANFO" PARTY? He should go and ask the late ALIU MAHAMA THIEF KUFOUR'S VICE. When kufour was travelling allover the world, vice president AL ...
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Bawumia is never an idiot. He is more intelligent than every one in mahama's government that is why we Akans love and respect him. We will not sit down and allow a "Gyini, Gyimi president to rule us.
Although Twi is widely spoken in Ghana, the manner in which those who cannot speak the language are viewed is very nauseating. I was insulted on legon campus for my inability to speak twi, another trader asked whether i was t ...
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Isaiah, you are comfortable speaking English, yet you take issue with those who would expect you to speak Twi.
Those with whom you take issue got it wrong, but that should not be an excuse for you to refuse to learn Twi. L ...
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Well done Sankofa. You have hit the nail on the the head. When I was in Nigeria, UK, and USA, I met several Togolese, Malians, Burkinabes, Beninois, and Nigeria, who could speak, very little or good Twi, and we were like brot ...
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They're only trying to project their laziness as virtue.
They can't pronounce words correctly in other language except twi and no matter how hard you try to teach them. The're retards, that's what they truely are and not ...
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The bush Ashantis cannot speak English and cannot learn other languages.
You can take that to the bank
//Mede m'asem ma Nyame loo oo, wobe ka mame oo,
Mede m'asem ma Nyame loo oo, wobe ka me me o.//
//Agyanka m'anya 'sem mu, whana beka ma me,//
Aoo, mede m'asem ma Nyame lo oo, wobe ka mame oo.
Mede m'asem ma Nyame lo oo, w ...
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We all know most Northern Voltarians are mixed Ewes/Akans/and Guans but at the end of the day they all identify thmeselves as Ewes so whats the big deal?
Isaiah N, I had the same problem when I came to Accra to sttart secondary school. On the third day after my arrival in accra I started saying my first words in Ga. then at school I said something which was definitely wrong an ...
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If the boss is Twi speaking then all have to speak Twi? How about if the boss speaks Gonja? Some of these Ewes want to be accepted so much that they will abandon common sense.
Kofi Amenyo, is it not even more shocking for Ghanaians to be using English, a foreign language imposed on us through colonial rule, as our official language?
Is it not welcome that Twi is now being spoken more by many Gha ...
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STOP SPREADING THE KOFI AWONNOR'S ETHNOCENTRIC DOCTRINE BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH TWI BEING THE PREDOMINANT LANGUAGE. I DON'T BELIEVE THAT THERE IS AN IOTA OF TRUTH THAT ANYONE IMPOSED TWI ON NON-SPEAKING GHANAIANS. ...
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Leave Awoonor out of this? Can you speak good English with L and R?
THE TRUTH CUTS ACROSS TRIBES SO LEARN TO EMBRACE IT. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AN ASANTE TO ACCEPT THE HARD FACT THAT TWI IS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND EVERY ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN GHANA. JUST AS AMENYO ADMITTED,TWI IS NOT ONLY DOMINA ...
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Fucking bastard JOE ATISO!! Why can't you use your animal shit name instead of adopting a Trokosi name? Are you ashamed of your real name?
Some people try to learn and speak other languages for levelness others refuse to learn other languages for self-conceitedness hatred and what have you, but the almighty created life, and in his wisdom, CAN WIPE AWAY LIFE an ...
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JAK, how can you say Twi is a foreign language?
Are Akans not your own fellow countrymen? Is Twi not an indigenous Ghanaian language?
All our people hold certain values, philosophies, mores, culture and norms in commo ...
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Stupid man hiding behind an ewe name to start a civil war. I do not speak twi and will never speak it. You little monkey.
He is another primitive Ashanti fool pretending to be Ewe.
AMENYO"S ARTICLE IS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! AT LEAST THE HATED BRITISH LEFT US A SIMPLE TOOL FOR ALL GHANAIANS TO COMMUNICATE AMONGST OURSELVES.NOT BAD EH!
Wow you sound so jealous right now...
Hello= yelo
Propaganda= Koploganda
Freedom= Flidon
and many many blunders that only a retard would make. They are stool possessed retards.
KOFI AMENYO, IF SOMEONE ASKS YOU "WOYE GHANANII NA WONTE TWI? it only means that TWI language is so dominant and spoken by almost everyone in ghana now, so it is almost natural or even more easiar for people to speak it. so ...
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Wow,i'm Akan but still i wish we in Ghana were like in East Africa where swahili is the lingua franca.The beauty of swahili is it doesn't belong to a particular tribe.At least east africans don't have this tribal overhung of ...
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What are u talking about Agyemang? Have u heard of Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, DR Congo? Tribalism is a cancer everywhere in Africa
Yes ,you're right but at least their tribalism is not about language.Their issues are about power (political & economic) about land and about spreading govt funding equally.They never fight about language.
"... at least their (East African) tribalism is not about language" (Agyeman).
Uncle Agyeman, so how do they know one person is from this tribe and the other is not if tribalism is not about language differences? Can you a ...
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How about a Fanti who speaks fluent Ewe and an Ewe who speaks fluent Fanti? PEOPLE ARE RUNNING INTO A VERY CONFUsED SITUATION WITH SUCH IRRELEVANT MATTERS Habba! Just be proud you are a faithful product of GOD and live peacef ...
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The spread of Twi in Ghana is a natural phenomenon. The tribe that is the largest always has advantage over the others. If Ewes are the majority, I think we will see a surge of that language in Ghana and I will have no pro ...
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Normally, I don't comment on tribal tosh like this. However, I find this article to be both funny and sad.
Funny, because I realize that, Amenyo writes better in TWI and I believe he speaks Twi very well. I will encourage ...
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It seems you're confused about the article. You don't know if it's a satire or something else. The guy says nobody is forcing Twi down their throats and then gives the example of Ewes playing borborbor in Twi. Then he invites ...
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Read that again, this time slowly.
I've read the part again slowly. I urge u to also re-read it. I am sure the guy brought the borborbor in to show that it's good for Ewes to play borborbor in Twi. I don't think he was laughing at them, as u think.
Don't you get me? My only problem with the article was trying to bring Gamei (Accra) into this. I don't have problem with this article. He told the "unpleasant truth" however sad it may be. I have read worse article from him. ...
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Twi will spread to every corner of Ghana! It is that simple.
Pelicles, your points are just exactly what amenyo is saying.
Twi is spreading because it has the advantage of being the largest language.
Nobody can stop the spread of Twi because it is spreading naturally.
He sa ...
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It beats my imagination that anyone worth his kind like Amenyo will seek to make mountain out of an ant's hill.What is wrong with people speaking twi in Ghana and elsewhere? And what is wrong with the question",If you say you ...
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Did you know there's another tribe in Zambia also called Bisa just like your folks?
NONSENSE!!! How may Ewes do you know? Can you speak Ewe? GET THE FUCK OUTTA here before I bark at you!!!
I pity all those who are jealous of Twi speakers. they wanted to be like us but they could not be. I have never seen any Akan hiding his/her identity in any part of this world but i can tell you with proves the number of peop ...
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You claim, among other things, that, "The Gas, themselves, are now speaking better Twi (which they used to call "Fante")than they ever did."
The implicit implication, when you punctuate Fante in quotation marks is that no su ...
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I can see some jealousy on the Amenyo. If you cannot stop the Twi,stop accussing speakers.Nobody force anyone to speak twi language.
"Yes, meye Ghananii na enso mente Twi."
Wo te Twi paa!!!
What is the problem of this writer? Still they haven't got a place in Ghana? They can't fit into Ghanaian society? Look, even some Nigerians speak Twi to show to people that they know Ghana , So many west African states nat ...
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They are against anything that does not service or satisfy their narrow selfish ethnocentric parochial agenda.
They are a dangerous bunch.
Ayanya, please be informed that, the original Gold Coast Colony, was made up of (1.) Eastern Region including Anlo or Keta and Accra (2.) Central Region (3.) Western. Ashanti, the Northern Territories, and Northern Volta, whi ...
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You have done well by giving the facts about the trend even you as an Ewe having the name Kofi which is typical akan spelling said it all.But, I don't think there is any tribal sentiments or motives behind your writtings.Keep ...
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I do not see the reason for insulting Mr. Amenyo. Is it because of his Ewe second name?
The reason for Dr, Nkrumah for establishing Berau of African Languages was to parashoot a Ghanaian language over English. If he surv ...
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This article is very well written but what's the point? Twi is widely spoken in Ghana so?
Do some thinking; you'll get the point. Lazy reader and thinker
This is rubbish! Just say what you wish to say without this foolish caveat:
"I wish to state at the outset that I, personally, do not think the increasing use of Twi in Ghana is a bad thing. It is not."
They are against anything that does not service or satisfy their narrow selfish ethnocentric parochial agenda.
They are a dangerous bunch.
They live in fear, insecurity, envy and jealousy.
Just plain evil.
I am not in any way worried about Akans. I have absolutely no reason to be. I've lived closely with them all my life and I will continue doing so. This article has nothing to do with hatred of any body or any tribe.
I just ...
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"I just don’t want my identity as a Ghanaian to be defined by my ability (or otherwise) to speak Twi!"
Akadu, there's nothing bad about Amenyo's article. In fact, this piece, from an Ewe, gives credit to the Akans for the pervasiveness of their language. Amenyo is just trying to have a conversation about Ghanaian languages, bu ...
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I would love to listen to this borborbor in Twi. I have combed the Utube, could not find it. Could you please link me that song/dance?
Mede m'akoma nyinaa bedowo / Wo na woye me kwankyerefo ... Agyenkwa Yesu ee
Jealousy go killTrokosis . They hate the 'uneducated' Asante Kookoase nkurasefuo to the core but proud themselves in Akan(Asante) names like Kofi, Kwesi, Kojo, etc. It is high time trokosis disabuse their minds of the master- ...
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Your coments denotes a typical Kokoase monkey. Come to the coast and learn vivility bush man. This piece was an excellent piece devoid of tribalism. It is only a monkey tribalist as ugly as you that will put a tribal spin on ...
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You mean I shoul d come tto the coast and learn to shit in the open at the beaches? Kookoase even cat covwe its shit but not you so called educated buffoons at the coast
Gradually, Twi is becoming the lingau franca in West Africa. Go to Nigeria, Togo, Ivory Coast and the rest. Come to Belgium and visit any African-Asian shops and you will see that the Twi language is making a way ti live.
The tribalist Ewes hate that.
And the fact that they cannot stop it drives them nuts.
Yes, it is not that they are [proud of the language but because they refuse to go to school and prefer to shine shoes, sell dog chains and other petty trading from the age of ten, then they managed to make their way to Europe ...
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Mr. Amenyo, This is a nice write-up.
Mr. Amenyo, This is a nice write-up.
LISTEN TO THE CASSAVA BUSH FARMER;
"As the Twi language spreads even more than it has done so far, it will be enough for many of us non-native speakers to try to speak it"
YOU ARE A FOOOOL,AMENYO! DON'T YOU KNOW THAT ...
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they want to steal our names but they don't want to speak our language.
the Chinese, Japanese just name them are busily learning to speak other languages and so are the Americans, British and the rest. even these foreigners are busily trying to understand and use native African dialects. why? sim ...
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Did you even understand the piece you just read? Your shallow understanding of things on GHanaweb makes me wanna puke! Did you complete JSS? Whew!
Gee.
Everything they don't like is linked to NPP/Kuffour this and that.
They won't blame anything on the prior 20yrs they were in charge and ruled Ghana under p/ndc.
Why are these people such a complaining stock? ...
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Amenyo's piece is actually meant to promote a dialogue about languages in Ghana, not an attack on anyone. Anyone who has followed Amenyo's writing on GWEB knows that he is an honest, fair-minded, educated fella who abhors tri ...
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Sometimes it is good to pretend one does not understand Twi because they like to insult us in their language. I understand it but I will not speak it.
They all come to " see"Accra and then they stay. Once the Kumasi Mall, which is bigger, is completed, I think the presence of the Asante in Accra will decline small. From the village they will go straight to Kumasi and stay ...
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Acca would have been all slums and ghettos if the superior Culture of wealth creation and management of the Akans groups has taken hold of that place.
That place is still dirty.
Go to Kumasi and breath some fresh air ...
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Even Twi is dying. It will be taken over by English language. The world is becoming a global village and any language which is not spoken internationally and not wildly written or read will die. Even Latin is dead. Twi will d ...
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"Not spoken Internationally and not wildly written or read".
The word is WIDELY not WILDLY.
I know as a trokosi moron that you are, that is what you wish but Twi will continue to have a mass appeal even in other countri ...
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Who told you Twi is dying, Twi is the only Ghanaian language offered as foreign language in U.S. Navy Foreign languages. I just took one recently and i was amazed how much rasty i was but very refreshing to know that Twi is c ...
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The Great Ashanti
Good article. But it will be a sad day if in decades to come, some languages in Ghana disappear.
Mr Amenyo, I commend you for your excellent write up. I did not detect a sinle error in your piece nor indeed a single inflection of tone to denote anger or exasperation. You are well educated and it shows in your writing. Br ...
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Thanks, Odurose
You seem to be one of the few who read the text the way I intended it to be read. I owe you a response.
Truth be told, I had no anger or exasperation in my heart when I wrote the piece. I am surprised th ...
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I enjoyed the article and was rather amused that some folks have deemed it necessary to abuse or assign ludicrous reasons for the write up. Undergrads or postgrads in disciplines such as sociology, Ghanaian languages or even ...
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Kofi Ameyo,I get your point and might also add that there is also now a phenomenon of people embracing Twi spoken by the rural folk if they live in Accra or Tema. In fact it is a badge of honour to speak ‘big Twi’. Now, I ...
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These are my thoughts too, Odurose. Well written article minus the reference to NPP/KUFOUR.
Ablekumo Aba Kua Wo.
What a hell is going on in Ga-Mashie?
I Nii Akompi Ofadi Nsuro must speak Twi in Ga-Mashie Land? CHIA PO Nye Ba yia. Kua Gyii. The day is Coming
Kwasia sem - We will do everything to to resist Twi being used as a National Language in Ghana. This is normally the question "Are you a Ghanaian and you dont speak Twi?" as if it is compulsory for every Ghanaian to speak twi ...
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Nobody is trying to make Twi the national language. Amenyo just wants Twi natives to stop showing surprise when they meet non-Twi speakers from Ghana. After all, there still are Ghanaians who do not speak Twi at all, perhaps ...
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Twi becomes operational and Ewe strategic cos of those concepts.
its crazy.is it by force to know how to speak twi???is twi a national language or an ethnic language???nonsense!!!anyone who asks dat question shd be ignored.de ryt question is;oye asantenii na onte twi???not oye ghananii.gha ...
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speaking english at british embassy does not make you super powerful
This is wonderful piece nd the bare truth about the spread of the Twi Language in Accra/Ghana. Indeed, Kpakpo Allotey sounded desperate in his article on the dying Ga language. Even if he establsihes 10 radio stations in Accr ...
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Kufuor speaking of twi did not prevent him from studing at one of best university in the world Oxford university. Is time our politicians comes out and say benefits of having one common language
This TWI thing is bullshit. What is TWI? Does it include Fante, NZEMA, Akyem etc. this whole thing of spilling TWI everywhere even when English is called for smacks of superiority complex. I heard a radio station insisting th ...
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NONSES, THE DUTCH PEOPLE SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH BUT THEY WILL NEVER SPEAK IT AND LEAVE THEIR OWN LANGUAGE ASIDE..
DO YOU THINK YOU ARE IN USA SO GHANAIANS SHOULD STOP THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE AND TAKE ENGLISH... YOU ARE LOST MR.EW ...
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Fo Kofi
Someone has asked this already:
"I wan to know where and which town that Borborbor group plays their rhythm with Twi songs.
You said this: Today, Ewes are singing borborbor in Twi (Mede m'akoma nyinaa bedowo ...
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Excellent piece of admonition to all of us.You simply do not demean someone because they do not speak your native tongue. Let's learn to respect our diversities and thereby exploit it to our own advantage. Again I appreciate ...
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You're one of the few readers who understood what this article is about: a conversation about Ghanaian languages, and the need to respect those who don't speak Twi.
It seems some people get what all this is about. Non-native Twi speaking Ghanaians have no problem in grasping it. Most of those who don't get it are our Akan brothers and sisters.
All what I am saying is that even if I sp ...
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You did great, Kofi. There's nothing preventing any Ghanaian from learning a second or third Ghanaian language. I speak four Ghanaian languages fluently (Twi included). So if I happen to meet a Ghanaian who cannot speak Twi ...
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Kofi, Ashantis largely control trade and commerce in ghana not because of their population, I personally think is because of their mentality. If you take jews in the states for instance they are not many than other races bu ...
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So you accept that all languages should die off in favour of twi eh?. I feel a lot of pain when I remember that a non - twi speaker like me have my son being forced to study twi in a Ga area like Tema.
kuffuor only succeeded in promoting that language. Egbole mli ni ebaa yoo!
Woye wopotoni manfrani aboa bi
Well done,Kofi Amenyo. There`s nothing wrong learning other people`s language.But to say if you are a Ghanaian,why can`t you speak Twi is completely foolish.You don`t force me to speak your language when you can`t say a singl ...
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Well done, is about time Ghanains speak one language to build one strong unity and advanncement to progress in so many avenues.
Example, computers, syllabus etc.
God bless us and God bless Ghana
you are equating twi with akan. there is a difference there.
Very good article. Twi has been and will remain the most widely spoken local language in Ghana. Nothing wrong with that. It's good if a non-native Twi speaker learns to speak it. But no one should be forced to speak it. More ...
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I cannot find a better summary of the article than this. That is just the crux of the whole argument. I wrote the piece and your contribution summarizes my point accurately. Thanks.
well, l speak ewe everywhere l find myself in Accra. to me, they are inferior. they exhibit their inferiority in many ways. you know, am really proud of my God given Ewe language. l consider myself very fortunate and superior ...
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Ashantis are stupid ...they can pronoused words in English yet still they want people to speak their language.......there will be a time when most of them will return to their villages and ACCRA Will be free from monkeeeey
While you are at it! Think about this one!
Kumasi monkeeeey monnkeeey monkeeeey kumasi mono mono mono
I am a Ga and I will never ever speak Twi. I have my own language THE GA LANGUAGE.I will speak it and English all the time. NO TWI FOR ME.
I agree with you,and why should you?
Former Presidet Kuffuor an ASHANTI couldnt pronoused words correctly when he wass at the UN......stupid another kumasi monkey
Norwaygean kumasi idiots Ashanti smell like monkeeeey and they eat them
go back to school, and get proper deucation
Go back to school and get good education ........not proper ducation...Ashanti monkey check your spelling ...monkey boy from Kumasi like Kuffour..
This article is not calling for a fight among the minority and the majority. The article, to me,is to start public discussion of what is obvious. Yet, we still do find idiots trying to use this beautifully written piece to co ...
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Twi is the original and oldest language on Earth. The names of the first created man and woman, Adam and Eve are Twi. Adam means the sleeper - the DA in Adam's name means SLEEP in Twi and Eve is the same as Efe / Afi or Afu ...
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its really sad that in this day and age, intellectuals will argue and insult each other on a trivial issue such as tribalism. I'm an Ashanti married to an Ewe and where we come has never been an issue in our marriage. we have ...
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Your Akan brother who admires your writing style and objectivity and who also respects the fact that politically, you may belong to different camps. Keep up the simple and eloquent pieces.
To Okponglo Guy if you see it...
Thanks for your very kind words, Okponglo Guy. It's a long time I saw you here on these pages. You are not a daily visitor.
As a matter of fact, I don't think you and I belong to differe ...
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MEYE GHANANI ENSO (MENNTE) TWI
Thanks a lot for the correction, NO NONSENSE. It came late but it is very much appreciated. I saw it myself only when you pointed it out.
What surprises me is all the native Twi speakers who commented on the article and sa ...
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