Languages are means of communication. Without language, communicating with ourselves would be difficult. This is because with language, ideas, emotions, thoughts and necessary information are passed on from person to person.
There are over seven thousand (7,000) recognized spoken languages in the world and each one is unique to its ethnicity. In Africa alone, there are more than two thousand (2,000) spoken languages, each unique with its own dialect for communication and understanding.
Personally, I understand about two and half languages. Funny right? But that is the truth. I won't be adding English as that is my Country's official and national language. Hence, it is necessary for every citizen to understand and get a grip on good British English.
My parents are from two different ethnic groups in Nigeria. My mom hailed from the Eastern part of Nigeria where the Igbo language is spoken and my dad hails from the South-Eastern part of Nigeria where ibibio is spoken as a language.
I used to understand ibibio as a child but somehow, I lost touch with itt. I guess this was probably because I didn't have ibibio speaking people around me unlike the Igbo language which I am very fluent in. My mom would not fail to speak her language with me and she would expect me to respond to her in her language as well. Plus I had a lot of Igbo speaking relatives around me. So speaking the language consistently was a norm.
The other language that I am also fluent in is Yoruba language. It is the spoken language of the Western Nigeria indigenes. I was born and brought up in one of the most popular Western Nigerian cities>>>The city of Lagos. I think I caught the language through mingling with other Yoruba speaking people.
Curiosity also led me to study this particular language in secondary school for six years. I am very fluent in it that most times, people who meet me for the first time automatically presume that I am a Yoruba girl. But when I flip the switch and begin speaking my mother tongue, they exclaim ”Oh my goodness! I thought you were Yoruba!”. And this always cracks me up.
I understand a bit of French as it was taught in school for about three years but soon I lost touch with it and I'm only left with the basics like bonjour, comment ca va, bien, enchante and the likes.
So, these are my two and a half languages that I speak.
Most desired language
When asked what language I would like to learn to speak more than anything, then without blinking, my preferred language would be Spanish. ”Why Spanish, I hear someone ask ?”
Well that's because I have been a lover of their telenovela series since when I was an adolescent. I enjoyed listening to the rise and fall of their intonations and I should confess that Spanish language has a ring of romance to it hehe.
I also feel like the Spanish language is very easy to understand and comprehend more than any other language in the world. The issues I guess is in understanding the right articles to use with either the masculine or feminine gender.
To show that I am determined to learn this language, I embarked on a learning journey to understand Spanish by joining Duolingo. What inspired this move was during the time when Dreemport gave tasks of learning a second language some months back.
I was happy to finally be able to learn my beloved Spanish language. So far, I am being enlightened daily with the quests and lessons I carry out in the Duolingo app. The app ensures that learners are not bored while learning.
Learning Spanish has been so much fun for me and my Spanish skills are improving a lot. I can make sentences comfortably now in Spanish. For instance..
”Hola, ¿Cómo estás?” (Hello, how are you?)
”Adonde vas? ( Where are you going?)
”Voy a la escuela” (I am going to school)
With this, it won't be long before I am very fluent in speaking Spanish.
Thank you for reading.
Images are mine.
Posted Using INLEO
