Is Africa the Problem? or the Problem Africans?

[KEMINOKANA]

Originally Posted by Atabong

I challenge anyone to tell me a people who lost their Language and survived.



I trust in the ingenuity of fellow mashasites to propose a way forward.

I propose that as a start, since you are so for our languages and against english, you start posting in your mother tongue and swahili. Do it the way Moi used to finish a speech in english then start swahili. Then, maybe then we will take your words seriously. Otherwise you come across as Robert Mugabe who rails against Western countries while driving the latest Mercedes Benz and his wife has to shop in europe as his people starve.

[Atabong]

Originally Posted by KEMINOKANA

Otherwise you come across as Robert Mugabe who rails against Western countries while driving the latest Mercedes Benz and his wife has to shop in europe as his people starve.

How old are you KEMINOKANA?

You see, if English had been our(you and me) first Language and if you' d read the post adequately you would have seen that your response is entirely out of topic

You don't have to post anything if you are not sure of what to say

[makavelli.net]

Scenarios like this one in Kenya and Zimbabwe is what is making Africans poor, i.e. POWER GREED & CORRUPTION. If only we stopped entertaining such people that is when we will get out of this sheitz.
Secondly we should start believing in ourselves that we can do something without anybodys help. Right now, its like we cant do without that help from EU, Japan, China and US. Hey everybody, stand up!

[KEMINOKANA]

Originally Posted by Atabong

How old are you KEMINOKANA?

You see, if English had been our(you and me) first Language and if you' d read the post adequately you would have seen that your response is entirely out of topic

You don't have to post anything if you are not sure of what to say

Haha see, you go around calling us coconuts for using the white man's language and all and when you are asked to use your mother tongue you swing. You can keep piling up your rants about your afro-nationalism now for our entertainment. It is as good as Mugabe's. I just wanted to confirm how serious you are about this culture talk of yours.

You asked for a proposal and I chipped in a very relevant one, especially for someone like you. Now you are left with nothing but hide behind 'relevancy'. LOOOL. You people are doing this section a disservice. Hypocritical rants are reserved for the politics section.

[A.M Nafusi]

@Atabong
Now you agree that death will come easily to you as a thinker than as a dimwit.
They now say 'start posting in your mother-tongue'. It is that simple to a majority. Good Lord have mercy.

@KEMI
The issue is not undermining the white man's language, but keenly looking at the cost of having to use it as a channel of progress.

I will attempt to elucidate using everyday examples.
Take for instance the basic requirements of a bank teller in the US: Highschool/GED certificate. In African nations; a minimum of an undergraduate degree. One difference is that the former person starts knowing these skills right away, as opposed to you who has to first study the vagaries of the language before learning the skills. A waste of resources and time.

For thsoe of us who have worked in industries in the west; meeting men and women who are so good at what they do but lack academic qualifications is a common thing. They understand the processes so well and can transfer this info to the next generation easily. Fathers bringing their sons to work, and having them work part-time at such young ages as 7. Having them sign timesheets and understand procedures at a young age.

Children observing the stock market at 10. Me and you must first learn English before we learn what a stock is. Billy started ahead of us because he was born speaking English.

My former employer: a 6-billion chemical industry's plant was designed by a highschool graduate who learned the trade from his father. He had one advantage; he never had to struggle translating his thoughts in a foreign language. With that first hurdle out of the way, what remained was to work on skills.

And it is in the same breath that I argue that the catholics and all other organized religions; if they had any honesty in them, they would have prefered the African languages to improve us. But thir motive was never to bring anything good to the land, but to anaesthize the african in readiness for rape.

Can we do something? Yes. Subsaharan Africa has a more than average grasp of swahili. We can not just have it as a language that the FBI need to catch Alqaeda.
80% of Kenyans understand swahili. They do not need school to know it.
Think about it? What if we explain technologies and economic concepts in this language to our masses. We will have a 70% populace that is knowledgeable atmost.

We need to push for the recognition of swahili as a UN language and insist that those who desire to work with us, learn it.

My 5 cents.

[KEMINOKANA]

nafusi et al,

You want swahili to be recognized yet you people hardly use it. You like to speak english, write the best english and so forth because then you exude learnedness. Charity begins at home. Yes it is that simple. You will be laughed at if you go to someone weighing 500lbs and say you are suffering from malnutrition and need more food. In simple terms, you will be laughed at going to the UN podium speaking eloquent english or french asking that Swahili be recognized. What for if the populace hardly uses it?

Walk your talk. It is that simple.

[KEMINOKANA]

Lol Nafusi am told you are manzi reincarnate. Lol so am not gon waste my time bishanaing with you no more. Lol

[al-zalzalah]

i shouldn't be online.
but it has to be said.
kemi is right about using the african languages. and he is consistent about it. i've seen him post in kisii and kiswahili before. and whenever i've asked him for translations he's been generous about it.
at the very least, folks could use swahili on this forum. it's not impossible. i'm willing to bet that at least 80% on this forum understand the language. so why not?

[A.M Nafusi]

Originally Posted by KEMINOKANA

Lol Nafusi am told you are manzi reincarnate. Lol so am not gon waste my time bishanaing with you no more. Lol

Whatever that means; but what has it got to do with the arguments put forth?

Whoever is telling you all that is wasting his/her/your time. I am perplexed that people really take time to try and figure out who forists are. A friend said mashadites do, but I dismissed it as silly; an exercise in futility. What can one tell from these monikers? If any of you want to know me, feel free to ask.

Better still, I will tell you: I AM FEMALE.
If being male is a pre-requisite for fruitful discussions, then I am MALE.
Are you suggesting that you are only willing to engage men in discussion? U did your intelligence a diservice by that quip.

My posting in Swahili here is of no consequence to Africa's problems. I can process crucial concepts presented to me in English fairly well. That can not be said of my village counterparts who have not had the opportunity to access the opportunities I have.
(Try seeing the big picture people)

What am saying in simple terms is that my extended cousins who find schooling a bitter pill should still be able to understand their environment and progress. In the same way we have been pushing for civil education: make the knowledge accessible to as many as possible. If the most important concepts can only be articulated in English, a majority loose out.

Yes, Ireland and Scotland may have lost their languages, but they are not on the same footing developmentally as the English/French who went forcing their languages on others. I am not sure about Scotland, but Ireland has been playing catchup. The colonialist did not stop at the language, he set out to disrupt every order in Africa. The same can not be said of Scotland or Ireland. Japan, China, India- held onto their langauages and cultures-are now holding their own.

Secondly, do not forget that these are white men and in the scheme of things, they are several wrungs above the black man on the hierachy totem pole.

[JEMODAT]

Africans must wake up from slumber
to save africa we must generate enough wealth to own the means of communication, so long as NATION contiues to be our main mouthpiece( and its owned by a Muhindi) CNN will, owned by Wazungu , former Nyaparahs
they will contunue to show African children with flies in their noses , begging for bread from the West.
Cmmonn, We have to be Strong enough to launch a Hostile take over of the NATION and East African Standard.
Thats one step towards starting to own Africa.