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| Blind Adoption of Foreign Languages in Africa Could Kill Traditional Dialects |
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Aboriginal parlance and lingo in Africa and the Third World is faced with extinction. In a crass willing-buyer-aggressive-seller basis, the Third World is trading its local languages and dialects for French, English and the like in a neo-colonialist parody of ignorance.
It’s not uncommon today to overhear ‘enlightened’ Africans lambasting the teaching of traditional languages in African and other developing world institutions. To them, speaking in foreign idiolects is related to a higher level of civilization. It is therefore a grievous crime to pronounce foreign words or sentences ‘incorrectly’ as that would be a display of ‘ignorance’ and ‘intellectual inferiority’. This mistake would invite ridicule and social undermining. While having a good grasp of other languages is a plus, nothing can ever justify its use to undermine others or to ignore one’s cultural heritage.
This happens even as French, English, Portuguese and the like take pride in their tongue and culture. Many of them chose not to learn other vernaculars based on their adamant belief that their dialect is superior. It is therefore not surprising to me that when I meet a French, Spanish or German national that they speak only their respective languages and have no interest in learning any other tongue. Similarly, the French are globally known for their wines and champagne, the Italians for their pizza, mozzarella and pasta, and the Germans for their sauerkraut, bratwurst and hamburger.
The story is the same across the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. In Japan, India, China and Korea, among other Asian countries, most are experiencing unprecedented socio-economic growth attributed to immense emphasis on their cultural identity. This has helped them avoid copycat socio-economic solutions, as they are able to use their unique cultural pedestal to identify their failures. They are able to do so while at the same time adopting only the necessary foreign-sourced, complementary solutions thereby heralding the rise of the Asian Tiger economies.
The developing world and more specifically Africa should therefore learn from the Asians who despite learning other foreign dialects still take pride in their languages, which are deeply entrenched in their cultural fabrics and national language systems. They should note that cultural identity directly and indirectly influences the development prospects of a populace. Only by identifying your cultural niche can you effectively diagnose your social and fiscal problems and weaknesses and begin to improve them while reflecting them against foreign cultures.
The poignant fact that many local dialects in Africa and the Third World face imminent annihilation should be handled with the seriousness that it deserves. While it may be important to learn about other cultures there is never any excuse for neglecting and undermining one’s traditional language. We are living in a world where cultural distinctiveness is important in maintaining a globally reliable image and acceptance. This is demonstrated by the Kenyan and Tanzanian Maasais and the Southern Africa’s Hottentots whose citizens still make an effort to preserve their cultural uniqueness and dialect despite some of them having tiers of intellectual credentials.
In recognizing the importance of their traditional languages, the South Africans have decided to include Xhosa, Zulu, among other local dialects, in their national language structure. This is a creditable attempt at bringing sanity to an otherwise culturally confused part of the world. Years of racial subjugation and discrimination stifled cultural freedom and expression. It is hoped that while engaging in the development of their country their efforts will go a long way in redeeming marginalized populations from the socio-cultural and economic quandary.
Foreign cultural concepts should only be brought in to compliment the existing norms for the betterment of the developing community. Languages such as the Yaaku in Kenya are fading into the oblivion of neglect from an apparent delusion of ‘enlightenment’. The signal is on for Africa and the rest of the Third World to awaken from the blatant cultural slumber. It is only then that they will be able to congruently link their cultural identity to their development aspirations and in effect experience tangible socio-economic growth.
With wholesale importation and blind adoption of foreign cultural elixirs and tonics the Third World and Africa in particular, will continue to sink deeper into the abyss and dungeon of cultural, social and economic confusion.
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Antony Felix O. Simbowo
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