English Language Should Not Be a Determinant of Progress in Our Country!

The King of Talk with iconoclast Olakunle Soriyan (2013 interview)

[@jozolujzl9865]

Excellent interview and topic. So on point, we shouldn't worship other people's language to the point that we shame our own when they make mistakes speaking a language that is not even theirs. Fluency in English does not determine one's intelligence

[@Valuofnature]

Pidgin is our proof of struggle with the English language. Yes Sir

[@chinazabamba1436]

I love this Man.. Ever since I heard him speak at thinkation.. Been listening.. He's phenomenal! He speaks directly to my soul whenever I hear him speak..

[@NollaunGraced]

I came here after two years to watch and I'm so happy and blessed to watch it. 😂😂 Thanks

[@tosinoluwole8436]

Saw this clip on tiktok, but I was moved to watched the complete clip, wisdom speaking 👍👍👍

[@adedoyinatobatele6440]

Me on IG

[@emmanuelagubuo8165]

Me too

[@margaretlewis1382]

Came across this interview I can listen to this gentleman speak. He speaks truth and I am now sharing his video with my friends. I get chills listening to him, boy is he great.

[@cokeromobolatimeless]

It's 2023 and this message still resonates. This time, even deeper. Thanks Tẹju and thank you Kunle

[@oladelelias]

This is very interesting and serious problem with us in the diaspora if you don't have an accent you may not get employed no matter how eloquent or qualified you are. Our broken English is becoming acceptable and being speak in the Caribbean and some part of the world. Thank you so much sir for the encouragement 🙏

[@mathanoriengo]

True son of the soil. Mama Africa is proud of you.

[@addyb.6812]

Mr Olakunle need to be a motivational speaker and go and educate our people 👏

[@doyearuwei4039]

We are our problem. We need to accept ourselves for what we are. Let's develop our pidgin and standardize it for learning. That's how English language was created.

[@opeyemirachael8530]

This talk jex dey burst my head, I'm moved... Standing ovation jare👏👏

[@justinaakhigbe3182]

I love love this

[@danfowahala3506]

All said here is very very true

[@soloado5084]

Very right ....reminded me of the best medical student in uniben , a scholar , expelled after 5yrs bcos he had pass in English language at entrance into the school . Nigeria lost a genius that year in the medical field . God help Nigeria .

[@gideonolubiyi7630]

Preach on bro,preach.

[@samuelolasupo3972]

This is great!!! God bless you

[@bolgabia]

Decolonize our minds, decolonize our attitudes. Ngugi wa Thiongo has been saying this foerever. Bob Marley said “emancipate yourselves from mental slavery…” Buhari is president NOT because of his turenci.

[@princexcellent]

Absolutely brilliant....!

[@kenigiri]

WOW ! Memories ...

[@omomummyjohnson4286]

Thanks brother, you’re encouraging us 👍

[@nagashettyk8253]

Ur communication is ur strength. Ur speach is good...

[@Valuofnature]

Anytime you ignore the GIFT of nature, you start missing it. Good insight

[@p.c2750]

Well spoken bro. Teju, your visitor has spoken well. God Almighty does not look at english language. Not passport to God's Kingdom

[@abigailmills899]

This is wonderful 🙂

[@jesuyedavid9497]

learning, for the the colonial child, became a cerebral activated rather than an emotionally felt experience.

[@mummyyo7135]

Well spoken sir.

[@debolot6294]

Nice one

[@Valuofnature]

Your NATURAL language is your NATURE❤

[@bayoelegbede6968]

People neglected their dialect and embrace foreign language, Isn't that an embarrassment? Anyway good talk, well done mr soriyan

[@besongoben5820]

First of all it is not a dialect. It is a language!. Pidgin english is a dialect of english, Haitian creole is a dialect of french.

[@bayoelegbede6968]

@@besongoben5820 ok

[@Valuofnature]

Just happened at Dunamis❤

[@anayonwosu610]

Great guy talking ooo

[@olubukunisrael8571]

Please, Mr Teju, I'll like you to invite John OBIDI

[@gkhoms830]

Some years ago who would have thought there'd be a BBC pidgin, Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa (by the way most students in Northern Nigerian primary and secondary schools are taught their subjects in Hausa language). Who would have thought that our musicians would be taking their world by storm and winning awards singing in their native languages eg Fela, Wasiu, Burna boy, Davido, wiz kid, Angelic kidjo, other African musicians etc. Even our dances are ruling the social media space. Nowadays even in the diaspora, Africans find themselves speaking their native tongues more openly and without shame or hindrances like u guys are mouthing here with the foreigners exited to learn and speak it along with us. Recently I watched how a Chinese man was speaking the Nigerian Igbo language fluently and even cooked igbo soups in his restaurant. How choirs abroad sing fluently in Yoruba language and other African languages. In offices today, most people don't bother with queens english again but prefer to use pidgin or their native tongue to communicate! Try and join the train o, the revolution has started!

[@samuelduyilemi6514]

The Link appears not to be clickable from facebook Mobile app, the views would have been more than this

[@Valuofnature]

@tejubabyface, let this be re shared online due to the recent happening @Dunamis church.

[@addyb.6812]

They should make their original language mandatory in all their states

[@celineekpene6911]

This is over great

[@altinomlungu9291]

Is only in Nigeria pple abondon there language for a foreign language

[@folarashid]

It's not only in Nigeria, it's in Ghana too. I'd say it's worse

[@oluwaseyemikeakinware9853]

why is this video not trending?

[@young1061]

When is not twerking or spraying money at the party

[@p.c2750]

Mother Tongue is best

[@yomi7742]

I am on a Doctoral fellowship in China. And I can bet you that they're excellent at Maths, Physics, Chemistry, and in other core sciences because they're instructed in their language. We may fully appreciate what Mr. Soriyan is saying if you have lived or studied in parts of Asia. Good one Mr. Babyface.

[@ekenebanyesreflections]

That's excellent. A few questions; 1. Which culture (Chinese or European) adopted writing first? 2. Which culture (Chinese or European) adopted science and mathematics first? 3. If any book need to be translated into Chinese, who is responsible for the translation?

[@ekenebanyesreflections]

@A N 🤔 Hmm...Which colonial power did that, and what date? BTW, what evidence is there that writing started in Africa? Please, share dates and locations 🙏

[@p.c2750]

So, my contribution is one should not belittle his/herself if he does not speak fluent English. Although is it good to learn to speak English, do not buy the idea, which many has accepted, that you are of less worth and thus hinder your own progress if you don't speak English fluently. What has happened to the qualities such as hard-work, kindness, reasonability, loving your neighbor, and other fine qualities? These are things we should be proud of and strive to achieve, not whether i can speak "English" or not.

[@caseyj5597]

Please let us know his current websites

[@addyb.6812]

Does this guy have a KZbin channel

[@uchechukwuenyi6721]

Opt 👌

[@ekenebanyesreflections]

🤔 Hmm...I generally prefer not to comment on these kinds of videos because many viewers will not be dispassionate enough to read and digest most arguments that appear technical or "unpatriotic". However, I will make a few points and ask a few questions on this issue. Note: I fully understand the need to keep our African languages alive, and I speak two major Nigerian languages. The goal of language is Communication, and communication is EVERYTHING in our civilization. The ability to communicate "correctly" sometimes means life or death, peace or war.No particular language is necessary for success. However, if your work requires collaboration (like most do) with different people, then language will make a huge impact on your success. Africa is the most diverse continent on earth. Diversity can be a plus, but it can also be a huge negative for progress. Africa has around 3000 languages, assuming every speaker insists on using his/her native language in all interactions, what will be achieved? What is going on in diplomacy circles like United Nations is politics, and it's not necessarily representative of everyday interactions. China teaches the English language to its people at school because it understands that English is the business language of the world In the olden days, royalty and the ruling class learned and spoke multiple languages because it was necessary for diplomacy and business. Today, as the world gets ever smaller and more technically advanced, humans will continue to congregate towards a few languages for global communication and collaboration. The European languages (Spanish, French, and English) have cornered that role due to earlier European exploration and colonization in the last few centuries. During European exploration and colonization adventures, they discovered and documented a lot of things about our planet. Those things are worth knowing, and we can only know them by either learning the language that those writings were done with or translate. Written communication is very important. How many of us (Africans) can read or write our native African language? African youths need to study science for the progress of Africa. I would like to see the books on Physics, Chemistry, and Biology that have been written in native African languages. Nigeria has hundreds of languages and dialects. I'm curious to know how many native Nigerian languages he speaks. Also, I would like to know how the young he mentioned who wanted to study law would have defended his clients in court without being able to understand and communicate the technicalities of issues which many times are needed in the legal profession. I don't know if anyone can study and pass as a mathematician without the inability to "integrate" and "differentiate". 🙏

[@dareminderblackseed]

Thanks a lot brother, you've said it all .Most Africans just love something to massage their ego a little n they feel so good about it without giving it a serious thought process.How!!!!?? African 3000+ languages are all gonna do scientific research n submissions !? They eased the work for us, It's a case of good coming w bad .thank you

[@ekenebanyesreflections]

@@dareminderblackseed There are so many issues that most people do not analyze critically. It's easier to swallow the popular myths 🙏

[@gkhoms830]

All of u with ur colonial slave mentality should go and sit down. Some years ago with folks like u around, who would have thought there'd be a BBC pidgin, Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa (by the way most students in Northern Nigerian primary and secondary schools are taught their subjects in Hausa language). Who would have thought that our musicians would be taking their world by storm and winning awards singing in their native languages eg Fela, Wasiu, Burna boy, Davido, wiz kid, Angelic kidjo, other African musicians etc. Even our dances are ruling the social media space. Nowadays even in the diaspora, Africans find themselves speaking their native tongues more openly and without shame or hindrances like u guys are mouthing here with the foreigners exited to learn and speak it along with us. Recently I watched how a Chinese man was speaking the Nigerian Igbo language fluently and even cooked igbo soups in his restaurant. How choirs abroad sing fluently in Yoruba language and other African languages. In offices today, most people don't bother with queens english again but prefer to use pidgin or their native tongue to communicate! Try and join the train o, the revolution has started!

[@dareminderblackseed]

The issue is not only speaking your language,but speaking it about what? And the prestige what they talking about holds on the global platform,Is it science or Yoruba soup n choir only? That's inconsequential..Next?

[@gkhoms830]

@@dareminderblackseed Sorry o, Queens english speaker, science this, science that. Are u aware that the local herbs 🌿 that our forefathers used and was handed down to us is science and research? Ur colonial slave masters told us it is not good enough and fed us with chemicals and GMO (genetically modified food) which they have now rejected and are going organic (African way). Now they are packaging our herbs and food (eg.okra)and sending it to us in packages as their products . Also the other day I watched as Yoruba Language which is of Nigerian origin was being taught in nursery schools in the US. Hollywood is using our local African languages and music in their movies. (No be research be dat? Abi how did they know viewers would accept its use?) Guy, u have no point, join the moving train, the revolution is here. Go and watch KZbin and tic toc videos and see whats up!

[@nnanwa529]

This is such a trivial and unhelpful discussion. I can agree with the discussion that people should not be judged on their ascent given that it is our second language and naturally, our native accent will interfere with it. However, if you have been educated in English, and all your training are in English, and you can't speak it, then your competence and intelligence should rightly be questioned. The comparison with Germans or the Chinese are false strawman

[@Joseph-ot5ws]

I agree with you, partly. It seems you didn't listen carefully to his final submission or concluding remarks; he made a very good point. But I can also argue that the comparison with Chinese, German etc is not relevant to Africa... The Chinese, for example, despite being over 1.5 bil., can understand one another across the entire country..especially bcoz of putong hua (common Chinese language). Take a linguistically diverse country like Nigeria with more than 500 languages, we can't allow kids to learn Maths, Physics etc in their original mother tongue, in their local residential places coz when they finally assemble in the Universities, it would be such a hindrance coz lectures are not dispensed in clusters of local languages... If that were the case then every ethnic group would have its own University; this is unsurmountable for Africa. Nonetheless, being taught in my mother tongue would definitely enhance my comprehension of the subject. Africa has a deeper problem emanating from different tribes (tribalism), negative ethnicity.. we have witnessed tribal clashes, political suppression and secession talks...we can't worsen it by teaching kids in their mother tongue. In comparison with the Chinese or Japanese or Korean or Germans, I say the African child has many struggles to overcome. Learn mother tongue, then learn English-- then learn subjects in English.. While the African child still struggles to understand English, the others who learn subjects in their native languages have gone ahead producing computers, cars and Televisions.

[@nnanwa529]

@@Joseph-ot5ws Thanks for your contribution. I'm happy that you've acknowledged the impracticality of teaching in our native in a country like Nigeria, for example, with many native languages. But, no, it is not true that people will necessarily perform worse if they learn in English. No, many countries in the world are increasingly teaching children in English from Childhood because of the increased global opportunities English confers to the Child. Our problem is not that we learn in English, it is that the level of education is poor. It is the quality that's affecting us, not the language of tuition

[@ifeoluwaidowu-taiwo4253]

@@nnanwa529 you just nailed it.. we can’t keep blaming English Language as an excuse to our failures.. even our native languages are written and thought in English Alphabets. The Chinese has over 2000 alphabets unique on its own and also does the Japanese and German.

[@charlesxavier3489]

Only a genetic recessive mind would make a statement that.. Lol shut up and keep walking this discussion has nothing to do with you!

[@ekenebanyesreflections]

@@Joseph-ot5ws I agree with most of your comments. It's not hard for children to learn ANY language. A child can learn 10 language if they are spoken to him/her without ANY effort.

[@abelndhlovu448]

Motivational speakers speak too much and do less. Good talk, how I wish you could put your talk in action by using your local language and dressing like up like an ancient Aftican