It's not Mr. A president total fault but the educational system. A system where many of the english language teachers were unable to deliver properly on the grammatical rules to the students at the right age and even phonetic was not included in the english language curriculum at the primary and secondary school level then how do you grasp it? That's a question that needs to be answered. Mr. A president having PH.D in zoology is not a criterion to achieving 100% english language perfection, although with the numbers of years of his work experience one would expect someone of his calibre to express himself with minima error.

Anyway, what we need at present is 24 hours electricity and not grammar. If the next P can just express himself in broken english but electrified the whole country 24 hours continually to me his english language will be 100% perfect.

All of una wen dey slate goodluck, you don ever be president before, you don ever siddon for hot seat? I have not had the chance to look through the whole thread/topic, but felt i'ld say a few things to correct the impressions of a few.

The originators of the language 'English', i mean the British, you go need to hear their command of the word, their command of the sentence and language called 'English', o boy you go hold your head, and i'm not joking. Even if you, a Nigerian, if you speak, or write 'English', (a language wen dem export come give you, for where u siddon for Africa dey mind ya business), them dey confuse, and i mean confuse, and in some cases, dem go think say you dey insult dem, or you be professor, or worse, your english is completely wrong, it is that bad my brothers. I should know this, i live in the UK, and have been for 15 years, i also own a business and employ a few 'English' people if i may add. This affects a sizable proportion of the UK population, quite significant amounts. I think Nigerians, and including Indians (both past colonies), fare very well in the spoken, and written ‘queens english’.

With regards to Goodluck, fine everybody in position requires, a bit of 'polishing', as with the british PM, and American president’s, very often infact do, including before and even after interviews, and press conferences (this is what you call prepping), and something, i think the Nigerian politician, do not realise or see as important or necessary, though we dey try our best in the 'education' front. The British and Americans spend quite alot of time, and money on this aspect (prepping or ‘spin’ as they call it), because, it is political and essential if dem one win next election. So, na small, small, we dey come for road, and am sure we’ll meet up the people wen colonise us pretty soon. Infact to be frank I’ld rather he is genuine, so I can see all his flaws, because spin is not good, and confuses the UK/American people. (Mostly the UK people, as I see them every day).

Una remember the erstwhile president of the US, i mean Bush, you done hear e 'English'. Infact them don create new dictionary to accommodate all the grammar when e dey formulate, as e dey go. D guy honestly dey scatter bottle. Make we take am easy.

Native_Cap:

. . .

Una remember the erstwhile president of the US, i mean Bush, you done hear e 'English'. Infact them don create new dictionary to accommodate all the grammar when e dey formulate, as e dey go. D guy honestly dey scatter bottle. Make we take am easy.

E.g. "nukula", instead of nuclear!
A whole US presido breaking kernel! It is good that his name is "Bush"!

inferiority complex is the name of the game. Is this the first time Jonathan is making a public speech? NO! Why is it a problem now because he was speaking to an american or someone from the western world. Accent is perculiar to every culture,tribe etc. No matter how fluent a white man can tell that you are a foreigner. I will not fault him on his grammar either. There is nothing like Queens english any more. Americans and european have messed up the all thing. So an Ijaw man who did not need an interpreter for the world to understand shoul get an A. My only problem with that interview is the issue of confidence. He needs more international exposure. Did anyone notice his response to the christmas bomber question and how he was quickly interrupted ?

Whats the fuss about Jonathan's spoken English.

True. English is a prominent language spoken world wide, but this is as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the United Kingdom and partly the US,

, Am convinced that the emergence of the international dominance of the British must have been initiated by a particular individual. So what stops Jonathan from putting Nigeria's language in the lamelight or are we ashamed of our identity??

if I were Jonathan I would simply make one of Nigeria's mother tongue ( Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba, perhaps Ijaw) the national language. and for sure, I will head to the US with my interpreter. That way, no retard would come out to criticise your command of a borrowed language.

peeps do not compare levels of education btw obj and Goodluck,, they are 2 far apart.
Goodluck as our leader, and shld possess purposive grammer,especially on tv where the whole world is expected 2 view and send comments.

My dear mobuch, Is this your yardstick for a good leader? It takes more than good grammar (english or any other language) to lead a nation. There are many other qualities you should focus on. There are many good leaders in the world that cannot even speak english yet their countries are making good progress. My dear focus on the ball otherwise you will miss the goal.

what is even wrong with these ppl sef.are they teaching or learning english in PHD? the issue whatever grammartical flur you have while in secondary school, you can hardly perfect it in any higher institution of learning.for crying out loud, even the use of english we do in higher institution it is only in year one and that adds little or nothing to what you already learn in secondary school.

The man is Ijaw and sounds like one so why do we complain? You want an Ijaw man from Nigeria to sound like a Briton before he is respected? Have you listened to other world leaders ? We should listen to ourselves, what is wrong with our identity?

@ poster

ok i understand get the point u are coming from u want an obama Goodluck Jonathan english kpele o

Yar Aaue has very strong hausa accent, dont even try comparing yar adua 2 Goody Jonathan.
Accent or no accent Goody Jon represented well.

did the cnn coresondentcomlain of lack of information in what goodluck say.ifshe hasroblem, let her exress herself in ijaw.if someone can spend 4yrs in school to study english and i used my own time to study engineering, why should u accuse me of not been good in another man's descipline.the person should come and prove himself in my descipline too.mshwwwwww

Nigerians and inferiority complex . . . . have you ever listened to the thick accent of Russians? yet no body has come up to challenge how their leaders speak. Grow up kid!

So somebody can not grow were u r are u dat evil?

Nigeria get im own problem shey na english we condey disturb ourself about?

Why can't we just be like Jamaicans?

I see nothing wrong in speaking pidgin.

________________

People complained about OBJ's pronounciation; his going back to school was partly due to the criticism.

We should be concerned about the well-being of our people and not the pronouciation or intonation of another person's language.

Who is concerned about his accent that u call error. How many past Nigeria leader have u seen speaking phonetics(if that is what u are expecting from him). We can see Abacha during his days calling 'pellow naijirians' lol. Even the past leaders ruled nigeria in their dialect.
What we are concerned about is what this man can offer and not the way he speak.

Quote from: mobuch on April 17, 2010, 10:51 AM
@ babsmii

Mr young man without issues, English is our language okay, so get that into your head, maybe you are one of those who find it difficult speaking impeccable English.
let me tell you something, I am a complete Igbo man, and I am yet to get the kind of education which our Acting President has, neither have I gotten the kind of exposure he has, but mark my words, I grew up in Nigeria and schooled mainly in the east, yet my English is impeccable and is spoken without any primitive accent. Any white man that listens to my accent here, gets this impression that Nigerians have very good English speaking accents.

We should try and do the right thing, if there is a part of our culture/life and native accent which is faulty, I think we should do away with it, and if there is a part of the western life/ culture which is faulty, then We should reject it and accept the good ones.

from Beaf, You don't even know basic tenses and yet you feel you are the right person to criticise others. Learn English first, after that people might take you a bit seriously when you complain about a leaders diction.
The rubbish up there that you call "impeccable English" is only laughable dross. But they say "empty barrels make the most. . ." Please complete the phrase for a revelation. Grin Grin Grin

@Mobuch, Beaf has asked you to review your post ahead since you said you can speak impeccable english. dvbm you,

Re: Acting President Goodluck Jonathan And His Too Many Grammatical Errors
« #369 on: Today at 10:21:31 AM »

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Quote from: mobuch on April 17, 2010, 10:51 AM
@ babsmii

Mr young man without issues, English is our language okay, so get that into your head, maybe you are one of those who find it difficult speaking impeccable English.
let me tell you something, I am a complete Igbo man, and I am yet to get the kind of education which our Acting President has, neither have I gotten the kind of exposure he has, but mark my words, I grew up in Nigeria and schooled mainly in the east, yet my English is impeccable and is spoken without any primitive accent. Any white man that listens to my accent here, gets this impression that Nigerians have very good English speaking accents.

We should try and do the right thing, if there is a part of our culture/life and native accent which is faulty, I think we should do away with it, and if there is a part of the western life/ culture which is faulty, then We should reject it and accept the good ones.

from Beaf, You don't even know basic tenses and yet you feel you are the right person to criticise others. Learn English first, after that people might take you a bit seriously when you complain about a leaders diction.
The rubbish up there that you call "impeccable English" is only laughable dross. But they say "empty barrels make the most. . ." Please complete the phrase for a revelation. Grin Grin Grin

@Mobuch, Beaf has asked you to review your post ahead since you said you can speak impeccable english. dvbm you,
i dont know wat u want to gain in all ds,is it dividends of democracy,a performing president or a president dt speak grammar without performing.

i wonder wat u're looking for,if u're looking for a place to brag abt ur spoken English it shouldnt be here in NL b/c there's no rule dat state dt our reply or posts should be in proper English Language, u 're criticising sm one of not knowing basic tenses and u wrote and i quote" you dont even know basic tenses and yet" mr man there's nothing like and yet dt's simply tautology so check urself b4 criticising others.

abbeyemmy:

i wonder wat u're looking for,if u're looking for a place to brag abt your spoken English it shouldnt be here in NL b/c there's no rule dat state dt our reply or posts should be in proper English Language, u 're criticising sm one of not knowing basic tenses and u wrote and i quote" you dont even know basic tenses and yet" mr man [size=14pt]there's nothing like and yet[/size] dt's simply tautology so check urself b4 criticising others.

The above is only suitable for texting, if you don't know; you don't use texting on public forums. Why do some Nigerians think it is cool to post gibberish on public forums? ONLY SOME NIGERIAN WANNABE's do it. Damn! It's like wearing a bow tie with a babariga! . . .I had to get that off my chest but, this thread is about wannabe's, attempting to foist their complexes on others, isn't it?

So people have left off foolishly attacking Jonathan to attacking me? Wonders!!!
If you look through this thread, you will quickly find that I am one of those who has de-emphasised spoken English in favour of action instead from Jonathan; [size=14pt]I have been very vocal about my position, which is that, he is there not to speak English but to deliver governance.[/size]With the above in mind, I find your post to be on the foolish side. Firstly, there is not one place on this thread where I have bragged about my English; secondly, my use of "and yet" is perfectly acceptable, the greatest English speakers use it. So who am I not to? . . .And who are you to challenge it (especially when you can't even spell )?

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/17/messages/982.html
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000648.html

Study how european leaders speak and you"ll be happy with Mr president.

One issue with some nigerians is proudness, despite our graduates etc
nigerian dont have a qualified teachers, doctors, engineers et cetera.

We are in the habit of analysing someone's english. have notice that
myself even at churches. is a nigerian thing

beaf or whatever you call yourself am not on this thread to exchange words with you and you dont even know me so why will you assume that i cant spell,NL is a forum and its suppose to be an interactive,educative and friendly forum and i dont see any reason you should be attacking anyone based on what he or she wrote,i believe u're one of those that didn't read the rules and regulations of this forum,if you had done that you won't open your wide mouth to say someone's thread is on a foolish side.
Have you hear anything about common mistake in English Language?Your answer will be as good as my guess yes,then why cant you sit down and analyse some words that your so call greatest speakers used and see a lot of error in them.

@vga please helpme to educate that fellow that calls himself beaf.

abbeyemmy:

beaf or whatever you call yourself am not on this thread to exchange words with you and you dont even know me so why will you assume that i cant spell,NL is a forum and its suppose to be an interactive,educative and friendly forum and i dont see any reason you should be attacking anyone based on what he or she wrote,i believe u're one of those that didn't read the rules and regulations of this forum,if you had done that you won't open your wide mouth to say someone's thread is on a foolish side.
Have you hear anything about common mistake in English Language?Your answer will be as good as my guess yes,then why cant you sit down and analyse some words that your so call greatest speakers used and see a lot of error in them.

They say one of the worst problems of Nigerians is that we don't like to read. You came out of nowhere to launch a weird attack on me, perhaps, if you had been a good reader, you'd have read enough to take an informed and wise position on this topic. You drew first blood and now you're complaining about the consequences? Tough!
Seriously, the logic you are presenting is convoluted at best. Where do you stand?

I have said it over and over, [size=14pt]Jonathans job is not to speak English[/size], but to deliver governance. That seems to be a problem to you (even though your own English is wack); it is only under conditions similar to yours, that I've told the clown, mobuch to improve his own English first, before criticising Jonathan. What is good for the goose, is good for the gander.

Yes, this thread was started for foolish reasons (dial 999). English is not and will never be our mother tongue. If you feel so inferior that a foreign language becomes your fulcrum for argument, then it is really sad. By the way, did you look at the links I posted earlier (that should teach you never to dip yourself in waters too deep for your talent level).

Now, run along!

VGA:

Study how european leaders speak and you"ll be happy with Mr president.

One issue with some nigerians is proudness, despite our graduates etc
nigerian dont have a qualified teachers, doctors, engineers et cetera.

We are in the habit of analysing someone's english. have notice that
myself even at churches. is a nigerian thing

Una no go kill me with laughter

All these idiots on this thread suffering from acute inferiority complex. What does the poster have to say about the presidents of other countries whose native languages are not English. For example, German president, Italian president, etc.?

Who gives a damn about his primitive accent? Obviously some people here do. That being said, a person's accent is not a yardstick by which you measure their intelligence and their ability to govern effectively.

I dont not think there is anything wrong with our educational system. The problem of education lies in how we get educated. Under stress. No light. No chair. No tables etc. I have noticed that Nigerians who studied in Nigeria and eventually go abroad for future studies are the best in their classes. We compete with other educational system and we come out on top. That should speaks volume. The fact that we have accents means that we speak other languages. If you are white and were raised speaking spanish, you would have accent. I repeat. Whites have accents espcially those in the southern America. Some are bad that I, would strain to understand them.

See, one of the best attorney in DC is a nigerian, an Ibo man( cant remember his name). He gets interviewed even on CNN. One of the best writer in the world are nigerians. Soyinka makes words for the dictionary ( so I heard). At a point in time, I heard that one of the best doctor is a Nigerian. All of these men had a form of education in nigeria.

The indians have accents too. Guess what, they are overtaking the IT and education industry. As long as you can deliver and communicate, accent is no problem. Even the scrabble champion on this forum must have made some grammatical error at a point in time( please correct me if am wrong). Even the best english teacher must have made grammatical error. Everyone makes such mistakes. Most especially when they are nervous.

The most important thing is to be able to pass a message across and deliver the message.

If it were to be yar adua or obj,that someone is complaining of his english,am sure this stupid guy called beaf will support the poster but because jonathan is from his niger delta region he is taking sides. Yeye boy.
Let him go & brush up his english so as to gain some personality,he talks as if he is afraid of something,he needs some confidence & he can only gain that by brushing up his english
Abacha is far better than him.

simplychic:

If it were to be yar adua or obj,that someone is complaining of his english,am sure this silly guy called beaf will support the poster but because jonathan is from his niger delta region he is taking sides. Yeye boy.
Let him go & brush up his english so as to gain some personality,he talks as if he is afraid of something,he needs some confidence & he can only gain that by brushing up his english
[size=27pt]Abacha is far better than him. [/size] 

You must be an id!ot. Unlike you, I don't do petty stuff.
If Abacha is your hero, then I say, you are a damned fool.

It is said that "a drowning man will clutch at a straw."  The so called cabal have nothing else to hold on to against Jonathan.  Have anyone of you imagined when perfect English became a criteria for any political post.

Desperation has set in because they are losing relevance.  In a few weeks time, nobody will even mention the word "cabal" again.