khenykhey:


OP you are a pathetic liar!!

i stay in the UK and cause i move with Nigerians i dont have an accent buh im sure if i had a bestie dat was british i bet id def haf a change in accent its called ADAPTATION!!!!!!!! yall should stop sayin shit already!

The truth is most people regard those who speak with a foreign accent as superior and vice-versa
For example as an ibadan man some people see those of us who speak in our native dialect as razz people.



Even on Nairaland a lot of people make fun of General Muhammadu Buhari because of his accent.

Until we start setting our priorities right, we still have a long way to go.


Cheers.

Wats dis about fakin accent, english is not a nigerian language so I think it does nt matter wat accent u use wen u speak English.

9ja newcasters speakin wrong english wid fake american accent til thy kingdom come.....op free em jor.

What you people don't know is that if you are in Rome, you behave like a Roman, if you don't try to speak with UK or US accents, they will find it difficult to understand you, when I got to US, People would keep on saying "come again" all the time, but it is getting better now, you will be tired of repeating yourself often bcs they will not understand you, I had to buy a book with CDs that trains how to speak like an American, though I have not used it, but it is necessary if you live outside Nigeria

Finafina:


i stay in the UK and cause i move with Nigerians i dont have an accent buh im sure if i had a bestie dat was british i bet id def haf a change in accent its called ADAPTATION!!!!!!!! yall should stop sayin shit already!

why is your so called bestie not adapting to you ?

I bet only the pple from that place can say it well-ebola. Tell a Brit/American to pronounce say "Aborode" maybe you wont laff ur heart out but when a yoruba OAP pronounce it wrongly in the guise of forming foreign accent, then something is wrong with their employers.

Ebenezerk2:
What you people don't know is that if you are in Rome, you behave like a Roman, if you don't try to speak with UK or US accents, they will find it difficult to understand you, when I got to US, People would keep on saying "come again" all the time, but it is getting better now, you will be tired of repeating yourself often bcs they will not understand you, I had to buy a book with CDs that trains how to speak like an American, though I have not used it, but it is necessary if you live outside Nigeria

They are not understanding you on purpose and your inferiority complex is allowing them to affect you and change who you are. Most people don't even attempt to change, Japanese, Russian, Brazilians, Chinese, other parts of Latin America and Europe. So why are you trying to sound more American or British while they are not?

zoboizee:
I bet only the pple from that place can say it well-ebola. Tell a Brit/American to pronounce say "Aborode" maybe you wont laff ur heart out but when a yoruba OAP pronounce it wrongly in the guise of forming foreign accent, then something is wrong with their employers.

Ask an American to say Fulani or Yoruba and try not to laugh your heart out

this topic irritates me! who would you rather emulate in your way of speaking. Abubakar tafawa Balewa or Olusegun Obasanjo for example. There is nothing wrong in proper pronunciation of words. But Nigerians who do not have the ability to do so start beefing others who do. see the two videos i posted as an example. And if you say that i should speak like OBJ instead of the ATF sorry i would not.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-cjdPiR4rk Tafawa Balewa


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXLxcvCuDP0 Obasanjo

Compare and contrast.

No language is static. All languages evolve into newer and refined one from time to time. Even the way the generation of today speak our indigenous languages is quite different from that of the old generations. The children of today don't speak English language the same way people of my age grew up to speak it. Gone are those days when the highest teaching qualification was grade 2 or NCE. Today we have teachers with even masters degree in primary schools. How do we expect the end product of such to remain the same. We must endeavour to speak good English, but not as copycats though.

CAMNEWTON4PRES:
@tpia6 what I was trying to tell her was to picture her village and see the shock on people face when they can no longer understand the people speaking on their favorite local shows. that's why I used Anambra

I also love the word

ok

Smooyis:
No language is static. All languages evolve into newer and refined one from time to time. Even the way the generation of today speak our indigenous languages is quite different from that of the old generations. The children of today don't speak English language the same way people of my age grew up to speak it. Gone are those days when the highest teaching qualification was grade 2 or NCE. Today we have teachers with even masters degree in primary schools. How do we expect the end product of such to remain the same. We must endeavour to speak good English, but not as copycats though.

Exactly, Speaking good English doesn't meaning copying an American or British accent. The Ivorians speak good French, but they are not copying the French or Quebecois.

The people most proud of being African seem to be the Senegalese, they are quickly abandoning the French language in favour of Wolof. Not everyone in Senegal is Wolof but every ethnic group is starting to use Wolof as the lingua Franca.

CAMNEWTON4PRES:


it is annoying , esp when you know the person never been or lived abroad, I mean your audience is a local one why faking an accent then? who are the oyibo supposed to hear you? it is annoying I can't watch a tv show with people speaking like martians

but none of you have a problem when you see women dressing in skin tight clothing, with all their bosoms hanging out and tons of makeup on their faces.

all these are foreign cultures but its only accents you see fit to criticize?

yes, africans traditionally dress t.opless but not in the manner of nowadays.

let us not even mention hair weaves and extensions or the men mimicking the west?

19naia:
I have full fledged american accent here in USA.. When i lved in Nigeria my younger days, i returned to USA with full fledged Nigerian accent before it changed after a year back in USA.. I was born and raised with USA accent by my USA mother and then later learned Nigeria accent when hanging with friends and fathers family in Nigeria ..
If i return to Nigeria to hang with friends again, i will pick up Nigerian accent again... Thats the normal course of flexible language ability..
.

but if you ask nigerians to stop their wakabout, they will say you are against their progress.

if nigerians stayed in nigeria, they would keep their cherished nigerian accent and there'd be less complaining.

tpia6:



but none of you have a problem when you see women dressing in skin tight clothing, with all their bosoms hanging out and tons of makeup on their faces.

all these are foreign cultures but its only accents you see fit to criticize?

yes, africans traditionally dress t.opless but not in the manner of nowadays.

let us not even mention hair weaves and extensions or the men mimicking the west?

if im not mistaken, a topic about that was pushed on the front page, unfortunately women were attacking the op(a guy) so yes we have a problem with that too

sylaz:
I speak pidgin with my dude friends anyway, and straight up proper English with girls except we are close.

i dont think there's any accent in pidgin.

its either you speak it or you dont.

and as long as people can hear you, they dont bother checking for accents.

bestads:


Blackberry pinging,facebook and twitter short spellings have finished your life, that is why you cannot read and comprehend a short article like this....How can you pass WAEC,SSCE,GCE and NECO..Do you think these exam bodies recognise pinging and short spellings

u call d article short!!! huh, if i wan read book I go buy book read, no lie d article looooooooong con dey empty cos he (op)was reiterating all through d write up... watz d op's biz wit oda pple's accent for crying out loud...

teneeorlah:





Dis same pple will stay in UGANDA for 100 years and nt change accent ooo, dem go stay UK for 1 year and start to form accent

and why would an african go to another african country and change their accents?

so when they start their intertribal wars, you should be identified with the warring tribe/s abi?

tpia6:


and why would an african go to another african country and change their accents?

so when they start their intertribal wars, you should be identified with the warring tribe/s abi?

interesting perspective

what about when they start Ghana-must-go or lynching foreigners?

tpia6:



i dont think there's any accent in pidgin.

its either you speak it or you dont.

and as long as people can hear you, they dont bother checking for accents.

plenty different pidgin dey inside we contri naija ohh bros, d one wey I like pass nah waffi pidgin, somtymz I dey form waffi accent sef but difference dey always dey b/w my pidgin and samoinc (my warri fwend) pidgin...

Wat do I av to say dat hasn't been said

I don't av a problem wit u if itz genuine.I dey only vex if na fake

But why d copy copy?Itz has gotten to a stage where parents forbid their children to speak Nigerian languages.Some don't even bend wen greeting let alone prostrate.The moment u speak any Nigerian language or wit Nigerian accent,u r classified as razz/local/unrefined.

If u can pick sumtin(eg. accent) and drop it at will,u r fake and not different from a con artist.

A lot of countries now look up to China cos they av stood against d systemic erosion of their values and culture by the West.They av an identity visible to d blind and audible to d deaf.
Nigerians speak wit foreign accents,dress like foreigners and live like foreigners.Some can't even cook any Naija food;dey can't speak any Nigerian language and av thrown respect normally shown to elders into d bin of history.

D question now is-"What makes us Nigerian?"...I guess just name dat is left.

I don't av any foreign accent but I won't stop my kids from acquiring dem so long dey don't fake it.I'll do my best to teach dem our values(those tins dat make us Nigerian).They must undastand/speak my mother tongue...doesn't stop dem from learning oda languages and above all,appreciate Nigeria and wat she stands for.

God bless Nigeria

DAVE5:

plenty different pidgin dey inside we contri naija ohh bros, d one wey I like pass nah waffi pidgin, somtymz I dey form waffi accent sef but difference dey always dey b/w my pidgin and samoinc (my warri fwend) pidgin...

but he never complain, abi he talk anything?

manjiggy:
The truth is most people regard those who speak with a foreign accent as superior and vice-versa
For example as an ibadan man some people see those of us who speak in our native dialect as razz people.



Even on Nairaland a lot of people make fun of[b] General Muhammadu Buhari[/b] because of his accent.

Until we start setting our priorities right, we still have a long way to go.


Cheers.

What exactly is wrong with Buhari's accent? I can understand his English clearly

EroticAngelina:
I think some emulate the american British accent..and some don't.

if they wanna change it, they can..but if they don't want, then they can't..its a choice.

some grow up with British accents like me they master it either from schooling there or attending a school with British curriculums

my pry school, we used British curriculum plus our phonetics teaching etc, that makes him or her get a British accent.

don't knw about america

So u grew with british accent abi who teach u

The OP is saying the truth and foreign accent is overrated. But then, I beg to disagree because as an OAP in progress, one of the requirements to work in a radio or tv station is your spoken english I.e pronunciations, stress patterns and what have you. And since in Nigeria, we emulate the British ways of doing things, it also boils down to speaking good english. Now tell me, After you spent over a year In learning right pronunciations and all which is in the british accent, how won't you have at least that accent even if it is small. But like you said, media houses won't employ if you don't have those accents so they exaggerate it

CAMNEWTON4PRES:
interesting perspective

what about when they start Ghana-must-go or lynching foreigners?

i forgot to add, when south africa lynched foreigners some years back, a nigerian man married to a south african, was morosely talking about how he speaks perfect south african yet was still harassed along with everybody else.

so, i guess speaking with a foreign country's accent would only help if you are not being quizzed by the opposing tribe during a tribal conflict.

tpia6:



i forgot to add, when south africa lynched foreigners some years back, a nigerian man married to a south african, was morosely talking about how he speaks perfect south african yet was still harassed along with everybody else.

so, i guess speaking with a foreign country's accent would only help if you are not being quizzed by the opposing tribe during a tribal conflict.

makes sense

Wihich Radio station fake bristish or American accent more?Vision,cool,Rythm,Hot,or wazobia FM?

heading to collect my LAFA AWARD will b back to comment.opps! appy nu month to u all

bossmini84:


So u grew with british accent abi who teach u

I was taught mastering the British way of pronouncing words at nursery school.

i roll with Nigerians my frnd! if i brot a british lady bac home n she stays in my house for a yr she sure will have a slight change of accent!!!!!

CAMNEWTON4PRES:
why is your so called bestie not adapting to you ?