The English language is not as complicated as some of us think it is - of course HUMANS make it complicated just like everything else; relationships, gender, sexuality, etc. But getting your point across (in English) to an English speaker couldn't be that difficult, could it?

I remember once when I was travelling on London's underground I encountered a loud-mouth sitting opposite me. She was screaming down her mobile phone whilst the train was still overground. She was trying to get an alpha-numeric code (excuse me, letters and numbers) across to the recipient but she may as well have been a Scottish stammerer stuttering through a mouthful of hot potatoes...

'...t! t! I said T not D...T! T! T! Can you hear me? I said T o! I DIDN'T SAY D...No! we are not saying the same thing! T for Tayo...Eh heh...yes...Wait o, did you say Dayo?...NOT D! T-T-T- HELLO...HELLO?...' - She lost reception just as I was beginning to lose my mind.

Anyway I'm sure most of us who've booked airline/railway tickets are not bemused by the coded lingo the sales reps smack unto our eardrums i.e. R for Romeo, G for Golf, T for Tango, S for Sugar, F for Freddie, etc. You could save yourself a whole lot of saliva if you tried. After all, isn't the important thing to be heard and understood?

The Internet has captured the shorthand generation of SMS pundits who now marade chatrooms with their lol, lmao, rotf, rotflmao, brb, gtg, ttyl, wtf, tgif, l8r, gn8 and the 'not so popular' myob. These codes have transpired into everyday use and MUST be understood by all.

I only have one instance in my life where the English Language did not prove useful - my JSCE...in Yoruba. I still remember the way my paper remained blank whilst I stared at the Essay question which said something about writing on my first day at secondary school (I think). I looked to my left and I looked to my right but no one was ready to let me sneak a peak. I did the only thing I could think of at that point...do a written plea (in English) and hope that the examiner would be sympathetic enough to let me sail through. It was way back in 1993 when I was 13 but it went a lil something like this...

'Dear Sir,

I am from Rivers State and I speak Ijaw. You can even look at my name. I do not understand Yoruba at all and the teachers always taught us in Yoruba and I did not understand what they were saying. Please I am begging you to please take pity on me and let me pass this exam. I would be so grateful and I am sure you have a kind heart. Thank you so much. God bless.'

I still laugh about the whole thing and even now in Lagos I'm speaking Yoruba at a very basic conversational level. Even when I struggle to speak some people choose not to hear - I've been referred to as Tanwa and Tomiwa and I deliberately chose not to respond. If you were born 'Kehinde' and you allow people in Jand to refer to you as 'Kenny' then dont complain!

In conclusion, the English Language is still evolving and a good grasp of it could make all the difference in nailing that job interview, courting your future partner, getting picked to be the Best Man, receiving a standing ovation for a speech, and not to mention, writing a damn good persuasive letter...which reminds me - I almost forgot to state my Yoruba JSCE result...

I got an F9.

...yes, you guessed it! I failed.

.



Nice write up

in a simple sentence, Sir , You failed Yoruba abii?

Ok

Astonishing

I heard it from some igbo friends of mine that Yoruba is more easier than their igbo language I don't know how true is this?

Lol

My brother you are a comedian.

98% of people will only understand that you failed your JSCE Yoruba exams....

Okay

yoruba is nt easy biko, dnt mind ur frnds

abatisegun:
I heard it from some igbo friends of mine that Yoruba is more easier than their igbo language I don't know how true is this?

What did you have in WAEC?

Smh

Good read.

Hilarious

nice one..

holla for bitcoin

Yoruba is a cool language and it's not difficult to understand.

AT THE END OF THE DAY WHAT DID YOU SCORED IN YOUR ESSAY?

Yeebos will avoid this thread

abatisegun:
I heard it from some igbo friends of mine that Yoruba is more easier than their igbo language I don't know how true is this?

Yeah, in Igbo language so many words are spelt the same and pronounced differently with a very different meaning so most times its not easy to differentiate.

TINALETC3:
yoruba is nt easy biko, dnt mind ur frnds

Yoruba is quite easy,I could remember in my primary school days,an Igbo girl was(Chikwere Ajaere)the numero Uno in Yoruba and also in our secondary school days,most Igbo students that did their language from JSS thru SS class had to switch to Yoruba in WAEC for fear of F9.What do you call that?

TINALETC3:
yoruba is nt easy biko, dnt mind ur frnds

Yoruba is very easy.

Na so me all the way from cross river state go register igbo language for WAEC for imo state, I copy from one girl for exam hall sote i go copy her name, na so dey girl shout say I want make waec seize her result! them nack me D7.

ovadozes:

Yeah, in Igbo language so many words are spelt the same and pronounced differently with a very different meaning so most times its not easy to differentiate.

You mean Igbo is a tonal language. Yoruba language has the same thing. For example, 'Ogun' and 'Oko' can mean a whole lot of different things depending on how you pronounce them.