Emmyk:

Lol. Where did you get all these statistics you've been dishing out in your posts? 99% of this, 98%.

I'm a Yoruba man and I pronounce 'house' correctly. Lol.

You are only generalising, I believe it all boils down to one's educational background and your family/environment.

Going to good schools also help reduce mother-tongue interference as well as fluency when speaking.

It is not you that will say you pronouce "h" well. Someone outside needs to tell you that bro.

Yes, it is a general way of life of some people. Yoruba does not have "h" alphabeth, and no word starts with "h" in yoruba. So, it is like that. Its like saying: British men drink tea with milk, while Russian men drink tea without milk". Bro, the statement is general and very true. Only Russian men who have lived outside Russia for many years cultivate the habit of using milk to drink tea. You do not need any reference for such. It is a general accepted believe because it is their way of life.

Good school or no good school, if 90% of teachers there are Naija, there is no difference. Most of the teachers spend at least their first 18 years in Naija. They might form it while teaching phonetics but the teachers themselves uncontrollable swap to concentrated naija style as soon as phonetics class is over. So, what is the fate of the kids? But if the teachers are all round british, children will pick British accents. If Americans, they pick it.

Brother, no argument here. It is called exposure. You can live in the US for 90 years and speak concentrated Nigerian style. I am not saying it is bad. And you can spend just 3 months there and change most of these things. Why? You mix more with people of different ways of pronoucing words, you open your ears to hear the sounds, and you see how their tongues roll. If you are opened to correcting yourself, it is easy. But if you feel you speak fluently cos you attended a British elementary to Secondary school in naija, you are On-Your-Own.

Did you read where the lady says her dad keeps fighting that he pronouces his words well? Sorry, no be you go say you sabi pronouce "h" but na another person go correct you or appauld you. Na write you dey write for nairaland. Abi i hear how you dey speak?

@fluentinfor , I still insist you are generalising that all Yorubas have the 'H' factor, all Hausas pronouce "People" as "Veevle" or "Feefle" or Igbos pronoucing letter R in a weird way.

My guess is you've been meeting strictly those that grew up in typical villages but I'm in no way ruling out the fact that those that grew up in the cities do not have these mother-tongue interference.

You can regale me with another long epistle with irrelevant analogies in your next reply, still won't change anything.

You can tell someone is from Nigeria after a sentence or two.

Emmyk:
@fluentinfor , I still insist you are generalising that all Yorubas have the 'H' factor, all Hausas pronouce "People" as "Veevle" or "Feefle" or Igbos pronoucing letter R in a weird way.

My guess is you've been meeting strictly those that grew up in typical villages but I'm in no way ruling out the fact that those that grew up in the cities do not have these mother-tongue interference.

You can regale me with another long epistle with irrelevant analogies in your next reply, still won't change anything.

First, learn how to discuss without direct attacking. Second, learn to bring out facts and not just talk. Third, learn to prove your points logically. I cannot even mske sense of you quoting me. A beg, no time for your kind of talk.

The way you concluded that I meant "all" is a clue that I should not continue with you. And if you have been following me and you still think its local league I play with all I have written might mean you might have difficulties in arrival at a reasonable conclusion no matter the facts you have before you. Bro, i do not have time to discuss with low level arguments. And I do not time to attack anyone. Make your point and leave it to the audience to decide. If you call some people low and irrevant people because you think you went to one british fake school in Nigeria, it is your cup of tea. I roll with everyone, and it is why i replied you with your low level assumptions, but it is not helping.

I respect all on nairaland, including you. Please, you have a diiferent way of reasoning from mine, and I still do not see you inferior. But you have just shown your level of reasoning.

I wish you luck.

Mutendiwashe:
You can tell someone is from Nigeria after a sentence or two.

Please, kindly let the guy who quoted me above understand this fact ma. He thinks mixing up with some spoilt kids or being taught by a local teacher in the disguice of British school makes him have his accent different from from the boy who went to a public school. I guess he is under 15. I may be wrong but from his assumptions, that is his level of reasoning. Please, just leave him alone.

I usually hear such kids speak funny thinking their accent is clear. But to me, it is just the same as the boy who went to local schools. But they do not know.

Sister, the issue is that you can know someone is from Nigeria because you can hear his/her distinct way of voicing some sounds which is peculiar to Nigerians. It doesnt make Nigerians inferior but it is just better to reduce ones accent in a place where not too many speak like one. Simple as ABC. But an inferior complex person will argue with you to dead end. Just leave him, and walk away.

Just from one sentence or two, it is easy to identify a Nigerian, a ghanian, a kenyan, a zambiam, a south african, etc. Why? Every commumity has a general way of speaking.

Thanks for your post. Bless you.

Mobilia:


Why do you think that is?
Perhaps you can teach them proper English....

I advise you to not respond again. They always say Americans speak bad English which I just smile and walk away. No matter how you try to make them reason well, they will not accept.

It is not their fault. They cannot differenciate sounds because everything sounds same to them. So, why argue or try to correct them.

The guy who got out of interview room or conference or whatever was being told everywhere he speaks well because it is a polite way to say guy "You speak differently". If I was him, I would be concerned and not happy. It is just a polite way people with hard accent are told to work on it politely. Grammar maybe ok, but pronounciation was just strange to the listeners, so they had to tell him. But he is not wise enough to understand the message. Is he the only Nigerian who speaks there that everyone keeps telling him he speaks nicely?

fluentinfor:


First, learn how to discuss without direct attacking. Second, learn to bring out facts and not just talk. Third, learn to prove your points logically. I cannot even mske sense of you quoting me. A beg, no time for your kind of talk.

The way you concluded that I meant "all" is a clue that I should not continue with you. And if you have been following me and you still think its local league I play with all I have written might mean you might have difficulties in arrival at a reasonable conclusion no matter the facts you have before you. Bro, i do not have time to discuss with low level arguments. And I do not time to attack anyone. Make your point and leave it to the audience to decide. If you call some people low and irrevant people because you think you went to one british fake school in Nigeria, it is your cup of tea. I roll with everyone, and it is why i replied you with your low level assumptions, but it is not helping.

I respect all on nairaland, including you. Please, you have a diiferent way of reasoning from mine, and I still do not see you inferior. But you have just shown your level of reasoning.

I wish you luck.

Same boring hogwash.

You have a short-term memory as you've forgotten you generalized in your earlier post.

I wish you luck also, with your myopic reasoning!

fluentinfor:


Please, kindly let the guy who quoted me above understand this fact ma. He thinks mixing up with some spoilt kids or being taught by a local teacher in the disguice disguise of British school makes him have his accent different from from the boy who went to a public school. I guess he is under 15. I may be wrong but from his assumptions, that is his level of reasoning. Please, just leave him alone.

I usually hear such kids speak funny thinking their accent is clear. But to me, it is just the same as the boy who went to local schools. But they do not know.

Sister, the issue is that you can know someone is from Nigeria because you can hear his/her distinct way of voicing some sounds which is peculiar to Nigerians. It doesnt make Nigerians inferior but it is just better to reduce ones accent in a place where not too many speak like one. Simple as ABC. But an inferior complex person will argue with you to dead end. Just leave him, and walk away.

Just from one sentence or two, it is easy to identify a Nigerian, a ghanian, a kenyan, a zambiam, a south african, etc. Why? Every commumity has a general way of speaking.

Thanks for your post. Bless you.

@highlighted, there is a difference between speaking fluently with proper pronunciations and faking a British accent, slowpoke!

Your reasoning is so 1842. Hello!
It's pointless arguing with you after this realisation.

Have a good day!

Babaelemu:
don't make me laugh. I'm not ashamed to say it cos I have our educational system controlled by our government to blame. Basically from experience I think I have improve my spoken English and still learning.

An argument will always go two ways so I really don't expect you to support my motions. I want to believe I have given you all to those who believe we speak good English enough prove to digest from one on one encounter, words of mouth and writes up by other people rather than being bais.

I'm not disputing we don't speak English we do and it our official language but outsiders don't consider our spoken english as a good one point blank.

I love my country and I really wish her well.

Seems this guy schooled in a remote environment!
He's making sweeping statements and probably suffering from acute inferiority complex. I'm sure he's thinking backwardly about the worth. Reading his spoken language gives him out.

Babaelemu, many Nigerians including my wife have accents that Americans and Europeans finds loving (she interfaces them that much). Grow up from your backwardness and stop projecting it on every Nigerians you know.

Emmyk:

Same boring hogwash.

You have a short-term memory as you've forgotten you generalized in your earlier post.

I wish you luck also, with your myopic reasoning!

My brother, make your points, leave whoever doesn't agree with you. And do not just quote people to pass direct insults. Even you do not agree with the person, try to be polite. You may meet someone you abused online in real life someday. I took time to read some of your posts, and I found that you keep insulting many people on different sections and threads.

Just do everything deligently with extreme caution. It is my golden advice for you.

My brother, you won. Hurray! You have an excellent, clean, American accent. You pronounce "h" nicely, and you are so American. I accept your parents sent you to the best school in Nigeria. You deserve some accolades. I agree with you that you are of the super high class and you will never mix with local people. Also, you do not associate with low people like us. Again, you are already 2050 in the future, while some like us are still 1840. Hurray!

You have made your points. You are right. We are wrong. Anything else?

My plead is just allow other people make their points. You do not need to attack or insult them if you do not agree with them. At the end, readers just want different opinions. That's all. You will not get a FIFA throphy for insulting everyone.

Bro, relax. It is good you are contributing to debates. I respect that. Just relax. Your voice can be heard without being insultive.

People make mistakes while typing, spell check, many things. But when you start picking out mistakes just to prove you are right, I can bet you that there are tens in your posts. Just let it slide bro. Accent is different from grammar. Ok?

Bless you. Keep contributing to threads. And great future ahead of you sir.

Take care!

fluentinfor:


I advise you to not respond again. They always say Americans speak bad English which I just smile and walk away. No matter how you try to make them reason well, they will not accept.

It is not their fault. They cannot differenciate sounds because everything sounds same to them. So, why argue or try to correct them.

The guy who got out of interview room or conference or whatever was being told everywhere he speaks well because it is a polite way to say guy "You speak differently". If I was him, I would be concerned and not happy. It is just a polite way people with hard accent are told to work on it politely. Grammar maybe ok, but pronounciation was just strange to the listeners, so they had to tell him. But he is not wise enough to understand the message. Is he the only Nigerian who speaks there that everyone keeps telling him he speaks nicely?

It not about differentiating between sound. The point is most Americans speak English grammatically wrong. Maybe you think “you ain’t seen nothing yet” is a good English to you. Instead of “you have not seen anything yet”. Or “ I’m not talking to nobody “ is a good English to you instead of “anybody “. What about “we ain’t eat” instead of “we haven’t eaten” ?. That’s the way they speak their English just to mention a few. Well educated Americans like the ones not living in the hood know that all these and the likes are bad English. So many especially blacks in the hood cannot even express themselves in full standard English for five minutes without talking like I mentioned above . Have you seen any college books published in America written with such wording? No. Because they, the authors know that those are bad English.

optimusprime2:
This question is specifically meant for Non-Nigerians, though Nigerian opinions are always welcome...
How do you find the Nigerian accent as regards to audibility of spoken English, diction, wordplay and general appeal- basically is it sexy?

Re: Justwise, lalasticlala please do the needful.

I don't know about any accent being sexy...what does that really mean? Nigerians generally speak with a certain rhythm and pronounce many words differently from others. That's the accent.... doesn't matter if the grammar is correct or not and that's what makes someone easily ID a Nigerian. I love accents...what I hate is people faking it...and most 'upper class' Nigerians sound like idiots with their fake accent. Nigerians... and Trinidadians (Trinidad) ...add music to whatever they be saying...and you have a hit song!
One may think his pronunciation is on point...accent mild...until he travels and be shocked to learn the simplest of words foreigners find difficult to understand!
After all...wE should be proud of our accent.... as long as we can communicate....after all...English is not our first tongue...after all.... the British have their own accents and so do the Americans...some British can't understand others...Americans in the north find it kinda difficult understanding those from the South..all English being their first and only tongue!

Originalsly:


I don't know about any accent being sexy...what does that really mean? Nigerians generally speak with a certain rhythm and pronounce many words differently from others. That's the accent.... doesn't matter if the grammar is correct or not and that's what makes someone easily ID a Nigerian. I love accents...what I hate is people faking it...and most 'upper class' Nigerians sound like idiots with their fake accent. Nigerians... and Trinidadians (Trinidad) ...add music to whatever they be saying...and you have a hit song!
One may think his pronunciation is on point...accent mild...until he travels and be shocked to learn the simplest of words foreigners find difficult to understand!
After all...wE should be proud of our accent.... as long as we can communicate....after all...English is not our first tongue...after all.... the British have their own accents and so do the Americans...some British can't understand others...Americans in the north find it kinda difficult understanding those from the South..all English being their first and only tongue!

What I meant by sexy; is does English spoken with the Nigerian accent sound appealing or attractive to non Nigerian English speakers.
E.g. I find English spoken with a French accent quite interesting, however some accents make English sound disturbing... basically which category does the Nigerian accent fall under?

drakeli:
It not about differentiating between sound. The point is most Americans speak English grammatically wrong. Maybe you think “you ain’t seen nothing yet” is a good English to you. Instead of “you have not seen anything yet”. Or “ I’m not talking to nobody “ is a good English to you instead of “anybody “. What about “we ain’t eat” instead of “we haven’t eaten” ?. That’s the way they speak their English just to mention a few. Well educated Americans like the ones not living in the hood know that all these and the likes are bad English. So many especially blacks in the hood cannot even express themselves in full standard English for five minutes without talking like I mentioned above . Have you seen any college books published in America written with such wording? No. Because they, the authors know that those are bad English.

My brother, I get what you are saying, but they are slangs that are gradually accepted. In todays English, responsible people use "aint". They just call it informal. We have so many informal words in Nigeria too. And as far as I can remember, I had a serious hot argument with my friends when I was in college about who has more slangs. When that Jamaican boy started....guy, I chilled for one corner sharp sharp. They use I and me same way. They do not follow the subjective and objective rules. Some raggae dudes say they can only use "I" because they will be always "high". Never "me". Lol. I do not know if you get me. Then, when my Zambian dude started using some Zulu sounds in his English, I took cover. And then the Kenyan lady used some Swahili mix her English to say some words, I was lost.

Here is my point. When Americans broke away from British, they just did not want "wahala" with English. They spelt cheque "check". They couldn't understand why they must add the silent "u" sound to colour, so they adopted color. These words used to be slangs or informal at one time, but gradually, they were adopted as formal.

Sir, I still can tell you when an African American talks and when a caucasian talks. However, I couldn't say that Obama was black the first time I heard him talk. Not at all. Not a single trace of black accent. I hope you agree with me. Not even a trace of an African American. But that does not make Obama less or great.

We are unique the way we talk in Nigeria. We are ok. It is just that we should ponounce words clearly when we are with people who do not umderstand us because it is the right thing to do. Just like that African American understands this dude might not know what "aint" means, so he tries to use aren't. And those of them who arent well exposed say it anyway. But mind you "ain't is generally accepted now. I only used it as example.

Now, let me address this. To say Nigerians speak better English than Americans is false. Going by facts, if you take real statistics and go to the north to take the figures of people who speak bad English, you will sure agree that it is a lie we speak better English. For crying aloud, it is their native language. English is not ours.

Why do you think more universities in the US and Canada insist Nigerians take TOEFL these days? Do they ask their citizens to take it despite "ain't" or no "ain't"? Even South Africans black are more exempted than Nigerians. Think sir! Let me answer you. Many of them exempted Nigerians (English = official language) in the past, but they realised that when these guys newly arrive, most professors and students do not understand them. And they also find it hard to cope in class at the initial stage. Thank God Tv series are so common in Naija these days so young people can easily improve their listening proeficiency.

My brother, a no dey boast oooo. If a land naija, na solid naija a go rap for you. But as soon as a land the other side, tongue don change. Na when a start to dey shuttle here and there a dey forget myself at times to speak "pho-ne" here. But now, all the way naija in naija. A no go say Fath-er. Lailai. Na Fa-da. I remember my initial visitations to naija, my siblings did not like me talk in markets. Dem don increase price times 5 cos na "ajebo" be customer. But now, na me dey beat price down pass.

No matter how terrible you think American grammar is, Jeez! Check nairaland naooooo. No be grammar people dey murder anyhow on this forum? Americans do not murder English like this naoo. Guy, reason with me naooo. Abi you no dey read American forums ni? Chai! Naija dey kill "Engris"

I am not going ro mention names. Who do you appreciate more when he speaks? The honorable foreign affairs minister or the president?

optimusprime2:

What I meant by sexy; is does English spoken with the Nigerian accent sound appealing or attractive to non Nigerian English speakers.
E.g. I find English spoken with a French accent quite interesting, however some accents make English sound disturbing... basically which category does the Nigerian accent fall under?

Quite interesting category.....and that is reflected in many ..especially those who were fans of Nollywood... trying to imitate the accent. Some other accents....whewww!....the Arabs..like they be clearing their throats and about to spit. .. the Chinese... like their mouth is full of spit...the Russian types a combination of thebtwo...rough accents...but I love them all...and am exposed to a whole lot on a daily basis.

I took time to read through this thread and no surprises from what I read so far. I had no intention to post here initially but I just had to contribute to the subject considering the heated arguments that ensued between some posters here. This topic was a subject of discussion between me and some folks just few days ago. I have not even seen this thread at the time. And part of that discussion was the continuous use of English and French by most African countries years after independence. I guess this will make a good topic of discussion for another day!

I will always say this: accent for spoken English varies across continents, from country to country and from people to people. Respect and open mindedness is what is required to get along with people from different side of the divide. When other non English speaking European nationals who have little or no understanding of English speak to their European English speaking nationals, they always find a way to understand them no matter how terrible they sound. But the moment an African speaks, they are quick to show their impatience in listening and the accent narrative crops up! To buttress my points, I find it difficult to hear an average Irish speak - especially their young ones. The first Scottish person I came in contact with was on another level of accent which I couldn't reckon with until I asked where he came from. Asians also have their own peculiar accents. I have not seen Asians discuss issues like this because they use their various languages as means of communication even though most of the Asian countries were colonized by the British.

And for the Americans, I have come in contact with few people from Texas, Louisiana and Tennessee. They all have different accents. This further shows that accent is peculiar. England as a country is on another level of it. People from Liverpool speak differently from people from London and Bristol not to talk of people from Wales and Northern Ireland. As for our English speaking counterparts from Africa - South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe, et al; I have come in contact with couple of them and I must say their accent is not as heavenly as some folks here want us to believe.

If you have rightly observed, when the so called native English speakers speak and you don't hear them, they see you as one who doesn't understand English. But when you speak and they don't understand you, they still tell you you've got thick accent. And for those born outside of Nigeria, your accent is/was influenced by your environment and nothing more. If you were born in Nigeria, your accent won't be any different from Nigerians depending on the part of the country you come from or live.

In all fairness, female native English speakers are better listeners than their male counterparts.

I have been taught by Italian, English, Croatian, Dutch and Irish professors and they all pronounce words differently. Like I earlier stated, respect and open mindedness is what is required to get along with everyone.

fluentinfor:


I advise you to not respond again. They always say Americans speak bad English which I just smile and walk away. No matter how you try to make them reason well, they will not accept.

It is not their fault. They cannot differenciate sounds because everything sounds same to them. So, why argue or try to correct them.

The guy who got out of interview room or conference or whatever was being told everywhere he speaks well because it is a polite way to say guy "You speak differently". If I was him, I would be concerned and not happy. It is just a polite way people with hard accent are told to work on it politely. Grammar maybe ok, but pronounciation was just strange to the listeners, so they had to tell him. But he is not wise enough to understand the message. Is he the only Nigerian who speaks there that everyone keeps telling him he speaks nicely?

Ok...no problem. Thanks