DON’T TELL US HOW TO SPEAK!

Just as any two living creatures have a common ancestor in the tree of life, so any two languages have a common tongue from which they ultimately derived. Scientists currently believe that the world’s 6,000 modern languages, from English to Mandarin, can all be traced back to a ‘mother tongue’ - an ancestral language spoken in Africa 50,000 to 70,000 years ago. Differently put: all languages are descended from primordial African!

This makes it all the more galling that Africans who visit, work or live outside of the continent are often taunted and laughed at because sometimes they don’t pronounce English words ‘properly’ - even though these words are ‘deviations’ (however far removed) from African-language words.

The continent’s turbulent history of colonisation is the reason for the use of European languages in African schools, commerce and governments today. However, something that is overlooked is that most Africans are accustomed to speaking multiple languages, perhaps three or more, throughout the course of a single day.

That’s one reason Africans pronounce certain words with an accent - they can speak other languages fluently enough for those languages to interfere with their English.

In this clip, Anna Mwalagho (@mamaafricaanna) - an African storyteller living in the United States - gives a passionate defence of the uniqueness of African accents, arguing that this diversity is something to celebrate and be proud of.

Hit like if you agree.

Video Credit: @mamaafricaanna (IG)