Register  Login  Active Topics  Maps  

Nigerians in Asia, what lang. do they use

 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages Post Reply
14 messages over 2 pages: 1
elvisrules
Tetraglot
Senior Member
BelgiumRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5469 days ago

286 posts - 390 votes 
Speaks: French, English*, Dutch, Flemish
Studies: Lowland Scots, Japanese, German

 
 Message 9 of 14
07 April 2010 at 12:18pm | IP Logged 
Didn't I answer this already? They will probably use their tribal language if they are from the same tribe, and pidgin if not. Do I know of any proper research to back this up? No, but that's my honest opinion, take it or leave it.
1 person has voted this message useful



Po-ru
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5480 days ago

173 posts - 235 votes 
Speaks: English*, Japanese
Studies: Korean, Spanish, Norwegian, Mandarin, French

 
 Message 10 of 14
07 April 2010 at 1:07pm | IP Logged 
elvisrules wrote:
Didn't I answer this already? They will probably use their tribal
language if they are from the same tribe, and pidgin if not. Do I know of any proper
research to back this up? No, but that's my honest opinion, take it or leave it.


I appreciate your reply very much but I am still looking for a more certain answer.
Specifically something slightly more concrete. I am not sure if you are in Japan or
China, but I believe you are in Belgium. The majority of Nigerians in Belgium MAY mainly
be speaking Igbo while the majority of Nigerians in Japan MAY be speaking Yoruba, or they
all might be speaking pidgin. Since I can't really distinguish the languages, I'd like
some more knowledge about them.
1 person has voted this message useful



ennime
Tetraglot
Senior Member
South Africa
universityofbrokengl
Joined 5904 days ago

397 posts - 507 votes 
Speaks: English, Dutch*, Esperanto, Afrikaans
Studies: Xhosa, French, Korean, Portuguese, Zulu

 
 Message 11 of 14
07 April 2010 at 2:18pm | IP Logged 
Po-ru wrote:
elvisrules wrote:
Didn't I answer this already? They will probably use
their tribal
language if they are from the same tribe, and pidgin if not. Do I know of any proper
research to back this up? No, but that's my honest opinion, take it or leave
it.


I appreciate your reply very much but I am still looking for a more certain answer.
Specifically something slightly more concrete. I am not sure if you are in Japan or
China, but I believe you are in Belgium. The majority of Nigerians in Belgium MAY
mainly
be speaking Igbo while the majority of Nigerians in Japan MAY be speaking Yoruba, or
they
all might be speaking pidgin. Since I can't really distinguish the languages, I'd like
some more knowledge about them.


Well, you are assuming that Yoruba Nigerians mostly migrate to Japan and Igbo Nigerians
migrate to Belgium... but that's a farfetched assumption.

Comparing it to South-Africans (black South Africans)... they speak whatever language
they speak with their own linguistic groups outside South-Africa (as I noticed among
some English teachers in South Korea) and English or whatever creole, slang, mixed
language they usually speak with each other if they're not from the same linguistic
group. Although in case of South Africans, English seems to be usually the case.
1 person has voted this message useful



global_gizzy
Senior Member
United States
maxcollege.blogspot.
Joined 5703 days ago

275 posts - 310 votes 
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 12 of 14
08 April 2010 at 1:23am | IP Logged 
Po-ru wrote:
elvisrules wrote:
Didn't I answer this already? They will probably use their tribal
language if they are from the same tribe, and pidgin if not. Do I know of any proper
research to back this up? No, but that's my honest opinion, take it or leave it.


I appreciate your reply very much but I am still looking for a more certain answer.
Specifically something slightly more concrete. I am not sure if you are in Japan or
China, but I believe you are in Belgium. The majority of Nigerians in Belgium MAY mainly
be speaking Igbo while the majority of Nigerians in Japan MAY be speaking Yoruba, or they
all might be speaking pidgin. Since I can't really distinguish the languages, I'd like
some more knowledge about them.


I've told you. You are going to HAVE TO ASK THEM what they are speaking...if you cant/couldn't tell just from listening, how is anyone else on this board, who only has your OP to go by, supposed to know?

You're going to have walk up to one of them, excuse yourself, get their attention and ASK them. I'm sorry, but that is the only way to find out.

Its likely they are speaking their tribal languages but its equally likely that they could be speaking any combination of languages amongst themselves.

Edited by global_gizzy on 08 April 2010 at 1:27am

1 person has voted this message useful



susjosa
Newbie
United States
Joined 5617 days ago

4 posts - 4 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: Japanese

 
 Message 13 of 14
30 May 2010 at 11:43pm | IP Logged 
Most, if not all Nigerians (fresh from Nigeria) speak pidgin. This is basically street English, with a few alterations. For example "Waiting you de talk?" means "What are you saying?" I would understand how it would seem like a different language, also taking into account thier accents. Those who do not speak pidgin just speak regular English.
As for the languages, the main types I know of are Benin, Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa. If people of the same language are speaking in the house, they will speak in that language. If it is outside, they will speak Pidgin or English.
I am not really sure how to figure out which one they are other than through global gizzy's reccomendation.
I hope it helped.

Edited by susjosa on 30 May 2010 at 11:52pm

1 person has voted this message useful



cordelia0507
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 5838 days ago

1473 posts - 2176 votes 
Speaks: Swedish*
Studies: German, Russian

 
 Message 14 of 14
31 May 2010 at 9:02am | IP Logged 
I have known quite a few Nigerians from work and Christian events here in London. There is a HUGE Nigerian diaspora in London at least, and probably around Europe to a smaller degree.

Conditions there are not great in Nigeria and plenty people don't care about sticking around and improving the country, they just want to get out... I think most of them want to get to to the UK in particular, possible the US, Canada or Japan although that's harder to achieve. Hard for them to get visas.

The majority of those who succeed are urban "middle class" type people from Lagos, with an education. Not your tribal bush girl/guy, although such people can probably be found too. But everyone I got to know have said they are from Lagos. They tend to be conservative and religiously (Christian) minded.

They speak English as a second language, almost a mother tongue but NOT English as we know it. It's a pidgin version. That's what I've heard them speak between themselves. They throw in lots of words in some other language and the accent is very thick.I think that's the trend in Africa, like Emmine said: People mix & match and use whatever they can communicate with the other party in, without thinking much about it.

One woman I know speaks another language (not English) with her husband, but I don't know what language that is. She has a son whom she speaks English with. I asked a guy at church about it once and he said his mother tongue was Yoruba but he was just as happy speaking English.

I agree with previous posters: If you want to know about what the people you are referring to are speaking, you have to ask them. We here haven't got a clue about it, it's not the sort of thing that people know, and the Nigerians themselves prefer to be regarded by others as fully English speaking.




1 person has voted this message useful



This discussion contains 14 messages over 2 pages: << Prev 1

If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register


Post ReplyPost New Topic Printable version Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page was generated in 0.3281 seconds.


DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript
Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved
No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization.