NLS Lagos Lessons

She was a Nigerian, truly,this girl was really a Nigerian from Anambra State but I had to look at the face of the person speaking to know if she was a Nigerian/not.
She said; ” أَبْجَدِيَّة عَرَبِيَّ أَبْجَدِيَّة عَرَبِيَّ Darling”…
And I replied; “huh,please répéter? ”
It wasn’t my fault,I really couldn’t understand her. The words sounded like arabic and of course,I only understand English Language.

You still don’t get what the scene above posits? Please Sit down Dearie,let me gist you…In the spirit of Christmas break from NLS Lagos,I am sharing one of the most profound things(apart from read your books,read your books) I have learnt in my two months in NLS Lagos and that is the fact that,if you are a pretty girl and you do not have an oyinbo accent,then YOU ARE WRONG!
Now,oyinbo accent could be American,British,Chinese,Japanese,just make sure you have an accent and that it doesn’t sound like Naija own!

I have heard it all here-“Thank you darling,sweetie,you know, Shueshueshueshue(shueshue because I can’t decipher what it means)”and it goes on and on….
All these are usually said with head shaking,gestures to boot and in a voice that sounds like air has been sucked out of it.
And now that I am going home,I can express myself.
I am so done! I have had enough! What the crazy bananas!
What’s it with ladies and the fake,silly accents??
Is it a sign of so-called sophistication?
Why can’t we speak like the Nigerians that we are??
Must we twist our tongues and twist poor people’s ears like mine too??

Except with the proviso that you grew up overseas,we all know that there’s no way you can speak like that ordinarily.
We hail from Nigeria and there is always that Nigerian flavor in the way we speak.
See Aunty Joke Silva?
Do you detect any sign of fake accent when she speaks?
No!
But she’s definitely one of the best when it comes to spoken english in Nigeria(at least that I have heard)
Even with her eloquence,I can still tell that its a Nigerian speaking because the accent is not fake. Its Nigerian,its her.
Ehen,even Sophie Okonedo,that Nigerian lady that stars in hollywood movies,I can tell she’s Nigerian from the way she speaks and no she doesn’t sound “bush” and yes,she speaks English very well.

Pardon me dear,but I am still confused as to how,you that have never left the shores of Nigeria or leave for weekends or a month at most grew that accent.
So I guess I allowed to conclude that its either you grew the accent here in naija or you travelled abroad and grew it in a month or one/two years,yea?

To me,there’s something refreshing about seeing a Nigerian in public speaking with the unmistakable Nigerian accent that we know. And there’s definitely nothing refreshing about a Nigerian girl speaking in tones that we are not cut out for.
There’s nothing beautiful about seeing “a fine girl” speaking from her nose and twisting her tongue like no man’s business.
Yeah,I say Nigerian girl because I’ve noticed that this is mostly done by the ladies,the guys don’t really care,but I’ve seen some guys that are worse o.
#Janded guys(story for another day)

Let’s celebrate our uniqueness and stop the “forming forming”
My ear don full and I don tire!!!
Why can’t we be ourselves and revel in our own uniqueness?
I am a Nigerian,I speak like a Nigerian and I am proud of it.

Errrm…
please do not crucify me yet,I am just sharing my two cents about this big something I’ve learnt and like one of my lecturers will say,this is my personal opinion,I maybe wrong about what I think and simply be so backward in the ‘reigning things’.
So maybe,just maybe I need to get/grow my own accent too.
Please do tell me what you think in the comment box.
Thanks loves for being there *Insert Plenty,plenty kisses for you all*

And oh,I hope you are all doing good?
Happy? Joyful? Yes? Yes?
Nice! 😀
Hastalavista Dearies.

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