I memorize words in the dictionary - Papa Nii

Veteran actor Papa Nii has said that his love for speaking big words was borne out of memorizing the words in the dictionary.

The actor born Henry Harden said in an interview that, his weakness in Maths pushed him into learning English.

“I was very bad in Maths and so I decided to read law and that was when I started memorizing big words in the dictionary,” he said.

According to him, being able to study law and practicing it strives on one’s ability to speak English and that influenced his decision to take his English lessons serious.

“I knew Math wasn’t for me and so back in school I could fail all the subjects but not English,” he added.

However he was quick to add that, "being able to speak big English words does not mean one is proficient in the language, English strives on good grammar and the ability to express oneself”

Explaining how he got the nickname “esophagus”, the actor said “I got the name from Television series “Taxi driver” where I mistakenly referred to my injured arm as my esophagus”

Recounting his experience at Ofori Panyin Secondary School, Papa Nii said, his ability to compose sentences with big English words made him an instant on “homo’s night”

“We were all asked to perform to entertain the seniors and as a form one boy, I told a story of a little boy who was fond of using big words by demonstrating and they hailed me,” he said.

Papa Nii was speaking to Abeiku Santana on UTV’s Atuu.