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• shahidi 3 weeks ago

  Excellent analysis. But the author does not provide practical solutions. How can children learn Ga or Twi without proper learning materials?

  Excellent analysis. But the author does not provide practical solutions. How can children learn Ga or Twi without proper learning materials?

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• Dr. Bertha Ayi 3 weeks ago

  Thank you. As a nation once we decide we want to learn the local language we will adopt the few simple additional alphabets in the various languages. Our languages are simpler to learn than English. We will be able to read En ...
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  Thank you. As a nation once we decide we want to learn the local language we will adopt the few simple additional alphabets in the various languages. Our languages are simpler to learn than English. We will be able to read English better and even learn other languages faster. We do not need a whole lot of new materials. Our MInistry of Education would budget for more books in our local languages

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• Nsia 3 weeks ago

  On the whole, I think your article is fairly reasonable. But, I do not for one minute believe any of your statistics. And, you failed to put certain things into account. India, had a written language in Hindi and Tamil long ...
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  On the whole, I think your article is fairly reasonable. But, I do not for one minute believe any of your statistics. And, you failed to put certain things into account. India, had a written language in Hindi and Tamil long before any white nan set foot on their soil. We did not. A fact, all the airy-fairy language doomsday propagandists in Ghana never talk about.
  Now, whose Mother Tongue are you talking about? So, a person born in a certain region in Ghana whose language is not written should learn Twi or Fante as his or her mother tongue in his or her village or what?
  When an Aowin man goes to sec school in Paga and later marries his school sweetheart and they settle in Tema or Accra, they might communicate in English but their children will definitely be able to speak Ga through their friends. That is a fact. I can definitely give numerous examples of that.
  At the time when almost every broadcaster in Ghana seems to broadcast almost everything in Twi as if the people in Wa, Sogakope, Sefwi, Pusiga etc are legally obliged to understand it, that is all these language doomsayer are lamenting including the writer of this article.
  Those constantly whingeing about language in Ghana tends to come from a family where both parents speak the same language ,and they think everybody fits into the same bracket.
  Ivory Coast consists of various ethnic groups. They all speak their various languages at home and use French as a bridge between them. None, of them cries over that. When Captain Smart sits on his National TV show or Delay interviews a prominent Ghanain in Twi, do they expect the people in Accra, Kpandu, Walewale to understand them or what?
  There is no language crisis in Ghana from where I am sitting. We should rather strive hard to improve our English. I have spoken Akan languages all my life, yet I do not what Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Amoeba or Molecule are called in any Akan language.

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• Dr. Bertha Ayi 3 weeks ago

  Thank you for the observation. I found that teaching the local language would actually help the husband and wife from differnt tribes communicate better. One practical step would be to introduce the additional 5–6 alphabet ...
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  Thank you for the observation. I found that teaching the local language would actually help the husband and wife from differnt tribes communicate better. One practical step would be to introduce the additional 5–6 alphabet characters used in Ghanaian languages alongside the standard 26 English letters in early childhood education. Through phonics, children could learn to read both English and their local languages simultaneously. One practical step would be to introduce the additional characters used in Ghanaian languages alongside the standard 26 English letters in early childhood education. For example, in widely spoken Akan (Twi/Fante), only two unique vowels are needed: Ɛɛ (like 'e' in 'set' or 'get') and Ɔɔ (like 'o' in 'all' or 'short'). Ga adds just three (Ɛɛ, Ɔɔ, Ŋŋ), and Ewe a handful more—all on the familiar Latin script.
  As someone who taught all three of my children to read by age four using phonics—before they even started school—I can attest firsthand: English vowels require learning multiple forms and rules (long e, short e, silent e, context shifts like 'o' in 'hot' vs. 'all' vs. 'go'). In our local languages, it's far more intuitive—no guesswork. Each letter reliably matches one primary sound.
  We must teach these extra alphabets early. Akan (Twi/Fante) uses only 22 letters total—just two unique vowels (Ɛɛ and Ɔɔ) beyond English's 26. Ewe expands to 30, adding dedicated characters for precise sounds without the confusion of English irregularities. Starting with these in phonics builds stronger, faster foundational literacy in the mother tongue, which then transfers beautifully to English mastery. Our children deserve this intuitive head start—creating confident, capable readers who are both culturally rooted and globally ready.
  Ga, widely spoken in urban Accra, mirrors this minimalism with just three unique letters beyond English's 26: Ɛɛ (open e, like 'e' in 'bed'), Ɔɔ (open o, like 'o' in 'pot'), and Ŋŋ (like 'ng' in 'sing'). Like Akan's streamlined 22-letter set, Ga's orthography eliminates guesswork—vowels map directly and reliably, with no context-dependent shifts or silent letters. Introducing these shared specials early via phonics would bridge urban language loss and rural English struggles alike, empowering children to read confidently in their mother tongue first, then transfer skills seamlessly to English and even other Ghanaian languages for greater national cohesion.
  In my view—and backed by literacy research—these consistent orthographies in Ghanaian languages make initial reading far easier and more intuitive for children. Unlike English, where the same letter 'o' can sound wildly different ('hot,' 'all,' 'go') or 'e' can be long, short, or silent depending on context, Akan vowels like ɛ (always like 'e' in 'set') and ɔ (always like 'o' in 'all') eliminate guesswork. No wondering about silent letters or vowel shifts—children simply map sounds to letters reliably. This builds stronger phonemic awareness and decoding skills early on, creating more confident, efficient readers who then transfer those foundational abilities to English more effectively. We're not just preserving culture; we're creating smarter, more capable learners from the start.
  For instance, in Dagbani (widely spoken in Northern Ghana), children never have to puzzle over why the 's' in 'pleasure' suddenly sounds like 'zh'—there's a dedicated letter Ʒ ʒ for that exact sound, just as in 'measure.' No exceptions or context rules; the orthography matches the mouth directly.
  Even more exciting: Many Ghanaian languages share key special characters like Ɛ ɛ and Ɔ ɔ (the open e and o vowels found in Akan, Ga, Ewe, Dagbani, and beyond). If we introduce these consistently in early phonics—building on the familiar 26 English letters—children could gain foundational skills that transfer across languages. A Dagbani reader might more easily decode basic words in Twi or Ga due to overlapping symbols and predictable sounds. This isn't just about preserving individual tongues; it's about creating a richer, more interconnected multilingual society where any child can access reading in multiple Ghanaian languages. That shared literacy foundation could strengthen national cohesiveness, reduce ethnic silos, and build a generation that's proudly local yet broadly connected.
  Even in Ewe (Volta Region), which uses 30 letters with about 7–8 unique additions (including the shared Ɛɛ and Ɔɔ), the orthography remains consistent and intuitive—no variable vowel rules or absent letters creating confusion. This pattern across our major languages shows the added phonics load is manageable and worthwhile.
  Ewe (Èʋegbe), spoken in the Volta Region and beyond, uses 30 letters with about 7–8 unique additions beyond English (including shared Ɛɛ and Ɔɔ, plus Ɖɖ, Ƒƒ, Ɣɣ, Ŋŋ, Ʋʋ, Xx for precise local sounds). These make reading intuitive—no guesswork with variable vowels or absent letters like Q in 'liquid.'
  Here are some everyday examples showing how these unique letters bring clarity:
  • Ɛɛ (open e, like 'e' in 'bed'): mɛ (inside, pronounced 'meh'), ɛwo (ten, pronounced 'eh-woh')
  • Ɔɔ (open o, like 'o' in 'pot'): lɔ (to collect/gather, pronounced 'loh'), wɔ (to do/make, pronounced 'woh')
  • Ɖɖ (retroflex/implosive d, soft 'd' farther back): ɖa (to cook, pronounced 'dah' with tongue curled), ɖeká (one, pronounced 'deh-kah')
  • Ƒƒ (voiceless bilabial fricative, like blowing out a candle with lips): ƒle (to buy, pronounced 'fleh'), ƒome (family/type, pronounced 'foh-meh')
  • Ɣɣ (voiced velar fricative, throaty 'g' or soft 'r'): ɣe (sun, pronounced 'gheh'), ɣletí (moon/month, pronounced 'gheh-lee')
  • Ŋŋ (eng, like 'ng' in 'sing'): ŋkɔ (name, pronounced 'ng-koh'), ŋdi (morning, pronounced 'ng-dee')
  • Ʋʋ (voiced bilabial fricative, soft lip-rounded 'v'): aʋǔ (dog, pronounced 'ah-voo'), ʋu (to open, pronounced 'voo')
  • Xx (voiceless velar fricative, like 'ch' in 'loch'): xa (broom, pronounced 'kha'), xɔ (house/room, pronounced 'kho')
  • Ewe is also a tonal language, where pitch on a syllable can change a word's meaning entirely—adding precision without extra letters. For example:
  • to (high tone): ear
  • tó (high/rising): mountain
  • tǒ (rising): mortar
  • tò (low): buffalo
  • Tones are marked with diacritics like acute (´) for rising/high, grave (`) for low/falling, caron (ˇ) for falling-rising, and circumflex (ˆ) for rising-falling—though not always in everyday writing. This system makes meanings crystal clear once learned, eliminating the context-dependent puzzles of English vowels.
  
  Funny personal note: If I knew what I know now as a child, I would have been very fluent in Ewe by now—those precise sounds would have made learning so much more fun and intuitive!
  To illustrate the minimal additions and shared consistency across languages, here's a quick comparison table (English vs. Akan, Ga, Ewe):
  
  This shared core (especially Ɛɛ and Ɔɔ) means kids could learn a few extras once and read confidently across languages—building a richer, more cohesive multilingual Ghana."
  Through simple, fun phonics (songs, blending sounds, picture-word matching), children could learn to read and write both English and their mother tongue simultaneously, with very little added time or cost. This builds stronger foundations in both languages, as proven in multilingual education models worldwide and Ghana's own bilingual pilots.
  Reflecting further, Akan's unique phonology—missing six English letters (C, J, Q, V, X, Z) and treating R and L as interchangeable variants—may explain why many Twi speakers have historically been teased for 'mixing' R and L. This stereotype has caused real shame and self-doubt for Akan people over generations.
  In that Nuamakrom classroom, those children staring at 'liquid' (with its absent 'Q' and tricky sounds) weren't lacking ability—they were locked out by a system mismatch. Among them were potential inventors, doctors, engineers, and politicians whose full capacity for national development was stifled because English phonics didn't align with their intuitive language foundations. We can't afford to let such barriers persist. Teaching our extra alphabets early creates intuitive readers, bridges to English without shame, and unleashes true potential."
  At the same time, swinging completely toward using local languages for all instruction—without careful planning—could create new problems in a country with more than 80 languages. If not implemented strategically, it could unintentionally isolate Ghanaian students from the global economy.

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• Nsia 3 weeks ago

  Thanks! At least you have excelled yourself in responding to comments. However, I disagree with you on certain key aspects. During my schools days ages ago, the vast majority of our primary school teachers were Ewes. None of ...
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  Thanks! At least you have excelled yourself in responding to comments. However, I disagree with you on certain key aspects. During my schools days ages ago, the vast majority of our primary school teachers were Ewes. None of them spoke any of our native languages, yet they were able to teach us in English. Now, admiting that we have numerous languages, how does the teacher from Axim posted to Salaga and does not speak any of the local languages do his or her job? My own son knew at the age of nine that he wanted to be an electrical electronic engineer. He grew up with my mother in a remote village. He did not have any of those phonics that you are banging on about. Today, he is indeed an electrical electronic engineer in Ghana.
  The cognates of all the Akan languages whether in Ghana or the Ivory Coast are the same, a bit like Spanish, Portuguese, Italian etc because it stems out from Latin just as all Akan languages stems out from Brong. So, it is fairly easy to understand ourselves.
  You have failed to consider the areas were their languages are not written.And, there are a good number of them. The biggest threat to other indigenous languages in Ghana is the unhealthy proliferation of my own Twi language in Ghana today. One cannot use Twi to learn Physics, Biology, Chemistry or any of the scientific subjects to any level. It is a spoken language that is just about it. English, is a force for good and we desperately need it ..My is not as good as I would like but it is extremely important for our own advancement. Prof Kwaku Boateng, whose mother was Sefwi and father Asante could never,ever have become a cardio surgeon with the use of Asante Twi or Sefwi. Nigeria,started with the same idea that you are going on about, today, they have abandoned it because it took them nowhere. South Americans were colonised too. They still speak their native languages in Mexico,Ecuador,Peru,Colombia etc but when it comes to education, they overwhelmingly use Spanish from nursery to university. Anyway, ohemaa, me da wo are paa, but I do not agree with you!

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