Are Ghanaians in Self-Denial or Alienation of themselves?

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• Kyikyidoodoo 11 years ago

  Mbo ne kasa. Afrenhyia so. You have written well and I hope a word to the wise is enough. Keep these articles coming.

  Mbo ne kasa. Afrenhyia so. You have written well and I hope a word to the wise is enough. Keep these articles coming.

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• Teacher 11 years ago

  3s3s3 nto
  
  The E represented by the first 3 is not the same as the one represented by the second 3 which is itself also different from that represented by the third 3. The E represented by the first 3 should have been deno ...
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  3s3s3 nto
  
  The E represented by the first 3 is not the same as the one represented by the second 3 which is itself also different from that represented by the third 3. The E represented by the first 3 should have been denoted by a normal E so that you should have written "Es3s3 nto" in your transcription.
  
  The e that begins your phrase is the same e found in "my brother" which you should've properly denoted as "Nye bro". That is what most, if not all, Ewes write.
  
  Of course, if ghanaweb allowed the representation of non English letters, you would be writing all of it differently. Then you wouldn't write Ewe as Ewe but would've used the correct letter for the w - one that does not exist in the English alphabet and can be correctly pronounced ONLY by native born Ewes! If you didn't learn to pronounce that letter correctly by the time you hit 13 or 14 years, you would NEVER be able to pronounce it correctly until you die... And when you're dead, you would not be able to pronounce any word at all - lol.
  
  But, Kwesi, thanks for the effort to reach out to use other languages. Your own pieces in Fante were much appreciated, I remember. But we've not seen anything from you in Efutu - yet.
  
  You've been prolific of late, not only in writing pieces but also commenting on others.
  
  I don't know what prompted you to write today's piece but it seems you've padded many positive characteristics on the Ghanaian which he doesn't really deserve. There's nothing unique about Ghana and Ghanaians. We are no more, or less, friendlier than other Africans. Of course, we have to be proud as Ghanaians but it's a different thing trying to give the impression that we're better than others. We are not!
  
  These days, there's no need to hide your identity as a Ghanaian in Europe. The basic problem is to regularize your stay and then to get a job. Many European countries accept dual citizenship so there's no need to deny your Ghanaianness to receive the benefits you talk of. Ghanaians who try to speak with forced foreign accents don't try that on fellow Ghanaians. They dare not!
  
  Some of us can identify a fellow Ghanaian just by looking at his or her face. We just wait for them to confirm it when they open their mouths and start talking... Then we can determine whether they are Asante or Ewe!!!
  
  Kwesi, let me not take this article from you... The tale is yours to tell.
  
  Esee kupo, Baba mi.

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• francis kwarteng 11 years ago

  Prof. Sakyi,
  
  Thanks again for another piece.
  
  You have given us another bitter pill to swallow. Let's hope it cures the disease of self-denial. Food for thought you have given us today.
  
  However, it is Teacher who got ...
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  Prof. Sakyi,
  
  Thanks again for another piece.
  
  You have given us another bitter pill to swallow. Let's hope it cures the disease of self-denial. Food for thought you have given us today.
  
  However, it is Teacher who got me laughing all night with his last but two statement.
  
  No truer statement could have come from others' pens other than Teacher's.
  
  I am still laughing.
  
  I join Kyikyidoodoo to say thanks to you both.

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• Kwesi Atta Sakyi 11 years ago

  Teacher, you remind me of Paa Kwesi Mintah, my long lost Cousin from Winneba who has disappeared from ghanaweb radar. I thank you for your lessons in Ewe phonetics and caligraphy. You must be a polyglot and polymath. I will t ...
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  Teacher, you remind me of Paa Kwesi Mintah, my long lost Cousin from Winneba who has disappeared from ghanaweb radar. I thank you for your lessons in Ewe phonetics and caligraphy. You must be a polyglot and polymath. I will try to satisfy you with a write-ups in Fante and Effutu. Are you Ewe, Effutu, Fante, Anago (Yoruba) or what? I am not tribal, though. Your rejoinder is interesting. Them them coming.

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• NANA ARABA 11 years ago

  GHANAIAN PARENTS TEACH YOUR CHILDREN OUR LOCAL DIALECTS WHEREVER THEY ARE BORN! WHETHER ABROAD OR GHANA . THEY CAN SPEAK ENGLISH AT SCHOOL LIKE WE DID AND SPEAK VERNACULAR AT HOME. TO DEPRIVE YOUR CHILDREN THE KNOWLEDGE OF T ...
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  GHANAIAN PARENTS TEACH YOUR CHILDREN OUR LOCAL DIALECTS WHEREVER THEY ARE BORN! WHETHER ABROAD OR GHANA . THEY CAN SPEAK ENGLISH AT SCHOOL LIKE WE DID AND SPEAK VERNACULAR AT HOME. TO DEPRIVE YOUR CHILDREN THE KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR LOCAL DIALECT IS A DENIAL OF YOUR AND THEIR GHANAIANESS. SPEAKING THEIR LOCAL DIALECTS CONNECTS THEM AT THE CORE TO YOU, GHANA AND AFRICA.
  
  HOW DO YOU EXPECT THESE CHILDREN IF THEY DONT UNDERSTAND ANY LOCAL DIALECTS TO RELATE TO GHANA AND COME BACK AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY OR AFRICA? ARE THEY LOST FOREVER IN ANOTHER ADOPTED COUNTRY? WHY MAKE THEM FEEL LIKE FOREIGNERS WITHOUT A CLUE TO THEIR LANGUANGE AND HERITAGE? WHY KEEP SAYING "OH THEY UNDERSTAND BUT CANNOT SPEAK THE LANGUAGE" BUT THEY CAN SPEAK ENGLISH VERY WELL. MOST IMMIGRANTS CHILDREN ARE TAUGHT THEIR NATIVE LOCAL LANGUAGES BY THIER PARENTS. IT IS ONLY GHANAIANS AND OTHER AFRICANS THAT DEPRIVE THEIR CHILDREN OF THIS FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANT CONNECTION OF LANGUAGE. WHY HAVE SOME GHANAIAN PARENTS COPPED OUT AND RATHER MAKE ALL THE EXCUSES WHY NOT? ITS NEVER TOO LATE THERE ARE APPS IN MOST OF THE GHANAIAN LANGUAGES SO BUY SOME FOR YOUR FAMILIES AND PRACTISE OUR LANGAUAGE IT WILL BOND YOUR FAMILY TOGETHER EVEN STRONGER AND BENEFIT GHANA AND AFRICA IN THE LONG RUN.

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• Tekonline.org 11 years ago

  Araba, you are spot on about the children's ability to speak the local dialects being important for relating to homeland and participating in nation-building.
  
  But equally important are certain values. First, they need to b ...
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  Araba, you are spot on about the children's ability to speak the local dialects being important for relating to homeland and participating in nation-building.
  
  But equally important are certain values. First, they need to be taught the virtue of honesty and how not to be corrupt. They must understand the difference between amassing wealth and making a difference in this world. They need to acquire tools that can transform Ghana. They have to be taught how to place the interests of the nation above everything else.
  
  If loving one's country could be facilitated by the ability to speak the local dialect, patriotism in Ghana would be as commonplace as the air we breathe in.
  
  I would rather have a Ghanaian that cannot speak the local language but has devoted all his life for the sole purpose of eradicating malaria or tackling sickle cell disease. My respect would rather go to Ghanaian who is determined to find an effective cure for EVD and yet cannot understand a single word of any Ghanaian dialect.
  
  A true African, in my humble opinion, should not just be one that puts on the Kente and dances to Adowa, but more importantly, an individual that builds great pyramids and canals like his forebears, and loves his country more than himself.

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• KBK 11 years ago

  You have a point, tekonline.org. We shouldn't be obsessed about the children we bring forth abroad learning our local languages. If they do, ok, but if not, it's not a disaster.
  
  It is far better for them to learn to speak ...
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  You have a point, tekonline.org. We shouldn't be obsessed about the children we bring forth abroad learning our local languages. If they do, ok, but if not, it's not a disaster.
  
  It is far better for them to learn to speak the language of the country in which they are born very well. Depending on where you live in Europe, the children can grow up speaking an immigrant type of the local language that puts them at a disadvantage in the job market. It is important that they imbibe the best of the culture of the society in which they were born rather than concentrating on learning Asante, Ga, Ewe or whatever only because their parents come from Ghana.
  
  We parents must teach them to be proud of their ancestry and never to forget it. Teaching them the language is not the only way of doing that. Those of our kids who feel strongly enough about it travel on their own to Ghana and stay there at length depending on how they find the place. Nobody forces them to.
  
  It is this core pride in the fatherland that is important not, as you write, just putting on Kente or dancing Adowa and Agbadza or speaking the language.
  
  The EVD example you mention is relevant and a good researcher will be the person who acquires the relevant education in the field, not necessarily the one who speaks Nzema or Dagbani whiles living in Frankfurt or Amsterdam.

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• lim maa 11 years ago

  U sound like a typical jss guy my friend. Just one point to adress. Please educated yourself more on why the kids born outside of Ghana cannot speak the many Ghanaian dialect. No need for more comments on this crap.

  U sound like a typical jss guy my friend. Just one point to adress. Please educated yourself more on why the kids born outside of Ghana cannot speak the many Ghanaian dialect. No need for more comments on this crap.

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• Kwesi Atta Sakyi 11 years ago

  You are damned useless. You have no sense of propriety or appreciation for work of art.

  You are damned useless. You have no sense of propriety or appreciation for work of art.

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• Commonsense 11 years ago

  My kids were born here in Germany and they all speak Asante Twi

  My kids were born here in Germany and they all speak Asante Twi

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• C.Y. ANDY-K 11 years ago

  You nearly fooled me, mate! When all I have been thinking of is how to change the "Ghanaianess"? Is this about the same Ghanaians Ken Kuranchie came out of prison and pronounced loudly that: Ghanaians are not civilised? Or, t ...
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  You nearly fooled me, mate! When all I have been thinking of is how to change the "Ghanaianess"? Is this about the same Ghanaians Ken Kuranchie came out of prison and pronounced loudly that: Ghanaians are not civilised? Or, the Wikileaks leak on Ghana had the foreign diplomats claiming that their elite didn't have empathy for the underprivileged and poor? For me, those are the two most profound revelations from the Wikileaks leak and the election petition brouhaha.
  
  Anyway, it was a good read, even capturing the "konkonsa" some Ghanaians engage in abroad which makes them very much objectionable to fellow Nigerians. Won't spoil it for you.
  
  Andy-K

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