Educating the West part 2: The Languages of Africa.
THE ORIGINS OF MOST AFRICAN LANGUAGES.
"Wow I just found out I speak Niger-Congo B (Bantu) ~ My mom has been lying to me all my life ~ Shame on you Mamalegend"
*If you know a westerner in need of help and some serious education, SPREAD these posts. Nobody should have to suffer.
Q: Do you guys speak English in Africa?
This is a valid question that is often just asked in the poorest of contexts. Africa, as mentioned before in Educating the West Part 1, has 52 countries and with that come numerous languages, almost too vast in number to bother to quantify.
here's the big hairy BUTT....
If I just addressed you in perfect English and told you I arrived in the US recently, then if you think about it, it is an asinine question to ask. The question will usually be asked in this context:
Westerner just meets African and is immediately taken aback by the the fact that he is fully clothed and speaking English
Westerner (Very likely American): You have a funny accent. You are not from here are you?
AL: No I'm from Zambia.
Westerner: Huh?
the westerner has a perplexed look on her face as if some alien planet in a distant galaxy was referenced. Quickly AL realizes he must clarify.
AL: Africa?
Westerner: OH!! thought you said some other place...when did you get here?
AL: I got here last week actually. Here is my border pass, it says here.. "Arrived last week".
Westerner: Oh really that's awesome! You speak English SO well. Do you speak English in Africa? I thought you all did the clicks thing.
Bearing in mind that the aforementioned African has stated that they just arrived, we have only the following logical, very plausible, absolutely 100% possible assumptions to consider.
A) They have spoken it for a while (Live in an English speaking area)
B) They have achieved the pinacle of true genius and learnt fluent English on a 12 hour flight because of the magical properties of British Airways Coca Cola.
C) They got abducted by Aliens who froze time and home schooled them. As a result, they are fluent in not only English but Uklubita, Mesojupitipus and Youranus.
D) They are the only African that speaks English and Dick Cheney had them quarantined, but they escaped after offering sexual favors to one of the gaurds.
Still don't believe any of this? Here is audio of a well adjusted African, speaking English. He lived in Botswana for 19 years.
A REAL LIVE AFRICAN SPEAKING ENGLISH!
OTHER LESSONS
Part 1: The Geography of Africa
COMING SOON: Part 3 Clothing in Africa
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