Ibrahim.kuku

Cover letter

Dear reader.

As many individuals may have assumed, knowledge is both what we learn in school and what we learn from society through a particular culture and its traditions.I beg to differ because I believe that knowledge encompasses not only what we acquire through society and the educational system, but also everything that has occurred physically and intangibly over time. I have come to the following conclusion about who my audience is and what I want each reader to take away from the reading through my written language and literacy narrative.

To begin, the majority of my audience are likely educated individuals of various ages, races, and backgrounds.This is due to the fact that my knowledge can only be translated into words by someone who is proficient in English.If this paper is published by well-known internet websites, the literacy skills of the individuals who read it will serve as a filter that may prevent non eaglish reader of any kind from understanding my contents. Because I am a reader as well as a writer, I have incorporated stories from my childhood into my writing because I am aware that people enjoy hearing stories from other people, especially when they come from a different place.In choosing a story to import, I decided not to choose a very serious story because I wanted to tell people about me and ease any tensions the reader might be experiencing. Instead, I chose a humorous story that will both convey my message to the reader and make them smile.

When I was writing, I had to do research on things about which I was unsure.Despite the fact that this is a personal essay, I must reflect on my past and how it had affected me.I was able to share the ideas I wanted to talk about with others and incorporate them into my language and literacy narrative with the assistance of my brief research into my early years.On the one hand, it’s easy to talk about “writing language and literacy,” but on the other, it’s hard to talk about.Even though there were a lot of bad things that happened, I had a very happy childhood, so there were a few challenges for me.The good news is that because I am still alive today, my brain interprets the negative memories as positive events that made my childhood great.

Writing this paper feels like being in therapy right now.I’m pretty good at keeping my personal life a secret.After writing my essay, I did a lot of thinking because I don’t believe in therapy.I wasn’t aware of the power of language until I had to think back on my past in relation to my Arodon story. This made me realize that some languages don’t have that word, so they don’t have the fun experience I had.The saddest part is that their descendants will not be able to have a cool childhood experience of their own because that word and its meaning are missing. I came to the realization that knowledge is somehow connected to time in a way that I—not an expert—have yet to demonstrate. This is due to the fact that every moment that passes by is filled with information that our brains absorbed without our knowledge, which may then explain how people know things without even realizing it.

Language and literacy Narrative

My yoruba language is the sweetest and the easiest language in the world. If you walk up to me at any moment in my daily life, even in my sleep, to ask me to give you reasons for you to be interested in learning how to speak, and or read the Yoruba language. I will be able to speak from morning to midnight because there is so much stuff and events to talk about. Compared to other languages like English, or other European languages. The biggest difference my language has is respect.

Respect is something people of this generation have taken for granted. The z-generation is widely known for their lack of respect by the older generations, and people of our generation ourselves. I can’t imagine how my life would have turned out without my Yoruba language to guide me. There are many words that exist in the Yoruba man’s mouth but cannot be translated into English. Most of these words as I can recall happen to be words that show and give respect to the elderly, or when respect is due. The fun in Yoruba man’s tongue is how words change just for the sake of showing respect. For example, when I translate the sentence “mummy is calling you” to yoruba, it becomes “mummy n pe e” or “mummy n pe yin”. The difference between the two sentences is that one can be used to someone at the same age/younger age, while the other should be and must be used for someone older even if it’s a one year age difference. The word yin is a respectful word that shows one’s level of respect, and if ever the word E is used instead of yin is used, it’s a sign of being disrespectful, and might be punished by your parents or older people around.

People all over the world use English to communicate.As an African, parents and society rejoice when children speak standard English at home, and they may even treat you differently if you speak English rather than your native tongue.When the colonizers arrived, they gave my Yoruba language the name “vernacula.”I can recall getting in trouble for using English with someone older than me, possibly an uncle or a friend from the family.It was strange to greet the man in English when he arrived at our home after a long journey because my culture has a way of greeting people, but English does not.Therefore, I proceeded to inform my mother of his arrival in English, but somehow my translation of “O ti de” into “he has arrived” comes across as disrespectful.O ti de is used to refer to people who are the same age or younger.Given that the individual is significantly older than I am, the appropriate response would have been “Won ti de,” but guess what?Because the respectful word in question does not exist in English, “he has arrived” is still translated as “he has arrived” in both sentences.Even if I manage to translate, it won’t translate correctly because “they have arrived” would have meant that only one person arrived. The person I almost got in trouble with is a little bit illiterate when it comes to English, so I was able to escape his wrath on that particular day because people around helped me out and explained to him about the circumstances of my sentence.

People who aren’t familiar with my culture and society have a lot of questions about why someone who isn’t my parent is mad at me and trying to hurt me.They began asking inquiries like: What was it like to be a member of a cultural society?What is my language proficiency level?And a lot more. I’m originally from Nigeria, which is in West Africa.People in my cultural society, the Yoruba, believe that children are not raised by their parents alone and that society is responsible for their upbringing.Because of this cultural belief, almost anyone can discipline you.I usually speak two languages, but if you ask me how many I speak, I would say three.I know Yoruba, pidgin English, and English. What’s pidgin?Pidgin is a dialect of English with a different accent and pronunciation.In Africa, pidgin is a common dialect of broken English.Due to the fact that the words that make up pidgin come from English, it is not considered a language.But don’t make the mistake of thinking that English and pidgin are the same thing because pidgin cannot be understood or translated by people who only speak English.

Older generations, both literate and illiterate, believe that pidgin is bad language due to the fact that it is broken English and distinct from standard English.For a variety of reasons, standard English is more widely spoken in Nigeria than pidgin English. This is because pidgin English is spoken by both educated and illiterate people, as well as by the Yoruba Igbo and Hausa populations, while standard English is only spoken by educated people.This, in my opinion, is due to the influence of colonialism and the missionaries’ brainwashing.Until they lose it, people don’t take what they have seriously.I am fortunate to be able to speak pidgin because it is not taught in schools; in fact, it was outlawed in some homes and schools.The issue is that because they are unable to speak proper standard English, the poorest members of the population use this language the most.As a result, pidgin is regarded as a ghetto language that is only spoken and understood by the rotten apple of the population.

There is a specific method that adults in Yorubaland use to distract children or send them away without their knowledge.The term “Arodon” is typically used by adults when children start to disturb them or require their attention to be diverted.The majority of the time, a parent simply inserts word combinations containing Arodan.It’s done!Sending them errands to the market, store, neighbor, etc. could be an option.For instance, they might tell you to go get Arodan from the neighbor across the street.Even though most of the time (if not always), it is unrehearsed, it is interesting in that it resembles an arrangement.When a child asks for Arodan while you’re in your room, you just know they’ve been sent to stay with you for a while.After that, the delay methods will be used to ensure that the child is delayed regardless of their haste.In every circumstance, one acts in response to the mention of the Arodan sequence, which does not require prior arrangements or foretelling.For instance, if a father instructed his child to retrieve Arodan from the mother, the mother might delegate the task to someone else—perhaps the brother or sister who is familiar with the procedure—in the event that the mother is busy.It stands to reason that adults in Yorubaland are aware of this because they were also tricked, but they refuse to explain it to children because, culturally speaking, children are not expected to know about it. Instead, they will play it on children in retaliation because they will learn its factual nature as they grow up. Initially, I thought I would never pull this prank on my kids because it was done on me. However, over time, I have realized that adults enjoy the cultural prank because it is just too sweet to ignore.Therefore, my future children must be prepared for my prank, which will be unique and creative.