Patrick Osahor gives an interesting answer to this hard question.
Here is the post that provoked this thought producing answer.
His answer will blow your mind.
Patrick Osahor answers..
Accents are just one of the very little things various countries do to step into the global social circle. Borrowed words from other languages are another. Think about it… even the Nigerians that use foreign accents don’t do it every minute of their lives… only when “necessary” … or when some form of perception (for whatever reason or no matter how small) is an issue or at stake.
When we go to Starbucks, why can’t we just order a small, medium, or large coffee? Why does it have to be “tall”, “grande”, or “venti”? You see, the company officially branded their products that way because they came to realize this very concept. To do things the way they have always been done becomes bland over time. Adding a little sophistication is actually a way to move forward on the global stage. The Japanese say ファミリー (pronounced: “fa-mi-ree”) instead of 家族 (pronounced: Ka-zo-ku… which means “Family”) …. or パトカー (pronounced: Pa-to-kaa) to convey “patrol car” … which is a police vehicle.The Germans say: “der Bestseller”, as opposed to “der Verkaufsschlager” … which I’m sure you can tell is referring to a best selling book.There are many more examples I can give but you get what I mean. I’m sure the same kind of question has been asked between a group of random Japanese friends having a random conversation as they walk home from school on a Friday afternoon. Friend A: Dude, why do you have to say ‘fa-mi-ree’ … Why can’t you just say ‘Ka-zo-ku’ like everyone else?” Friend B: “Get with the times bro! Quit living in the stone age!!!”At the end of the day… if there is no other reason, people will do it because it is cool… people will do it because they want to be “part of the movement” … people will do it JUST BECAUSE!!! People have a tendency to be drawn to things that make them feel special. In Nigeria, accents are just one of those things. It is one of the smallest things that can make most people become part of a world they will never see or experience. It is an attempt at imagination, creativity, or just some level of freedom that they can only dream about.
That’s my side of the story. Like I said before, I couldn’t care less about Nigerians speaking in foreign accents. I have however found it pretty interesting to explore the deeper reasons as to WHY people (consciously or subconsciously) do the things they do… and in my personal assessment, it has absolutely nothing to do with the idea of inferiority.
Filed under: Africa, Family, Future, Hope, Life, Nigeria, School, Smart Tagged: Africans, American, Answer, Culture, Dream, Foreign Accents, Globalization, Help for Nigerians, Identity, Imaginations, Inferiority, Japanese, Nigerian Accent, Patrick Osahor, People, Social hierarchy, Starbucks
