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Languages in Africa

Are African Languages Worth Saving?

The BBC has a very good ‘have your say’ section this week.

The House of Assembly in Lagos, is teaching its staff how to legislate in the Yoruba language.

Two years ago, the assembly adopted Yoruba – one of the three main languages spoken in Nigeria, as the second official language in the house. Transcripts of debates are translated into English.

Politicians say the idea is aimed at saving local Nigerian languages from extinction.

Is there a place for African languages in the future? Do you speak any local languages that no longer exist? Should we have more African Lingua Franca like Swahili in East Africa? To what extent does the written word help in preserving languages? Send us your views.

There are some fascinating comments from all around the world:

Is totally flabbergasting as to question whether one’s own language is worth saving or not. WHY NOT? Must the world speak a universal language? Our Ethiopian language with its many dialects has been spoken for thousands of years and whether easy or difficult, is ours and so it must remain; the same goes for other African languages. Is English or Italian or French etc… worth saving? One’s language is ALWAYS worth saving! No question about it!

Lemlem Tibebu, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia

Read the whole section and follow the comments here.