LANGUAGE IS THE VEHICLE OF THOUGHT
There is currently an agitation in my part of the world, Nigeria(to be precise) that Nigerian Pidgin(NP) should be officialized(that is, it should be made the official language of communication) especially amongst students and even workers in offices. I feel this is a kind of zeitgeist , and a budding language revolution at that. And by this they feel the English Language is no longer important, and should not be taken too seriously.
You hear statements like "English is not our language.” “ It is a borrowed language.” “You are speaking too much English.” “You too like English.” “ Will speaking English put food on your table?”
The question you should be asking is, “Can you communicate your thoughts; your deep thoughts and cogitations effectively in writing using pidgin, creole or your native language? If your answer to this is yes, good. But sincerely speaking, can you make a global impact using pidgin, creole, or your native language? The place of effective mastery of English Language can not be overemphasized. English Language is a major vehicle of thought and communication especially in anglophone countries.
It might interest you to know that out of the current population of 8 billion people in the world, 1.5 billion people speak English. Although there are controversies about these figures because of native speakers and non-native speakers dichotomy; however, it should be noted that English Language is the internet’s universal language. So you can see that the English Language is a veritable tool of survival and global impact in the current digital world.
Osasuyi Omoragbon,
January, 2023.
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