English, French, Portuguese are not our first languages in Africa and yet we are expected to just go to school and start understanding concepts in those languages. Those who go to school already knowing how to read and write with those languages are deemed intelligent.
Speaking English fluently is not a sign of intelligence. English is just a language, a way of communicating the intended message in a way that both parties understand. It has nothing to do with whether a person is intelligent or not. It is not a measure of intelligence.
Most children whose first language is not English find it difficult to understand at school because the language being used in the classroom is foreign to them. Unfortunately, they will be labeled unintelligent and yet the system has not even begun to test their intelligence.
Most subjects at school are done in English, French or Portuguese except for the local language subject, that’s if the school dares to teach it. But everything from Math to Science is supposed to be written, read, and understood in a foreign language.
We may try to justify it by saying that they teach the children the foreign language in some classes, but the thing is, how do you expect a child to learn the foreign language in the morning and use that same unknown language in the rest of their subjects?
I remember seeing a book named, “The problem with Math is English”, I laughed at the title, but I understand it now. In countries like Egypt, they use Arabic in almost everything except when teaching foreign languages. You can see young kids who probably don’t even go to school calculating money in their father’s shop quickly.
They count in Arabic and I believe they do their math in Arabic too, so the mind doesn’t take forever trying to convert the idea from a foreign language to a local language then coming back again to solve the equation.
In Zimbabwe most people do not even know how to count in our local languages, they can only and quickly count in English. When you go deep with English, some may not understand and yet they’re supposed to understand Math using that very same language.
The idea is to let us all, as in Africa, try to use our local languages. There is no shame in studying in your local languages, it only makes things simpler. You will realize that some people who might have labeled themselves incapable of doing math or most subjects at school, will probably find it easy.
Why do we have to use some other nation’s languages as if we are destined to go and live there? There is no problem in learning other languages and mastering them. The problem comes when you take that unknown foreign language to make it the basis of communication for almost every subject at school.
Imagine taking you to some university in China and start immediately teaching you whatever degree you came for. Will you get anything? Will you see yourself graduating soon? That’s is the same situation for little kids that go to school and on their first day, they’re taught everything in some foreign language!
This is both insightful and challenging. Surely, the measure of intelligence should not be based on one’s fluency in a particular language. Much more, a foreign language.
Thank you very much for this conversation.
In Zimbabwe most people do not even know how to count in our local languages, they can only and quickly count in English.
It’s a pity! We are supposed to emancipated from colonial systems.
Wow, this is well put out.
We have that tendency in Africa of loving and prioritizing other countries’ work not only in product utilization but even in the education sector as stated above. We don’t love ourselves enough to believe we can also do better looking up to others shouldn’t stop us from prioritizing ourselves. In such a case it is upon us to love and support our own and pass it on to the next generation before we teach our children English and other foreign languages what if we first make them fall in love with their native languages but many adults have adopted foreign things and can’t give a chance to their little ones.
Thank you for this article.
Well said Ms Prim. Mindset!!
As an educationist, language plays an integral role in the child’s mind. It should be simple enough to help solve problems quickly.
Some locals in Zimbabwe not being able to count in local languages is worrying.
The idea that they are not worried about it is worrying