Greetings!🙌
I'm from Delta state, a state in the southern part of Nigeria. Over here, we often speak a type of English known as "Warri" English, which is a variation of pidgin English. Warri is a big city in Delta state known for its ghetto lifestyle, where the use of rough pidgin English is rampant. Not everyone speaks Pidgin English, but it's very popular, to the extent that people hardly speak Queen's English when conversing informally, except in official situations or perhaps in households where parents discourage the use of pidgin English to prevent their children from being influenced by it.
When I first relocated to the city where I currently reside, I encountered something that shocked me. I met an 8-year-old girl who spoke fluent English, unlike her five siblings and mom who usually speak in Pidgin.
Although I generally oppose the idea that speaking good English is a sign of intelligence, I couldn't help but admire the girl's linguistic talent as a sign of intelligence.
As I mentioned earlier, even children are accustomed to speaking pidgin English, except in households where parents discourage it, although such cases are rare. While schools primarily use proper English in their teaching, children still communicate with each other using pidgin English. It's just how it is in my part of the world, Pidgin English is a sound in everyone's tongue.
This girl, Gift by name and her siblings attend the same school, yet she stands out as the only one who speaks proper English. She even converses with her mother in proper English, while her mother replies in pidgin. I became curious and decided to inquire further from her mother.
"Ma, how come she speaks such good English compared to you and her siblings?" I asked the mother, who was seated and braiding her hair by herself.
"Hehehehe!" She laughed, clearly proud of her daughter's ability.
"It's quite surprising because none of you speaks non-pidgin English. So I'm wondering, perhaps she didn't live with you guys before?" I inquired further.
"Hehehehe! Don't mind Gift ooo! She only left for about a year when she was younger to spend some time with her father in Abuja, and she returned with that tongue."
Oh, the woman's husband(the father of the children)is no longer with them; he lives in Abuja with another woman but still sends money to them. Gift's exposure to proper English occurred during the time she stayed with him for just a year.
I didn't delve into the family issues, particularly why their father lives with another woman and still took Gift to stay with him at such a tender age. What truly surprised me was how she maintained her fluency in English without being influenced by her siblings, her mother, or her friends at school.
One might argue that it's normal for a child to pick up traits at an early age and stick with them, but this situation is different. She's surrounded by people who are more than capable of influencing her.
Thanks for reading.
