its toooo funny when i hear nigerian kids comin to america and they already start tryna say "yo,yo wat up my nigga" its like what? go sit down somewhere!!!!

can't stand Nigerians or other Africans that fake American accents. I can understand when you kind of tweek it when your speaking to an America, but not when you try to convince another Nigerian that that's your "normal" relaxed accent. I also can't stand it when full grown Nigerians come to America and return back home with an "American" accent and refuse to drop it because "that is how they naturally speak". when i was in Nigeria, this one guy just came back from da States and all the locals were just amused by his "amazing" American accent. Me and my cousin were so embarrassed for him but it seemed the other folks liked it IMO, i don't think it's easy for a full grown foreigner or Nigerian to live in America and then acquire a completely American accent. It may become lighter than before, but it aint going no where. IMO, i think Nigerians sounder funny when they try to talk in American accent. They be killing it with the R's. lol! they sound better (MUCH BETTER) or at least less funny with their regular accent.

I agree wit u on that one!!!! alot of them come back to nigerian thinkin they r american jus cuz they been in the U.S for 5 yrs and they speak like one, BIG DEAL!!!i personally like a nice polished nigerian accent not when it sounds forced just natural, wth is the big deal wit nigerians and american accents anyway?if you have a nigerian accent and u live in america you are more intresting that way b/c ppl will always want to know where u r frm![b][/b]

Just be natural when speaking.

it is a shame.
People need to stop this

yes o omoge. some just over do it to fit in. you'll hear of one emeka person (jjc) that just landed in yankee and within 1 month, he has changed his name to micky or mekhi and starts speaking yeye english like gerrout, mothafu$ka, shit men, wharabout, yels etc. pitiful. no be by force o. naija peeps to dey overmurder english

Omo, you hit the message right on the head.

can't stand Nigerians or other Africans that fake American accents. I can understand when you kind of tweek it when your speaking to an America, but not when you try to convince another Nigerian that that's your "normal" relaxed accent. I also can't stand it when full grown Nigerians come to America and return back home with an "American" accent and refuse to drop it because "that is how they naturally speak". when i was in Nigeria, this one guy just came back from da States and all the locals were just amused by his "amazing" American accent. Me and my cousin were so embarrassed for him but it seemed the other folks liked it IMO, i don't think it's easy for a full grown foreigner or Nigerian to live in America and then acquire a completely American accent. It may become lighter than before, but it aint going no where. IMO, i think Nigerians sounder funny when they try to talk in American accent. They be killing it with the R's. lol! they sound better (MUCH BETTER) or at least less funny with their regular accent.

hillarious, u know wharamsaying? ha ha ha chai Nigerians.

at least changing accent better sef. what about the ones that change their whole identity ? like changing the name your papa gave you. you go dey hear person wey dey bear jamiu from oshogbo go come yankee come change am to jamie or mutiu to mathew etc. i mean like WTF? if oyinbo can't pronounce your full name, then teach them.

o se o jare (thank you o jare).

at least changing accent better sef. what about the ones that change their whole identity ? like changing the name your papa gave you. you go dey hear person wey dey bear jamiu from oshogbo go come yankee come change am to jamie or mutiu to mathew etc. i mean like WTF? if oyinbo can't pronounce your full name, then teach them

who is this person?

Arent mutiu and matthew both Semitic root words?

yeah, thats because oyinbo are lazy. they dont want to have to open their ears to someone that speaks differently than them. have you noticed the difference in service when you speak like them as opposed to speaking in your own naija accent? na prompt service o. the minute you blow naija accent for them, its like they switch off their brains, dem no dey hear you again. na so so "pardon?", "i'm sorry what did ya say?" blah blah. rubbish!

I dont know about that.  The main thing is to be able to communicate in English. As long as you can do so, you're not necessarily at a disadvantage and neither are the ones without an accent automatically ushered into a palace and fed all the goodies of life.

Who do these people with fake accents think they are deceiving?
I've even had a lot of white folk ask me why some Africans speak with a fake accent!!!
So oyimbo knows its fake, we too know its fake. Whats the advantage? All we need do is speak clearly.

when i hear my nija friends fake english accents its so irritating and annoying. They think they're white.
My moda who has been here for over 40 years hasn't lost her nija accent at all

when i hear my nija friends fake english accents its so irritating and annoying. They think they're white.
My moda who has been here for over 40 years hasn't lost her nija accent at all

Thank you o jare, it is extremely irritating.

I was in 9ja for a few weeks after a long hiatus and went to zenith bank to handle some business. As soon as I spoke & the chic @ the front desk heard me, her phoney just came out of nowhere, one second she sounded English the next minute she sounded yankee . I had a good laugh cuz my young nephew even noticed the change in her enunciation. I went over to UBA & the same thing occurred with the bankers I dealt with trying to blow phoney.

Even if one decides to speak clear english without the usual "oh" "ah" Eh" ehen" Nao" abi" . . . .they will still term it forming accent. . . .must all nigerians speak the same way? must we add exclamation sounds to every sentence? lol. . . .some people chose not to. . . .so what the fuss?

@poster,
Well I don't quite agree with you I had a very Igbo-Nigerian accent and vocabulary when I first came to the Uk. I had to repeat myself 2-3 times before being understood, Today I speak english with a neutral accent although people still comment that I sound British. Learning an accent s necessary when you move to another country. Your english must be understood by people of that country and in order to do so you must modify your accent and pronunciation. why should we not adapt to the standard English in the state or country we adopt and choose to live in?

i cant stop laughing oh!, but i agree with all a ya or betta still i agree with y'all, did i get dat correctly?

An accent is a part of language pronunciations
that are standard to regions/community where they are used.
When you speak English with the accent of your own mother tongue, you are
actually mixing two languages together and that often brings about problems of miscommunication,

We are going academic are we?

What you saying is relatively correct but is also old school.

I read English in school and this was actually the project I worked on, my thesis centered on the fact that there are limitations to how you can speak like a native speaker.

Because of sociolinguistic tendencies and phonological complications in our local languages, not everyone can speak  English natively.

So you talking about miscomunication and discrimination is crap to say the least.

What counts at the end is communication.

What is the point of speaking through your nose and no one is understanding you?

A White man will suffer to say Tope or Kpele in Yoruba. But he is excused for his phonological limitations.

Why must it then be enforced on the 9ja man to speak English the white man way?

I use the word enforced.

If it does not come naturally don't sweat it.

A thick line exists between fluency and fake accents.

We have chosen to become a part of the American,British, Canadian etc
society and learning the language as it is spoken there is a part of assimilation into that society. And that does not mean we are losing
our identity – it just means we are smart enough to master the language of a region in its entirety.

You already speak the language so what are you mastering exactly?

"Assimilation into society".

That covers the Nigerian who picks up an accent immediately he/she touches down at Heathrow?

Oh plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

We should be smart enough to know there is more to a people than picking up some accent.

If a Nigerian was abducted by an alien he would still pick an accent.

Chei! We too much!

Picking up an accent is DIFFERENT from picking up slang and colloquialisms. There is a major difference.

I'm from the "when in rome, do as the romans" school of thought.

Black Americans have to learn how to switch from ebonics to standard american english when the time and place neccessitates it.

Africans should do the same- because its all about being understood.

When I am in naija- i have to repeat myself several times until I learned I need to speak more slowly, and use more lcoal terminology than american. But that was also TRUE when in the US i moved from Detroit to Alabama.

lalaboi:

Even if one decides to speak clear english without the usual "oh" "ah" Eh" ehen" Nao" abi" . . . .they will still term it forming accent. . . .must all nigerians speak the same way? must we add exclamation sounds to every sentence? lol. . . .some people chose not to. . . .so what the fuss?

Das not what we are talking about.

The enemies are those that just land in some US airport and [b]immediately [/b]have [b]yankrrree [/b]accent that is of no use to man or goat.

Dont blame anyone poster- it is one of the ways to prevent people from knowing that they are fro the hell hole, the failed state and the shit dump of a country.

reminds me of one of my husbands friends.  he lives in texas now but when he was in nigeria a few months ago he still had some aspects of his nigerian accent mixed with the texan drawl.  it was funny to say the least.

soulpatrol:

yeah, thats because oyinbo are lazy. they dont want to have to open their ears to someone that speaks differently than them. have you noticed the difference in service when you speak like them as opposed to speaking in your own naija accent? na prompt service o. the minute you blow naija accent for them, its like they switch off their brains, dem no dey hear you again. na so so "pardon?", "i'm sorry what did ya say?" blah blah. rubbish! 

  i take offence.  most people i have talked to here in nigeria cant understnad me untill they have been around me for a while.  they say i talk to fast or they dont understand my accent.  yesterday i asked someone to hand me a bagel and instead was handed baygon.  you are able to easily recognise and understand accents you are previously exposed to. if someone in the us doesnt understand your accent it isnt cause thier lazy they just havent encountered it before, while here you are reguarly exposed to many if the us accents through tv/movies/radio


btw NOONE forces you to have an "american" or british or whatever accent. they have one who cares, they dont who cares. most people pickup the accent of the place they are living. even white folk from the midwest will pick up a new york accent after living there awhile. human nature