Ghana is cool, I tell you.
I was browsing the internet today and stumbled upon Jojoo's blog. To my delight, I found the blog was written entirely in modern Akan! How awesome, I thought. Now I can improve my akan. So I started devouring the articles.
The first one I read was bitching about some Chinese folks who have posted signs written in bold Chinese with the english translation in small print. And no Ghanaian language! What I loved about the article was the fact that it was so insider. Y'know...a Chinese man/woman could have stumbled upon the article and not had a clue! But because I can read and understand akan, I got it. Point being, that the target of this article was Ghanaians, and more specifically Akans. It felt really good to be part of some inside group that could decode the language. haha! Who knew akan could be so cool!
So then I read the next article and it was even better.
It was about Firefox. And Jojoo was wondering what the akan translation of that would be and his proposed options were
1. Ogyabɔdɔm
2. Ogyakraman
3. Fayafɔks.
Haha!
Read Jojoo's blog to see original articles and hopefully improve your twi.
Really. Who knew that firefox could be so funny? Only in Ghana, I tell you. Only in Ghana.
How can local languages gain more prominence in both new and old media. Local language radio has changed our lives. But is this success replicable in other media like newspapers, short stories published in pamphlets and sold cheaply? etc. How can we do this without Akan taking over?
One of the reasons local languages haven't caught on in in print/web is because lots of people cannot read it. Even from the comments, on this post, it seems like some of you checked out Jojoo's blog but had much difficulty reading the text. How to get around this? Is there a place for local languages on the web? If so, where? In entertainment? News? Opinion? Everywhere?
Is it possible to do this without Akan taking over? And if not, would that be such a bad thing?
How do you feel about having the option to read an akan blog or an ewe blog or a ga blog or blogs in as many languages as we have in Ghana? may!
may = Meni agye yie.
Cool eh?
Image credit: http://thetranslatorscafe.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/firefox_logo.jpg
You can type your local language? I hear the Igbo service pack just came out. That's cool but will be so much work.
ReplyDeleteM'daasi, danke, thank you!
ReplyDeletesuper! thanks for posting, going to go put Jojoo's blog on blast on Facebook
ReplyDeletewow, ready his blog can be a challenge; I can only read a few words the others...it would be good to brush up on reading. I started reading Ga at a young age, but ask me to read you now and e ba fay gbeye! Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteEi Esi,
ReplyDeleteWo yɛɛ dɛn na wo hunuu me blɔge no? skkk. Me da wo ase sɛ wo abɔ me blɔge no dawuru. Me da wo ase sɛ wo kanee so. Ebi a, yi kyerɛ sɛ ɛwɔ sɛ me kyerɛw mblɔge bebree. Dɛɛdɛw!
Ei Esi,
How did you find my blog? skkk (expands to sere kwa kwaaa kwaaaa). Thanks for the exposure. I appreciate it. And thanks for reading it too. Perhaps, this just means I should try to blog more. Nice!
P.S. I'm trying hard to stick to the kasahorow spelling rules. lol
Hahaaaaaaaaaa! I love it. SKKK. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteWe should develop more of these. mdf
mdf = me da famu...the akan equivalent of rofl
Love it!
SKKKKK - ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Too cool!
ReplyDeletemdfskkk
ReplyDelete...skkk (expands to sere kwa kwaaa kwaaaa)...
ReplyDeleteheheheheeh,onomatopoeia be what? That's just priceless.
Yɛ'paw kyew, ye na kɔsu rekyerɛw wɔ wo blɔge no mu. Ehu hia paan.
Meyɛ Ayigbe ni nti fame 2x4 twi no kyɛ me.
Kudos to Jojoo and his team!! This initiative is so bomb superb. I get really excited whenever I come across it anywhere. It's gonna make significant national impact, how exciting is that!
ReplyDeleteThere is a software which teaches Twi. check out the site http://www.nkyea.com/. I haven't tried it, but when you visit the site you can download a trial version.
ReplyDeleteThat will be quite fun actually! But fox is not bodom or kraman!... lol...He needs to do more research :)
ReplyDeleteMe de me twi awe dɔkono ne nkyenam...me hia twi 101..asɛm ben nie. ɛsɛsɛɛ ye sua sɛdeɛ yɛ twerɛ ne yɛ kane Ghana kasahorow firi class one-university. Nkorofoɔ ahe na ebe tumi a kane twi blɔg?
ReplyDelete@Maxine. It's true, I need to do more research. I probably should change the kraman to ɔsɔ before I get any more bashing. skkk
ReplyDelete@Anonymous. Asɛm o. Akan no nnkɔ yie. Naaso sɛ yɛhwehwɛ kwan a yɛbetumi de yɛn akasa enya ahonya, ahotɔ ne enigye (te sɛ Peace FM ne Adom FM) a, me gye di sɛ yɛn mpanimfo (a me ne wo ka ho) bɛdwene ho sɛ wɔde yɛn Akasa bɛkyerɛ ade wɔ skuul firi nɛɛsri kɔ skuulpɔn. Ɛbɛyɛ yie nkakra nkakra.
@Anonymous. If we could find a way to make our languages relevant to our lives for making wealth, being comfortable and ultimately being happy (like Peace FM and Adom FM have demonstrated), I believe our leadership (including me and you of course) will think of ways to use our languages as media of instruction from nursery to university. With time, it shall be well.
skkkkk...............me da fom.............That really cracked me up.......how cool is that ,our own version of lol and Rofl........awsome stuff....
ReplyDeleteogyasakraman is a more precise version of firefox
ReplyDeleteNa amedze medwen dɛɛ dɛm firefox aboan' na wɔbɔfrɛn ogyapataku... nkyɛ pataku ɔnaa nye fox, anaa meboa? Fantsefon' wɔmboam' kakraa ai!
ReplyDeleteI jus dey feel da Fante.
ReplyDeleteMe deɛ, mereka no preko sɛ me Twi nnyɛ koraa. Sɛ wohyia me Adum baabi na mehyɛ aseɛ bɔ nkɔmmɔ wɔ Twi a, wobɛsere saa.
Nnawɔtwe a etwaa mu no, mekɔ tɔɔ Akan nnwoma mmaako mmaako nson. Nyame boa a, mɛyere me ho akenkan nson no nyinaa. (Sɛ obi nso pɛsɛɛ ɔno nso "praktese" n'akenkan a, ɔbetumi de me "email" (octavus98@gmail.com) abɔ me ammaneɛ. Mɛmane no Anansesɛm no bi a maskane).
Sorry for the awkwardness. lol. As you can see, my Twi is clumsy at best. btw. I just downloaded firefox in Twi. I don't know how I feel about some of the purely phonetic translations. Example:
Fael - File
Mbukmaak - Bookmark
Sɛtɔp - Setup
Prente Priviw - Print Preview
Ɔflaen - Offline
And these are just a few. Come on guys we can do better! It's a shame the Ghane Bureau of Languages doesn't standardise these things. Cheers!
I jus dey feel da Fante.
ReplyDeleteMe deɛ, mereka no preko sɛ me Twi nnyɛ koraa. Sɛ wohyia me Adum baabi na mehyɛ aseɛ bɔ nkɔmmɔ wɔ Twi a, wobɛsere saa.
Nnawɔtwe a etwaa mu no, mekɔ tɔɔ Akan nnwoma mmaako mmaako nson. Nyame boa a, mɛyere me ho akenkan nson no nyinaa. (Sɛ obi nso pɛsɛɛ ɔno nso "praktese" n'akenkan a, ɔbetumi de me "email" (octavus98@gmail.com) abɔ me ammaneɛ. Mɛmane no Anansesɛm no bi a maskane).
Sorry for the awkwardness. lol. As you can see, my Twi is clumsy at best. btw. I just downloaded firefox in Twi. I don't know how I feel about some of the purely phonetic translations. Example:
Fael - File
Mbukmaak - Bookmark
Sɛtɔp - Setup
Prente Priviw - Print Preview
Ɔflaen - Offline
Just to name a few. It's a shame the Ghane Bureau of Languages doesn't standardise these things. Cheers!
I agree with you I do not have a a very good feeling about that translation.
DeleteMy suggestion would be :
Ogyacsc (ogyaoso) Firefox
Ogya is for fire and fox is csc (oso)
Setup : nyehyey3/nhyehy3ye kwan
The way our language is spoken I know it can be cumbersome to translate but that's the beauty of our heritage. Secret is to take your time, most of our words are not direct so if you can't find one word, just define the English word you are trying to get the Twi for; then find a Twi word or phrase that matches it well.
As for Ghana Bureau of Languages they will not do this for us. 3s3 s3 y3n ankasa y3 y3 ma y3n ho. Me daase :)
I love everything you guys are saying. Joojo Mo! wo aye ade3! I was just wondering can't any one write a program which will translate exactly like how it is in Hebrew and Chinese? Like having keyboard short cuts that will give you the Twi, Ga, or Ewe characters? I tried doing my own Twi font, it worked but my laptop had a fault and i couldn't retrieve that file. So now I am back at square one. I strongly believe we must do something to put out languages out here so I am willing to work with anyone who has the know how, I write, read and speak Twi, Fante and Ga quite well. Esi ay3 adze pa paapa, ma 3reyi yi onny3 agor koraa!
ReplyDeleteHallo :) ma'kakyire nso m'abasobo a me wo ma Esi ne Jojoo no de aankaa akyiri koraa.
ReplyDeleteTr: I may be late on this forum, but my commendation for Esi & Jojoo are not= still relevant.
Ayekoo! Mani agye mo Blog adwuma ho papaapa. Me taa mo akyi.
Tr: Well done. I appreciate your blogs- effort & focus. I am your fan- both of you.
Cheers.
http://ofmtv.com/akan/twi.html - From the website you can get Akan TWI Audio. I ENJOY USING THE AKAN TWI AUDIO FOR FREE
ReplyDeleteTwi Dictionary | Akan Language Dictionary | Translate English to Akan. Akan language, the others being Akuapem Twi , Kwahu Twi, Fante Twi etc.