Connect Your Kids To Their Root, Yoruba Parents Told

 

Some Yoruba parents have been accused of not doing enough to connect their children with their roots through the systematic neglect of the language. The accusation was made recently at Yoruba Lakotun, a quarterly cultural programme at Ethnic Heritage Centre, Ikoyi.

The author of Ika Abamo, Omo Elede and other books in Yoruba and English languages, Mr Ayoade Okedokun made the accusation, saying ‘there are certain words that cannot be translated into Yoruba language because it has no equivalent in English and vice versa.” He explained that Yoruba parents had mixed up the role of the school and that of the home.

In his words, ‘the payment made in the school is to teach the children English language, while the children should learn Yoruba language from their parents and immediate community. Unfortunately, many people muddle up these roles which are distinctly separate. Parents should both cooperate to ensure that their children understand the language; children should not be separated from their roots.”

Hosted by Olutayo Irantiola, Yoruba Lakotun is a quarterly live audience participatory programme where different creative arts are showcased with an interview session with a writer. Ms Adebunmi Adeniran, chief executive of Nailangs, a virtual keyboard that can type 12 Nigerian languages with the tonal marks, also expressed shock at the rate in which some Yoruba make their children speak English compulsorily when the Yoruba in the Diaspora are keen about making their children understand the language.