- Title: NIGERIA: Nigerian app draws children to learn local languages.
- Date: 2nd October 2013
- Summary: LAGOS, NIGERIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF SCHOOL IN LAGOS BANNER READING: "CHARLES LORIE FRENCH ACADEMY" VARIOUS OF ADEBAYO, APP DEVELOPER, TEACHING STUDENTS USING THE LANGUAGE APP VARIOUS OF CHILDREN LOOKING AT TABLET SCREEN VARIOUS OF ANGEL OHAMEZE, STUDENT AND HER FRIEND LISTENING TO INSTRUCTIONS ON COMPUTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANGEL OHAMEZE, STUDENT SAYING: "I learnt Igbo, "nnem gara afia", my mother went to the market." (SOUNDBITE) (English) BENJAMIN CHIDUME, STUDENT SAYING: "I learnt Yoruba, sibi - spoon, labalaba - butterfly, malu - cow." SCREEN-SHOT SHOWING VARIOUS NAMES OF ITEMS MORE OF CHILDREN LEARNING BANNER READING: "ASA - JOIN THE CULTURAL CRUSADE TODAY" (SOUNDBITE) (English) ADEBAYO ADEGBEMBO, APP DEVELOPER SAYING: "Our focus is on culture so I mean with respect to kids not being interested in learning about culture or knowing little or nothing about their culture, we think that we're making a contribution in our little way as to them getting a grasp of where they come from, identifying with their roots and yeah, regaining their cultural identity." VARIOUS OF CHILDREN PLAYING IN SCHOOL VARIOUS OF ONYEKA ALBERT, PROPRIETOR, CHARLES LORIE FRENCH ACADEMY READING HER OFFICE BOOKS ON THE DESK (SOUNDBITE) (English) ONYEKA ALBERT, PROPRIETOR, CHARLES LORIE FRENCH ACADEMY SAYING: "This is what we've been crying out for. We've been crying that our culture is fast eroding, we don't, our children don't know our culture. If I probably ask you some folk tales, you may not be able to tell me and then how do we pass it on to generations, the fact that it is going to be accepted is not questionable; everybody, I've seen it, I'm already asking you to let me begin to have it, it's going to help me because I have been campaigning for this, it's like the person who brought this innovation was speaking my mind." VARIOUS OF CHILDREN PLAYING IN SCHOOL COMPOUND
- Embargoed: 17th October 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Education,Education
- Reuters ID: LVADVHN4TO20JNKGCI19GB8G44OK
- Story Text: At Nigeria's Charles Lories French Academy in Lagos, these students are going through a new learning experience as they try to master local languages.
With new technology and a global demand to speak given international languages, many of Nigeria's urban families are facing loss in everyday use of their dialect especially in urban areas.
To try and promote traditional language and culture, Genie Games a tech start up has come up with a way of using technology to tell traditional stories as well as teach young children more about their language and culture.
Last year, the company's Asa brand which means culture in Yoruba created a language teaching app, which comes complete with animation, voice and a virtual classroom meant to appeal to young minds.
Lead developer, Adebayo Adegbembo who created the app goes around schools teaching eager students how to use the program to learn words and sentences as well as how to pronounce them.
The app comes in Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa, the country's three main languages.
The app has been structured to enlighten those who have no prior knowledge of any of the languages.
"I learnt Igbo, "nnem gara afia", my mother went to the market," said Angel Ohameze, a student.
"I learnt Yoruba, sibi - spoon, labalaba - butterfly, malu - cow," added Benjamin Chidume, another student taking the language course.
Adegbembo says there is need to use Nigeria's fast developing technology to solve social problems in the country.
The 30-year-old is on a mission to introduce the app to schools and parents, a strategy he hopes will be an answer to maintaining Nigeria's linguistic inheritance.
"Our focus is on culture so I mean with respect to kids not being interested in learning about culture or knowing little or nothing about their culture, we think that we're making a contribution in our little way as to them getting a grasp of where they come from, identifying with their roots and yeah, regaining their cultural identity," said Adegbembo.
The app comes at a time when globalization has taken over, with English as the national language in Nigeria; a gradual decline is being seen of over 500 native languages that exist across the country.
The app was created at a cost of about 10,000 US dollars and has so far been accepted by some schools located in upmarket Lagos suburbs.
Schools interested in starting the programme are required to have smartphones and tablets like ipads, which are used as tools for the course.
Adebayo says he targets young children because they easily learn languages at a tender age.
Onyeka Albert runs the Charles Lorie French Academy and says the new app will help sustain age long morals, native languages, etiquette, fables and other treasured cultural elements.
"This is what we've been crying out for. We've been crying that our culture is fast eroding, we don't, our children don't know our culture. If I probably ask you some folk tales, you may not be able to tell me and then how do we pass it on to generations, the fact that it is going to be accepted is not questionable; everybody, I've seen it, I'm already asking you to let me begin to have it, it's going to help me because I have been campaigning for this, it's like the person who brought this innovation was speaking my mind," she said.
With over 10,000 asa app downloads so far, Adebayo says more development efforts will be put into releasing more culturally oriented apps to cater for Nigeria's diverse and rich culture. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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