Why you should read out loud.
The Queen’s Primer book has been a staple in Nigerian nursery schools for as long as I can remember. Every time I got home after school, I always did my best to avoid getting it rumpled, keeping the edges fine and neat. It served a purpose for me, you, and everyone: to teach the foundations of the English language to young students in a very special way, by having every student read along with the teacher(s).
Easy enough, one might say, and I quite remember that I often just droned off the words without really understanding them. All I made sure to do was repeat everything the teacher was saying. But it stuck. Not only because we had to do that every day for quite literally the whole term, but because we were actively engaged by reading it out loud. Like most children, I always tried to outdo my seatmate, seeing who could shout the loudest, “I go up, up I go, Am I to go up.”
With the staccato of our voices ringing down the hallway, everyone knew Nursery Two was at it again. This was the same for every language class; we were engaged because we understood the language of the place, and our curiosity towards learning more was piqued, to say the least.
As we grow older, more significance is placed on our abilities to read and understand subjects by ourselves, and being able to process and answer questions when they are asked. What a wonderful way of ensuring success, one might say.
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If only we were not in such a perverted system, where the value of actually understanding your subject of choice has lost its relevance. Students resort to cramming, or more poetically put, “La cram, La pour,” which roughly translates to “I Cram and I Pour.”
This phrase is particularly common in Nigeria for several reasons. The main goal of being in school has deviated from actually learning to fulfilling all righteousness. After all, you’ve gone to school and you’ve graduated.
In comparison to when most individuals were younger, you understood the crux of the language in the Queen’s Primer book because it was quite literally priming you for the understanding of Queen’s English. That’s it. So logically, it is the same way your mathematics class is prepping you to understand the real core of the foundation, not just saying 2+2 equals 4 because your teacher said so.
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The impact of these subtle things is evident in Nigerian society today. The one and only Nobel Laureate the country has in its 64 years of existence was a Laureate in Literature, with little to no advancement in STEM.
Why read out loud? Well, it forces you to hear yourself speak a language. You are actively participating in the creation of an idea through a pattern in your mind. You can see it.
I believe this is what drives group creation. When a person speaks out on their ideologies, other people can resonate with this, and from there, a group is formed. Individuals endear themselves to different groups based on differing characteristics, and one of the most important aspects that unifies and separates a group from another is their language.
In this context, I do not mean language as only that which you speak to your friends, but a method of understanding which is used to communicate with each other. Like my Yoruba mother and her eyes, which can communicate a thousand subtle wishes even beyond the restrictions of language.
Because truly, what language can effectively communicate the intent behind the glare of a parent while a first-time visitor is in the living room?
So this is what I see language as: a vehicle for civilization, a way to reach an understanding with a person. Countries would call it the lingua franca, the language for communication between individuals who do not share a native language.
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Hence, we could say that languages are the vehicles of civilization, and if you want to create a civilized society, you need to possess the ability to communicate with people in a manner they would understand.
And this is one of the major reasons I think GRV didn’t win the Lagos gubernatorial election. Of course, you could argue that the election was rigged, but one thing you cannot defend is the fact that a Yoruba man vying for a post in a majority Yoruba state was not capable of speaking the majority language.
Remember that I explained how language is the vehicle for civilization. People are inspired to change for the better when they can understand the point you are trying to make. And regardless of how grandiose your plan is, how spectacular, noble, and lofty your aspirations are, if there is a disparity in the language between you and your audience, then it is impossible to truly reach out to them.
This highlights just a singular aspect of the importance of language. In this case, to the local people of Lagos state, speaking to them in a language they can understand, using things they can relate to, is the only way to build and foster active participation.
Much like in the STEM scene, communicating and showing the desire for proper systems is the only chance we have towards ensuring that the right people are placed in the right places. Not easy, but no country would grow without appropriate attention to research and development of their science and technology industry.
As Wittgenstein said, “The limits of your language are the limits of your world.”
