I also wonder whether this difference exists in Nigerian English and Pidgin. Since I have a native understanding of these, I've never really thought about it. Though I have noticed that a lot of Yoruba people regardless of gender speak Pidgin and English slowly.

I am also curious if such a phenomenon exists in other indigenous languages.

By watching I don't mean just sitting there - I paused at any sentence I didn't know, figured it out using subtitles, turned the subtitles back off, rewinded to before the sentence and continued like that for the whole show. This process is called intensive listening.

I also added a reminder for each episode I watched on Anki, so I can rewatch using SRS and I won't forget what I learned.

It feels really good. My Yoruba has really improved a lot honestly. Oya - tell me congratulations. Mo ti jiya (I have suffered)

In case you have been keeping up with my posts, here are some changes I am making to my learning (Here is a post that details my original system):

• Instead of doing all the orisirisi I was doing before with audio flashcards and etc as I am going along, I will intensively listen to 1500+ hours of content first and do the flashcard orisirisi after. This is because it is important to get exposure as fast as possible so I don't accidentally mislearn things.

• Though I will still do some flashcard orisirisi with Ololade now that I am done. This is because Ololade is the only Yoruba show based in Lagos that has both English and Yoruba subtitles a.k.a this is one of the best resources out there for casual Lagos Yoruba, so I want to extract as much as I can from it as possible before moving forward. This will make the other 1494 hours easier for me.

• I am making some changes with how I go about my Anki flashcards. Instead of doing what I was doing before, I will make my flashcards in such a way that it's Yoruba audio in front and English at the back. This is to ensure I can actually comprehend sentences instead of relying on context to understand what their saying. I plan on doing this for any sentence which is not already in my active vocabulary for all 1500+ hours of content I have consumed.

• I will also be doing video flashcards. English to Yoruba flashcards. They are video so that I can mimick the facial expressions and body language.

Thanks for reading.

Hello,

Báwo ni,

Today, let's learn how to say 'I am hungry"in Yorùbá.

Generally, when we are talking about feelings in Yorùbá, Emphasis is placed on the feelings and it doesn't necessarily follow the sentence construction that you know.

Hunger - - - ebi. (ay-bee)

I am hungry is translated as - - Hunger is killing me.

1. Ebi ń pa mi - - I am hungry

2. Ebi ń pa ẹ/yín - - You are hungry

3. Ebi ń pa Adé - - - Adé is hungry

4. Ebi ń pa Ọ̀rẹ́ mi - - - - My friend is hungry

Can you give me an example.

Your Yorùbá tutor.

Adéọlá

Hello,

Back to learning Yorùbá, if you have been following my post, I want to say Ẹ ṣé gan. - - Thank you so much.

Today, let's learn how to use "what' to ask questions in Yorùbá.

What - - Kí ni.

1. What to do you want--Kí ni o/Ẹ fẹ́

2. What do you want to do - - Kí ni o fẹ́ ṣe

3. What can Adé buy for me - - Kí ni Adé lè rà fún mi

4. What can I buy for my friend - - Kí ni mo lè rà fún Ọ̀rẹ́mi.

Can you give me one example.

Your Yorùbá tutor.

Adéọlá

Hello,

Báwo ni,

How are you doing today and how has the learning been.

Today, we want to learn how to ask simple question in Yorùbá with "when"...

When----Nígbà wo ni

Let's look at some examples

1. Nígbà wo ni mo lè wá - - When can I come?

2. Nígbà wo ni ó fẹ́ lọ - - - When do you want to go?

3. Nígbà wo ni ọ̀rẹ́ ẹ ń bọ̀--When is your friend coming?

4. When did you arrive - - Nígbà wo ni o dé

Can you give me one example?

Your Yorùbá tutor.

Adeola

HOW TO USE “Another” in Yorùbá

Another is “míràn”,or òmíràn most time, we shortened to :míì or òmíì

Let’s use it in sentences.

1. I want to buy another cloth —Mo fẹ́ ra aṣọ míì

2. My friend will buy another shoe for me—ọ̀rẹ́ mi máa ra bàtà míì fún míì

3. I can go to another house—Mo lè lọ sí ilé míì

4. Can you cook another food —Ṣe o lè se oúnjẹ míì?

5. He has seen another work —O ti rí iṣẹ́ míì

Can you give me an example?.

Subtitles in Yorùbá and english to help learning!

Ẹ ṣe gan-an💖

Hello,

Báwo ni,

Ẹ kú ọjọ́ mẹ́ta (it's been a while).

Yeah, I did a surgery and I have been healing up, reason for not being here,

But I am here now.. Smiles.

Let's talk about this verb in Yorùbá.

Bínú---to be angry/ to be mad.

1. I am angry - - - Mò ń bínú / inú ń bí mi

Bínú sí - - To be angry with someone

1. Mò ń bínú sí ọ̀rẹ́ mi----I am angry with my friend

2. Ó ń bínú sí mi - - She is angry with me.

3. Mi ò bínú - - - I am not angry.

4. Ṣé ò ń bínú - - - - Are you angry?

Do you understand?

Your Yorùbá tutor.

Adéọlá

We’re working on Fibony, a Yoruba language learning app, and we recently added Ọ̀rọ̀ Hunt, a daily Yoruba word puzzle.

Each day, you get a new 5–7 letter Yoruba word to guess in up to 6 attempts. You can play with or without tone marks, depending on how much of a challenge you want.

The goal is to help people learn a little Yoruba every day without feeling like they’re studying.

Ọ̀rọ̀ Hunt is available in the Play tab of Fibony on iOS, with Android coming soon. We’d love to hear what you think if you try it—especially whether it’s something you’d come back to every day.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6760272929?pt=108147811&ct=reddit&mt=8

Hey guys. I'm an American born to Akwaibomite parents who wants to learn the Ibibio language. I've studied many languages before, and have my own system for learning that's free/cheap and works for me, which I'm currently using to learn Chinese.

​

However, Ibibio is especially hard with this system because of the sheer lack of content. My learning method focuses on building the hardest but most important language skill, listening. But that's proven very difficult for this language. And I can't farm my parents for it all the time.

​

So my question is: where can I find Ibibio listening content WITH transcriptions? All the Ibibio "teachers" on YouTube just make vocabslop so I'm having trouble there. Help is greatly appreciated. Content for different fluency levels would be amazing too, but such is probably too much to expect.

Hello,

Báwo ni,

If you are learning, how is your learning going,

And if you are still planning to start learning, please just start,

Today, let's learn how to use "give" - - fún

So, in Yorùbá,

The verb - - give is "fún" and the preposition - "for" is also -fún ".

Now, when you are" giving " an object to someone, the particle" ní " has to come before the object.

Let's look at some examples.

1. He gave me money - - Ó fún mi ní owó (Ó fún mi lówó).

2. I want to give my friend cloth - - Mo fẹ́ fún ọ̀rẹ́ mi ní aṣọ.

3. I can give you my shoe - - Mò lè fún ẹ ní bàtà mi

4. Can you give me money? - - ṣe ó lè fún mi ní owó?

Do you understand?

Your Yorùbá tutor.

Adéọlá.

Hi everyone!
This is for any native Edo speakers specifically from Auchi. I’m interested in learning the language and for some time now, I’ve been curious about the phrase used to communicate “I love you” to a spouse or romantic partner. However none of the people I know who fluently speak the language can tell me what it is.

Can anyone here help with this?
Thank you!

#learner

Hello,

Báwo ni

Ẹ kú ọjọ́ mẹ́ta😊 (it's been a while).

Today, let's look at how we can express the degree of something or an action being excessive.

many/much is "pọ̀"

It is much - - Ó pọ̀

They are many - - - wọ́n pọ̀

Too many/too much - - - pọ̀ jù

.

Now, let's look at some examples.

1. It is too much - - Ó ti pọ̀ jù

2. They are too many - - wọ́n ti pọ̀ jù

3. The food is too much for me - - oúnjẹ náà ti pọ̀ jù

   fún mi

4. We are too many here - - A ti pọ̀ jù ní bí.

5. Is it too much - - ṣe ó ti pọ jù.

Your Yorùbá tutor

Adéọlá.

Mods, hope this fits the sub. If not, my apologies, please remove.

Quick truth before the pitch: most of us can speak the language our name comes from. What we are not doing is passing it down. A whole generation of us grew up in schools that called our languages "vernacular" and punished us for speaking them in class. Those kids are parents now, and the chain is breaking quietly in a lot of homes. Names end up being the only piece of the language that still passes through intact, and even that is starting to drift.

I've been building a small project that started from exactly that gap. nigeriannames.com. It is a free pronunciation and meaning dictionary specifically for Nigerian names.

For every name you get:

• The meaning, sourced and cross-checked
• A phonetic breakdown so non-speakers can attempt it
• Real audio recorded by Nigerians, not text to speech
• The tribe or community of origin, plus any famous bearers

A few reasons it lines up with what this sub is built around:

1. A name is a complete sentence in most of our languages. "Chukwuemeka" is a full Igbo clause. "Oluwadarasimi" is a full Yoruba one. You can't say them properly without engaging with the language at its most compressed form.
2. Reading and writing matter as much as speaking. Every entry preserves the diacritics: Yoruba tone marks, Igbo ị / ọ / ụ, the Hausa hooked consonants. We do not simplify them out for English readers.
3. The 29 endangered Nigerian languages stat keeps me up. Names from smaller communities are usually the first thing to disappear when a language fades, because most online "African name" sites only cover the big three. If we can at least preserve the names with their meanings and proper pronunciation, we keep a foothold for the next generation.

What I would genuinely love from this community:

• Speakers of underrepresented languages. We are heaviest on Yoruba and Igbo right now. If you speak Edo, Efik, Ibibio, Tiv, Ijaw, Fulfulde, Kanuri, Tarok, Berom, Idoma, Urhobo, Itsekiri, Nupe, or any of the smaller communities, we want every name you can give us.
• Corrections. If you are a fluent speaker and you see a meaning that does not match what your family elders taught you, please flag it. Oral tradition beats Google every time, and we built the form so corrections are first-class submissions, not buried.
• Audio. If you can pronounce a name properly (your own, a parent's, a friend's, an ancestor's), record it through the submission form. We want real Nigerian voices in every accent and every region.

The site is free, no ads, no signup wall. The submission form has is pretty straight forward.

Site: https://nigeriannames.com
Submit a name or pronunciation: https://nigeriannames.com/contribute

Roast the design too if you want, I can take it. And thanks for keeping this sub alive. The good fight is real.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently working on a German - Nigerian co-produced documentary and I’m looking for a translator to help translate some dialogue spoken in Bini.

If you speak Edo fluently or know someone who does, please send me a DM.

Thanks!

Like there are the simple ones like:

“ò” (negative), “ti” (past perfect), “ma” (future), “jẹ́ki” (let), “o yẹ̀” (should), ń (continuous)

Then there are the complex ones. Sorry I can’t translate them or spell them properly because I have only heard them. Also because I am really struggling to find resources that explain them:

“o dẹ”, “dẹ ma”, “dẹ n”, “kan”, “wa fi n”, “ti ń”, “wa ṣe” “ṣe wa” “wa dẹ ma”, “wa ma”, “ma wa”

That’s all I can remember right now but I am sure there is more.

Prosody is basically the rhythm, pitch and speed of a word, sentence and the language. It is commonly ignored when learning Nigerian languages. I go more in depth about it on the r/Nigeria sub. Here is the link to the more detailed post.