Wazua
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Kenya's ultimate solution
Rank: Member Joined: 6/26/2008 Posts: 319
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I Partly agree regarding ignorance, but then one needs to remember that even the many of us who are exposed and knowledgeable both in terms of 'power to read' and also exposure to general knowledge have failed to move this country forward.
Look at the problem right down at the family level. Many of us have househelps and the myriad of problems with these pple is beyond belief. Have we thought about why/how come it is common for mzungus to have one nanny bring up their children and integrate a lot more into the family than among us indigenous pples? It leads me to believe that we do not love each other enough, we are simply not patriotic pple. We care too much about self to benefit as a nation from the synergy born of unity.
No matter how hard we work, this kind of self centredness will result in too skewed a distribution of resources and this will make our country lag behind. We need a unifying factor. In China, they had Mao, In Singapore and Malaysia it has been about figures such as these that brought pple togetehr. In Japan, they have a belief system that works well for them. The birth of european and american powerhouses was born of a common faith based system which united them. What have we that will bring us together?
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Rank: Elder Joined: 10/4/2006 Posts: 13,823 Location: Nairobi
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who ever thinks sheng is our answer listen to tuju!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiePiD8iiQ8
i like the fellow but sheng is just wrong! All Mushrooms are edible! Some Mushroom are only edible ONCE!
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Rank: Veteran Joined: 12/23/2010 Posts: 1,229
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This text language is denying many young people opportunities
Imagine receiving this email from a potential employee:
I avbnlukin 4 u 4 sum tym. I avbnwndrn y u din’trply to ma mails whch I sent but its ok. Thx and av nice day
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Rank: Elder Joined: 7/1/2011 Posts: 8,804 Location: Nairobi
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@masukuma, @kenmac,and all the sheng opposers;
I think we need to take another look at the reasons for advocating for the use of sheng as a language of technology.
1. It takes an average person more than 16 years to learn English well enough to write a decent short story, and considering the fact that there are many Kenyans who have not gone past std.8,we should not place on ourselves an adult education program that will lead to great losses of time and funds.For example, if we took an 18 year old into an adult education program we'd have to wait till he is 34 before he can use English productively...when will he retire? How much will the government have spent on him?
2. Given that we (Kenyans) can't add words to the English dictionary, it follows that our use of the language is limited to the context of emulating,imitating and generally, waiting for native English speakers to create and name for us. But technology entails naming and creating, and as many have already noted, sheng offers us the licence to create and to name.
3. The usage of sheng as a language of technology doesn't preclude the usage of English and Kiswahili.
Finally about the objections raised regarding the great dynamism of sheng: Sheng is just another human creation and it can be brought under control quite easily through trade,the setting of linguistic standards much like English and Kiswahili are controlled.
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Rank: Member Joined: 1/22/2011 Posts: 322 Location: Chicago, IL, USA
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tycho wrote:@masukuma, @kenmac,and all the sheng opposers;
I think we need to take another look at the reasons for advocating for the use of sheng as a language of technology.
1. It takes an average person more than 16 years to learn English well enough to write a decent short story, and considering the fact that there are many Kenyans who have not gone past std.8,we should not place on ourselves an adult education program that will lead to great losses of time and funds.For example, if we took an 18 year old into an adult education program we'd have to wait till he is 34 before he can use English productively...when will he retire? How much will the government have spent on him?
2. Given that we (Kenyans) can't add words to the English dictionary, it follows that our use of the language is limited to the context of emulating,imitating and generally, waiting for native English speakers to create and name for us. But technology entails naming and creating, and as many have already noted, sheng offers us the licence to create and to name.
3. The usage of sheng as a language of technology doesn't preclude the usage of English and Kiswahili.
Finally about the objections raised regarding the great dynamism of sheng: Sheng is just another human creation and it can be brought under control quite easily through trade,the setting of linguistic standards much like English and Kiswahili are controlled.
Are you volunteering to write the first complete, unabridged Sheng dictionary and self-publish and print it?
I suppose that would be a starting point for your experiment, and it shouldn't be that difficult for you to do, since you've done a fair amount of typing here already. I feel that this is step number one.
We will be waiting with baited breath for it, so that we can review it amongst the Kenyan academia, after which you can seek the support of a few professors that would be willing to integrate it into their curriculum.
Until you can put a functional copy into our hands, and into the hands of some linguistics professionals that can help get us some clarity on this, we remain largely at a loss for logical reasoning around what exactly it is that you are attempting to do above and beyond causing a bit more confusion among the youth.
Best,
Hill
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Rank: Member Joined: 4/1/2008 Posts: 104 Location: Nairobi
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@jasonhill speaking of clarity, just what does baited breath look like?  Généralement, les gens qui savant peu parlent becoup, et les gens qui savant beaucoup parlent peu.
- Rousseau.
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Rank: Member Joined: 1/22/2011 Posts: 322 Location: Chicago, IL, USA
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savant wrote:@jasonhill speaking of clarity, just what does baited breath look like?
Old English colloquialism for "bated breath" which is a shortened version of "Abated breath", as in "held, or awaiting".
Good catch Savant
Best,
Hill
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Rank: Elder Joined: 7/1/2011 Posts: 8,804 Location: Nairobi
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@jasonhill,
I do not think you are presenting a fair urgument.
It doesn't follow that if I am advocating for sheng then I should place a sheng dictionary in your hands, plus with the recomendation of some authorities - linguists.
But then I must try to understand you. I suppose you are in Cleveland, and most likely living the American dream. Here in Kibera we are wondering how we are going to make ourselves economically viable, and proposals to learn English are more confusing than you can imagine.
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