Why Colonialists Shamed Kenyans For Speaking Native Languages @AirlearnLanguageShow describes one person who stood up against British colonial shaming of Kenyans speaking their native languages: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (1938-2025). T he Kenyan novelist wrote many books in English until he penned “Devil on the Cross” (1980) on toilet paper... while jailed. Drop us a comment if you speak your native language. Follow us: The Spearhead Video credit: @AirlearnLanguageShow (YouTube)show more

I find it increasingly difficult to believe this. And sorry to say, Spearhead, but I've done the work for more years. I've not seen anywhere where British colonialists told Africans not to speak their languages. Their missionaries spent a lot of time learning to speak African language and translating the Bible into vernacular. Even the anti Mau Mau propaganda was written in Gikuyu and Kiswahili, and the British invested during the counterinsurgency in vernacular media. In the 1920s, there was even a missionary conference where they agreed that Africans should not learn English because 1) their minds couldn't handle it 2) they should not be Europeanized. So how do we explain Ngugi's example of the shaming of children in school for speaking vernacular? That was enforced by African teachers. That's the only explanation I can come up with. The French were the ones who implemented that card thing, not the English. I think that's where that thing came from. It could have been done because education opportunities were so few, and maybe the teachers felt it was the only way for children to pass exams. By the way, Kenyan parents still feel that way. This isn't about shame. It's about the economy. Kenya is not producing and so people have to market themselves to international opportunities, hence the reverence of English. And do you know that Ngugi attended Alliance High School? He's written about that experience in his memoir "The Interpreter's house." I can check there if he's mentioned anything about vernacular. I can't recall from the top of my head.

Here in Ghana, teachers will cane you for speaking our mothers tongue. Now a full grown man Harruna, minister for education in busy adding arabic and chinese to our languages. Because he's a colonial puppet 😂😂😂

Alot reasons to hate this white fools

I just finished reading devil on the cross. I'll urge everybody to read this great man books. Ngugi wa Thiong'o is the greatest writer in African history. May he's soul continue to rest in peace

Because of Nglishi

Na why I say make we make pidgin our official language

Similar happened in Ghana

Ṅwaṅṅe lee kwa ṅsọgbụ. Bụrụ bia.

Omor🤦💔

@DavidHundeyin Africa is losing the battle against extreme poverty

It is inferiority that makes schools punish students for speaking their native language.