Me, Hajia Fati’s son, was born and bred in Ghana, school taught us that aside our south that had a long coast (Gulf of Guinea), Ghana had three neighbours – Togo, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. All three are Francophone i.e. French-speaking.
So even though with a robust democracy we don’t envisage any upheavals politically, a joke has often made the rounds that Ghanaians must learn French because in the case of any crisis, we either enter the sea or join our Francophone neighbours.
But we won’t fight – c’est pas necessaire, notre democracie est trop mature! La period de guerre politique est derriere nous, En fait, Ghana est etoile en Afrique dans bon gouvernance. Use Google translate.
Having said that, growing up, we had a few French terminologies that even the uneducated used. Allez partir, là-bas là-bas is one of them, it simply meant: Get out of here, go far away. Break down: Allez = Go, partir = Leave, Là-bas = (over) there.
Attention (French) pronounced attan-sion was another word meaning: Be careful. In 1998 during the World Cup in France, Ghanaians joined the world to sing ‘Go, go, go, allez, allez, allez.’
Still with music, one of the biggest tracks way back was Ivorian group Magic System’s ‘Gaou.’ There was barely anyone who couldn’t sing that song, it was hot cake and the radio stations gave it more mileage.
In Ghana, French man = someone who lacks understanding. Au Ghana, quand un personne t’apelle Francais ca veut dit, tu manqué comprehension de chose simple. Je ne sait pas pourquoi, mais ce la realite.
Long story short, Ghana has a cozy relationship with French as a language. In fact, our current president Nana Addo has in the past said French will be a compulsory course at a certain level in our education, ah bon? Laissez lui parle, c’est facille de parle.
Note; the president speaks French as well as he does English. Oui bien sure, notre president parle francais comme son nom est Jean, Francois ou de Gualle mais bizzarement, il n’y a pas de nom cretiene.
So in basic school, we studied French and wrote a terminal French exam. In High School, your course of study determined if you did French same with the university. My French love story started from home, my self-taught barber daddy, Hajia Fati’s heartthrob was a polyglot.
Our old man spoke English, Arabic and French with rapt and apt fluency. It was he that started teaching us French at home with a book ‘Parlons Francais.’ My basic school French master Monsieur Tackie was also key to my liking for the language.
So during my national service days, I also joined a French language course at Allaince Francaise in Ghana. Paid lots of money and wrote the DELF-DALF exam. Grounded me in the language a bit but there was no one to practice with so we went rusty.
Then came February 2016, a job with Africanews and I had to be based in Congo Republic not Kabila’s Congo. C’est trois ans deja de vivre entre les Francaise en Congo-Brazzaville, vraiment le temps bouge eh.
Then my empoyers decided to give English speakers an opportunity to learn French and vice versa. Over a three month period my colleagues and I under the tutelage of Monsieur Bikindou went through the rough terrain of French language rules. Fatigue!
We wrapped up the class on Thursday 27 August, 2018; with presentations on a chosen topic and a written test. I totally killed it with the presentation, I did! My topic was ‘Ma vie professionelle’ – my professional life.
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| The only French man is wearing the suit, Professeur Bikindou L-R Daniel (Uganda), Emilia (Cameroon), Hajia Fati (Ghana), Amelia (Uganda), Michael (Nigeria), Nyasha (Zimbabwe), Jerry (Nigeria) |
Long before now, I’d listened to a motivational speaker, Emmanuel Dei Tumi, advise that any varsity graduate needed three things: a passport, a second international language aside English and how to drive – that it boosts one’s chances professionally.
I have experienced the truth in two and rue the missed opportunity to learn to drive. I had a passport when I really didn’t need it, it came in handy when I needed it most. My little French from way back cushioned me and still saves me till date.
I’d conclude with a paragraph from my presentation: ‘J’aime mon travail pour deux raisons principaux, il y a independence de le fait et la feedback sur la ruseaux sociaux – Twitter et Facebook – confirme toujours que notre travail est eprouve et puissant. En fin, je prie pour mon employeur pour l’opportunite est aussi parce que je suis 100% sure que mon salaire est toujours assure!’
Ok, a tout a l’heure!
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