I am from the southeastern country of the Giant of Africa. Our official language there is Igbo. It is one of the three major languages in my country, though there are still some alleged controversies about that. In my state, when a child is born, it is expected that the parents speak Igbo language to the child to enable them to grow up speaking Igbo language fluently and without struggle. However, this is not the case today, as modernisation and the crave to become a Queen's English speaker have almost ruined that culture and heritage. Once that initial process is broken, it becomes difficult to reverse.
Geralt
When my eldest sister got married, I stayed with her for some time, and while with her, she gave birth to some of her children. Before then, she had already decided that she would train them with English as their first language. Though we were skeptical about it but we gave in to that request because it is her life and family, we can only suggest and leave the rest to her.
So, the children were trained with English as their first language. However, later on, it became a challenge for them. When they travel home, other children at the village will communicate in both Igbo and English language because their parents used Igbo as their first language while they learned English as their second language. This enabled them to communicate effectively with both. However, my sister’s children can only communicate in English.
To the question of the day, I can confirm that Igbo language is easier to learn from birth and in childhood than in adulthood. More so, there are certain books that can help an adult to learn an Igbo language. Those books are Azu ndu, A B CH in Igbo, and other scripts written by professors that are used in schools to teach Igbo language.
On the other hand, if I had to learn to communicate in Igbo language from scratch, just like my sister’s children did. I will buy that Azu ndu and start with A, B, CH. From there, I will graduate to making friends with people who can speak Igbo fluently. I will make sure that I write down some important words that will assist me in remembering those spoken words and their meanings.
Alanajordan
However, at that point, it will take time for me to understand and master the words, but with consistency and steady efforts, I will make small, daily efforts towards mastering the Igbo language, and with time, it will become a storyline just the same way it happened to my sisters’ children. They started learning the Igbo language, and they learned it even to the point of adding it to their secondary school graduation exam as their choice of language, as required by the exam body.
In conclusion, Igbo language is easy to learn at an early stage of life but difficult in adulthood; however, concerted efforts are required when learning it at a later stage in life.
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