Greetings, everyone!

I am so excited about this topic of the week and it was what I was working on this week. So yesterday, which was a Sunday, we had a Southern Sunday celebration in my church, and all the members were asked to dress in Southern attire, which everyone did, and it was so beautiful and presentable.

This was me reading the announcement using my native language and my brother here reads in English to the church

However, I was asked to take the church announcement in my church, since I was from the South, I decided to write out the announcement in my native language using the English template to write.

Ibibio language

It was so exciting that I was able to write in my native language and read it to the public, well-written and read.

How easy is it to learn

Well, I can boldly say that it is easy for me to speak and write because I'm a native speaker of the language which is why it's easier. While we were preparing for the southern Sunday, we had a choir rehearsal, and we rehearsed my native song, so it wasn't easy for the non native speakers to pronounce it and sing it well because they have their own dialect. Almost all my choir members were complaining that my native language is very hard to understand and speak. Since I'm in the Hausa language, I also find it very difficult to speak their language but I'm learning a little by little.

In my language, it is not easy to learn, read, and write. I can tell you that the majority of Akwa Ibomites don't know how to read and write the dialect, but they can express themselves through speaking. Writing it down is the most difficult part of it because it has its own rules to follow. I can't write my dialect as if I were writing Ibibio. Some symbols follow each other and they must be inserted. Is like having stressed and unstressed syllables in words is the same as in my dialect.

There were some parts of it that I was not able to write; I had to reach out to a colleague of mine to help me with some parts that I couldn't write. To show that it was very difficult. I had to sit overnight to gain mastery over the reading of the dialect before the main day of the presentation.

At the end of the day, I was able to write, read, and speak to the congregation through the announcement. I was so excited to present it that way. And I am so proud of my dialect and where I am coming from.

I am a proud Akwa ibomite

This is my response to the Hivelearners featured contest week 242 episode 1