Learning Yoruba During Lockdown

by Fola Odofin


During my time in isolation, one of the things to keep myself entertained was learning a new language. I was born and raised in the UK but my parents were born in Nigeria, a country in North West Africa. One of the top three languages spoken there is Yoruba, over 40 million other people speak it.

Learning a new language is very useful as only 2 billion out of 7 billion can speak English. Futhermore, learning a new language is good for the brain as it helps improve your memory, attention span and develop your multitasking skills.

Even though we study languages at school, they are all European-based. So, over the time we have left before we go back  to school, try and learn another language from a different continent - or, if your parents have a heritage with a different language, try and learn it. You will learn different things that you might not have heard of before and it could be fun. For example, with Yoruba, there is no exact translation of saying "Hello" or "Sorry".


Here are some ideas of different languages to learn  if you wanted to get started:

  • Mandarin Chinese
  • Russian
  • Portugese
  • Swahili 
  • Japanese 
  • Polish               
You never know, it might come useful one day.

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