The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

Today is my birthday. For all of you who've been wishing me Happy Birthday, I will like to say Thank you in these 23+ African languages and in these 16+ non-African languages . I asked my friends for how to say Happy Birthday in African languages. Some exist. Now you can wish birthday celebrants in an African language. With some help from  my African friends , we have a list to work with. I wish I could get to 30 but I've tried ahh.  Akan: Mema wo awoda pa. Mema wo awoda mu anigye.    You have another version? Add it in a comment. :-) The +kasahorow  gurus like  +Paa Kwesi  taught me this. Ga: Afi o afi.  You have a better way to say it, Let's hear it. Otherwise, this from +Naa Oyoo Quartey  & Naa adjeley hold. Ewe: Dzigbeza bɔkɔɔ nawo!  h +Enock Seth Nyamador  of  +Planning Wikimedia Ghana  wished me this via Twitter today. So I didn't even have to ask gurus like +Seyram Freddy Ahiabor  &  ...

If you think I started writing this blog post because I'm hungry, You lie bad. I have had 3 huge meals today and I had to refuse another meal because I had had my fill. Africans like food and we have many different types of food from our many cultures. There must be many opportunities to say 'I'm hungry' in Africa. Or ar the very least, food. So here, with some help from  my African friends , we have a list of 23 to work with.  Akan:  ɛ k ɔ m de me. Aduane.  Pretty easy to say. You don't want to have to say a mouthful when saying such important thins. :-) Bonus in Fante -  ɛ k ɔ m dzem. Edziban.  Yea, you've heard of Kwame Dzokoto's show? I love it! Ga: H ɔm ɔ  ye mi. Niyenii.  Definitely heard the statement before, Havne't quite caught the name fot food until  +Naa Oyoo Quartey  told me.  Ewe:    ɛ d ɔ  ny ɛ  wum. Nudud u.   +Seyram Freddy Ahiabor  taught me this. I wonder if it's alsmost th...

Africans are polite. Africans honour respect. Hence, we don't play with the word "Please". So wherever you are in Africa, you can really buy what you want for free if you throw in a "Please" word there. The MIghTy African is here to help you. With some help from  my African friends , we have a list of 23 to work with.  Akan: Mepa wo ky ɛ w. 2 many syllables for what should be an easy word. Not the stress on the double vowel. Yes is Yes and No is No :-) Bonus in Fante - Iny ɔ  & Anha :-) Ga: Ofai n ɛ .  Akan Twi and Ga are bedfellows when it comes to language. We know how Ga and Twi have similar words. So I should have seen this coming. Thanks to  +Seyram Freddy Ahiabor  for 'reminding' me.  Ewe: Medekuku.   +Doris Anson-Yevu  who is a part of the  +kasahorow  team and also works on  +Nyaseto  taught me this one. I'm gonna be in Ho this weekend for  +Barcamp Ho  so.... :-) Dagbani: Dim su...

I was inspired to do this through a conversation with my Senegalese buddy  +Oumoul Khaïry Sow  while watching a music video by "yeah you guessed it" by  +Viviane Chidid  called   Fans Yi . :-) Yes, that means "My Fans". Talking about Yes, Viviane also has a music video called   Waaw . Which means "Yes" in Wolof, which is (yes) a Senegalese language.   Waw ! With some help from  my African friends , we have a list of 23 to work with. Choose your pick and say Waaw like a   Champion   wrestler from Senegal! Akan: Aane &  Daabi.  2 many syllables for what should be an easy word. Not the stress on the double vowel. Yes is Yes and No is No :-) Bonus in Fante - Iny ɔ  & Anha :-) Ga:  ɛ ɛ ɛ  & Daabi .  Akan Twi and Ga are bedfellows when it comes to language. We know how Ga and Twi have similar words. So I should have seen this coming. Thanks to  +Seyram Freddy Ahiabor  for 'reminding...

Depending on which country I am in and who I am speaking to, I can have 1 out of about 7 names. You probably know my real one, but you do know my Ugandan , Kenyan , Nigerian , Ethiopian , Tanzanian and South African ones? Or my real other name which I use to call myself when I meet some lucky lady I feel like saying it to? Just in case, you happen to be in certain place or country and you feel you have to pull one of these out, let's learn how to say " What is your name " and " My name is " in 23 African languages. :-) Thanks to my friends who helped me pull this list together recently as I had missed writing blog posts such as these. Akan: Wo din de s ɛ n?   Me din de .. Yeah, name in Twi is "din". It might be more popular to hear people say  Y ɛ fr ɛ  wo s ɛ n? &  Y ɛ fr ɛ me ... which directly translates to "What do we call you? & We call me...  Ga: Te ats ɛ ɔ  kbo t ɛ ŋ ŋ ? Ats ɛ ɔ  mi..  I learnt this once but I don...

Money . We all love it abi? :-) Is that also not why wherever we find ourselves, we need it? Is that not why it is the root of all evil? Is that also not why people sing about it all the time? Next time, you see money raining in an African music video, think about some of these word$ that mean $$$. With some help from my African friends , we have a list of 23 to work with. Choose your pick! Akan: Sika.  My mother tongue. Quite easy. My mother has many memorable quotes on money. But here's a great song about money by one of my favorite musicians. Sika by Okyeame Kwame . Ga: Shika.  We know how Ga and Twi have similar words. So I should have seen this coming. Thanks to  +Seyram Freddy Ahiabor  for 'reminding' me.  Ewe:  ɛ ga.   Another one taught to me by Seyram .  Dagbani: Lahri.  Yeap, +Jemila Abdulai  taught me this one. Once. :-) Hausa: Kudi.  Now isn't this just obvious? I've been hearing "kawukudi" so many times. Kudi ha...

In line with saying "More vim" all the time, I found it prudent to learn how to say "Let's go" in many languages. #Leggo is a rallying cry for let's get things done and this is a statement that is important for groups of people everywhere. With some help from my African friends, we have a list of 23 to work with. Choose your pick! On y va! Akan: Y ɛ nk ɔ ! What you thought I wouldn't add my mother tongue? Some folks can't say what "thank you" is in their lingua francas. Such a fracas. Don't belittle this at all at all. Ga: Wote ! Many of you who know me well know I like to use the word "Chale". In local Ghanaian parlance, it's a pet name for friends. Or simply "Dude". Chalewote in Ghana also refers to slippers. So yeah, slip the slippers and say, "Chale, let's go" Ewe: Midzo ! Dzolali is also a nice thing to say. The Ketasco inspired word has a response too - "Now or Never!" Dagban...

Courtesy calls that you greet someone when you meet them. African hospitality houses saying "How are you" and longer greetings than "Hello". So, let's learn how to say "How are you" and "I am fine" in a few African languages so we can indulge while we are in various countries hehe. Let me show you what I know;-) Akan: Wo ho t e s ɛn? Me ho y ɛ! If you pay close attention to the translations, you might learn how to say me and you in multiple African languages :-)  Ga: Te oyoo t ɛ ɛ ɛ? Mi yo ojogbann ! I learnt when I was pretty young. I love saying Ojogbannn! Ewe: Efoa? Mefo! I will never forget the day I was addressing Keta Secondary School and shouted "Efoa" into the microphone. If you are addressing multiple people, say "Mefoa!"  Dagbani: Ka di bei wula? Alaafei.  Thanks to Jemila for teaching me this one. Hausa: Sannu? Sannu kade. After loving how D-Flex sang Hausa lines while featuring on K. K. Fosu and Ofori ...

Can't wait till Christmas. Can wait to see the year move a little slower so I achieve a lot more in 2013 though. But when the holiday season does come, here are a number of ways you can send and say holiday greetings :-) Bronya o! Afe hyia pa o! #MerryChristmas in #Akan #Twi . — Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 25, 2012 Ni ti yum palli! #MerryChristmas in #Dagbani . #Ghana — Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 25, 2012 Blonya fe dzorgbenyuie na mi! Blonya fedzorgbenui! #MerryChristmas in #Ewe . #Ghana — Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 25, 2012 Afi o afi! Afi aya ni e ba nina wɔ! #MerryChristmas in #Ga . #Ghana — Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 25, 2012 "Heri ya Krismasi" "Krismasi Njema!" #MerryChristmas in #Swahili . #Kenya #Tanzania #Uganda — Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 25, 2012 "Khisimusi Lomuhle". #MerryChristmas in #Zulu and #Siswati . #Mzansi #SouthAfrica #Swa...

If you listen to songs a lot, you will pick out how to say "I love you" quite quickly. Since I have grown to listen to music from all over the continent and used that to build Museke.com, I am well-versed in saying that "1-4-3" line in many mother tongues. Let me show you ;-) Akan: Med ɔ wo ! What you thought I wouldn't add my mother tongue? Some folks can't say what "thank you" is in their lingua francas. Such a fracas. Don't belittle this at all at all. Ga: Mi sumo bo ! I learnt this through songs. Especially, Amandzeba's Dede . That's such a classic highlife track. Ewe: Mi l ɔn w ɔ ! Would you forgive me if I said I (pretty much) learnt this from a Daddy Lumba song? I don't remember which but the Ghanaian Michael Jackson taught me.  Hausa: Ina sonki . After loving how D-Flex sang Hausa lines while featuring on K. K. Fosu and Ofori Amponsah songs, I had to learn to this one. From who? I don't remember. Swahili: Nakupe...

After taking a stab at seeing if I could say "Thank You" in 23 African languages, I decided to try this with non-African languages. Wasn't easy koraa. And let's share some small attendant info. :-) French: Merci . I learnt this way before Class 4. Pourquoi? I can't add French? Parce que? Let me count it. Je parle Francais en peut.  German: Danke . I learnt this correctly when I found myself in Amsterdam while traveling to Ghana from America.  Dutch: Danke je wel . We had just bought some stuff at an Amsterdam bar and we thought it well to say "Thank You". No, I didn't have some of the stuff. Just some tea. We didn't go to the Red Light District but let's just say Amsterdam is quite the liberal city. (Mexican) Spanish: Gracias . I was forced to learn this when I went to the Dominican Republic for spring break in March 2006 with 5 other African guys. My Spanish was non-existent but I was able to have a 30 minute conversation with a hot ...

Today, I learnt how to say "Thank You" in yet another African language. So let me take a stab at seeing if I can say "Merci" in 23 African languages. And let's share some small attendant info. :-) Akan: Medaase . What you thought I wouldn't add my mother tongue? Some folks can't say what "thank you" is in their lingua francas. Such a fracas. Don't belittle this at all at all. Ga: Oyiwaladonn . I don't remember when I learnt this but I do know I learnt to say "Nnuu Ga" (I can't speak Ga) during the time I came to Accra to represent KNUST JSS in Kiddie Quiz and me and my Kumasi-living mates were testing our Ga knowledge. Ewe: Akpe . I love saying "Akpe kakaa" and I am not sure why. Dagbani: Ti pagi da . Yeap, Jemila Abdulai taught me this one. Thrice. You can also say Mpagya . Hausa: Na gode . I should have known this a long time ago but thanks to Manre Chirtau, I will not forget this one. Ever. Alafia lo! S...