Joyce Ashuntantang, Ph.D.
I grew up speaking English. In fact, I was born into English and never considered it a foreign language. I was also born into Kenyang, the language of the Bayangis, and Pidgin English. I learnt all three languages at the same time and in the same house. Actually, my love for literature in English is rooted in both African and British literature including Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare, Jane Eyre, Eze goes to School, The Drummer boy and Things Fall Apart. Also, my parents studied in England in the nineteen sixties and as I grew up, I visited England through their stories, pictures, music, my mother’s kitchen utensils and my father’s bookshelf.
Indeed my childhood was immersed in English.
Buea, where I grew up, is situated at the foot of Mount Cameroon. It is a town built by Germans in the 19th century. What is remarkable about Buea is the cool weather, the German architectural relics and the English Language, a British legacy. Inhabitants of Buea are known in Cameroon as “I was” because they prefer speaking English amongst themselves instead of Pidgin English.
Recent Comments