Monday, April 20, 2009

Twi: A New Tongue to Me

Twi is the difficult-to-pronounce name of the language spoken in Ghana, West Africa. The English word for this language is Akan. I had my first lesson in Akan yesterday after church while talking to my friend Romeo.

I asked him how to say a greeting in his language, so he taught me to say "Atesei" (ah-tes-ay),  which means "Hi, how are you all." The response is then "Eye" (ay-yay), which means "fine" or "we are doing good."

Twi is pronounced in a way I have never heard before. It sounds something like Tschee, although no American sound can parallel it, which is why English speakers are told to say "Akan" instead.

2 comments:

ladyakofa said...

LOL! I'm a Ghanaian and Twi/Akan is my mother tongue. Found you through a comment left on Stephanie @ Thirsty Soul.

And yes, it's difficult teaching a foreigner to pronounce, "Twi," LOL! I hope you're enjoying your lessons though.

Penn Tomassetti said...

ladyakofa,

Hi! Welcome to my tongues blog! :D

Wow, that is so cool that you are Ghanaian and speak Twi/Akan. I've prayed for your country and learned that most people in the surrounding countries next to yours are mostly French speaking.

Being able to speak more than one language is incredible. For most of my life I knew nothing outside of my native tongue, until recently. Anyway, I'd like to keep learning more Akan if I can. You are welcome to comment any time in any tongue you like.

-Penn