Kabushi Member of Parliament Bowman Lusambo has suggested that Zambia should embrace the use of local languages in official communication saying English should not be used to measure one’s intelligence.
Mr Lusambo who is also Lusaka Province Minister has also called upon educational authorities to consider extending the teaching of learners in local languages across all Grades.
He said it is unfortunate that many brilliant pupils have failed to progress to University after failing to pass English.
Mr Lusambo was speaking on Saturday when he officiated at the Ndola District Covid-19 Inter-School Debate Contest held at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium.
Masala High School emerged winners of the contest and walked away with K8,000, a trophy, certificates, learning Martine and T-shirts followed by Kansenshi High School who received K6,000 and a trophy.
“I listened to a lot of good debaters here but unfortunately, some could not express themselves fully because of limited abilities in English. This happens across many other fields in Zambia.”
“It’s regrettable that a young man or young girl would have very good marks in all Sciences and Mathematics but have an 8 or a 7 in English and that pupil will be denied a place at UNZA. Are you telling me that if a pupil can’t pass English then that child is dull?”
Mr Lusambo explained that many advanced nations have embraced the use of their own languages.
“Language is part of our culture. By promoting the use of local languages, we are helping preserve who we are as a people,” he said.
He added,” What we have today is the Queens language, it’s not our language. After many years of Independence, we should be proud of examining our learner in Kaonde, Lunda, Lamba, Tonga, Lozi, Bemba and any of these local languages.
Mr Lusambo also thanked President Edgar Lungu for ordering the reopening of examination classes saying the move was a wise one as it has ensured that learners in exam classes prepare adequately for their exams.
“When His Excellency announced the move, many visionless people including those from the political sector criticized the move but as we speak, all schools went through the full term without recording any Covid-19 cases.”
Well hopefully by ‘local language’ you don’t mean dominating and imposing IchiBemba onto the entire country. I know you have mentioned other local languages there but it is silly to hear all this Bemba in offices in Shangombo. Speaking Bemba isn’t a sign of intelligence either.
While I agree to some extent especially at lower basic, unfortunately like it or not English is still a dominant language in the world. You listen even to sports people and athletes in tennis, formula one, etc they are all conducting their interviews in English. My English I learned has served me well… so just learn Lusambo.
From today onwards I suggest that he starts using lamba everyday and to everyone, let him not feel inferior like he always does. I think KK and friends settled on English as official to avoid creating a tower of Babel. And if I start using my mother tongue not ati umuntu ati iyo landeni ichitundu twalaumfwa bonse, why can’t you learn other languages is it because your are tribalist or your mental faculties can’t easily assimilate other linguistics, haven’t you heard that those who assimilate other languages fast and easily is a sign of intelligence.
Get a degree in Lamba and see if you will be compete with foreign investors. English still remain a global language…. all contracts the government enters into are in English…. I am yet to see a contract in Lamba…. did you speak Lamba at the event…. ba Mwisho…. what is computer in Lamba?
I salute you minister you are very right on that
Stop going close to children, you behave like a molester chikkalla. Why parents let girls smell criminals? That bandit only know how to fight in bars.
No No No, English is very much a measure of our aptitude which is intelligence in itself.
Without malice, and with due respect, there are 3 people in this government whose spoken English is very bad and these are Bowman Lusambo, Japhen Mwakalombe and Chanda Kabwe. I don’t hate them
Yes, Bowman, Japhen and Chanda Kabwe speak bad English.
I do agree with Bowman Lusambo here. An 8 or a 7 in English should not be basis for one missing selection to UNZA or any university for that matter in Zambia. There’s wht is known as passable English. This is enough to enable a student to receive instruction in English.
Please spare us your backwardness. Its about time that African fundamentalists accepted that Africans can never regain their lost authentic heritage. If there is a race that was utterly defeated, uprooted,confused and pillaged,it is the African race.Our under development is partly our denial as a defeated culture.The world has moved on into a global village where there is assimilation and use of other cultures.This includes the use of English. English itself is nolonger the Queen’s language. It has been influenced by so many other cultures its is now a universal language.
Why is it that very old people of KK’s age are better at English than youths of today.Don’t go back to underdeveloped local languages. Instead vigorously improve your Zamglish
I’m more concerned with Chanda Kabwe’s thinking and not, I repeat not his grasp of the English language. It’s his thinking that guides wht he does. As a post-graduate student in the UK I was once asked wht language I did my thinking in. It’s a dumb question. Thinking is universal. It’s the language in which we express our thinking in words that is not. Chanda Kabwe speaks very good English in fact.
Language is packaged with what others would be attracted to. For example if the mode of communication in North-Western Province Gold fields is predominantly the local language there most will learn it to access that wealth and its human resource. For as long as all we seem to sell is our dances and symbolic ceremonies it will be difficult to sell the language without a package. Observe: Chinese. English. French. etc. They all seem to have a dimension of attractiveness on a socio-economic level and not a prestigious one alone. Other than that the intrinsic importance of local foods, language and rituals is still paramount and children MUST know their mother tongue even if to listen in on their people.
Lusambo how do you question a university & English requirements when you have never been to study there. Yours is to build something at your secondary school were you failed. So stick to your level were speaking Zambian language means bemba (not your Lamba) just like Kambwili. Just because you can’t handle an address in English you &:Kambwili jump to street bemba & impose it on Zambians
I think we hv a long way to go. English was in fact not a medium of instruction in the school system even in Britain. It’s Latin was was the language of scholars and the conduct of religious services. There was a long battle that was fought btwn conservatives, some say *****s, who wanted all schooling to be in Latin and liberals, some say progressives, who wanted English. As often happens, liberals won the argument and the rest is history. That’s why I’m a part-time historian. History throws a lot of light on issues.
Wht’s language anyway? It’s nothing but a means of making thoughts in our minds known by another person. Even two people who share one language cannot communicate without language. That’s language at its simplest. But it can get more complicated than that because language is also a reservoir of knowledge and carrier of ideas from one generation to another and from one community to another. But that’s beyond wht Bowman Lusambo had intended and I want to leave it there.
Dear Bowman, what is photosynthesis in local language, then we move to osmosis and others.
I wholeheartedly agree with my brother. Lusambo is a very wise man. I can relate to this. I remember when I was interviewed on TV and many people made fun of my use of a foreign colonial language. It is sad that we try to be masters of a language that is not ours. Some of the diasporans when they visit our country Zambia, they try so hard to sound like their colonizers and masters, it is so forced and embarrassing. Now when those same whltes look down on you can you blame them? You are in effect worshipping them and then you cry ati black lives matter, voetstek!!!
I wholeheartedly agree with my brother. Lusambo is a very wise man. I can relate to this. I remember when I was interviewed on TV and many people made fun of my use of a foreign colonial language. It is sad that we try to be masters of a language that is not ours. Some of the diasporans when they visit our country Zambia, they try so hard to sound like their colonizers and masters, it is so forced and embarrassing. Now when those same whltes look down on you can you blame them? You are in effect worshipping them and then you cry ati black lives matter, voetstek!!! Very inferior diasporans. Kz
Why is your comment not in your mother language?
There is nothing wrong with speaking local languages, but if you do speak English, speak it correctly. In the same way a Ngoni man speaking broken Bemba is laughed at.
Aristotle, we’re communicating in English here. That’s why no one’s comment is in another language.
Rather ironic that the Honorable Minister chose to communicate his wise words in English.
Gotta love Bowman!!!
Aristotle some of your questions make me question your capacity
Bwana lusambo you have spoken very well.very well indeed.what is english. What is it.why not speak our own languages and do it confidently so.
Very good thought ba lusambo on this one.Thumbs up for you..
Mwalanda bwino.mwakamba bwino.mwaosha chiwahi mwane
Don’t mind this heap of cow dung Bowman he doesn’t know the implications of his careless utterances…this *****t is only in that position because of his dull boss Edgar.
And while we are at this, we can’t pick and choose what’s Western and what is traditional just for convenience. Why don’t we also get rid of business suits, shoes and just keep wearing our pieces of animal material to just cover our modesty parts of our bodies.
And while you are talking about it, tell your Chinese masters to learn the local languages.
Tiyeni nacho chizungu, its already here as prescribed by the colonial master. Don’t shy away from it, it is good to speak local languages but just know that once you go to school, Mathematics, Science and Geography are all in English.
It’s only unfortunate that Zambia has no journalists, if we had one journalist would called on him and requested to have an interview with him in lozi, namwanga, mambwe, chokwe, soli, etc then let him respond in lamba, just for experiment seek.
How in the world would you say the following in Bemba, Chewa or Chokwe? “The 5′ untranslated region of the virus genome is essential for transcription and virion packaging”…
Just say u dont speak good English
Lusambo is dull hands down, most of the people holding higher positions, Education not sana, that’s why Zambia is becoming the new Zimzim.
I actually agree with Bowman, just look at Japan, China, Germany and many European countries, they all use their own language. Bowman is a bootlicker and a fool but while you laugh at his English the man is a Minister living a life you people who claim to be English speakers can only dream of. Go to Pamodzi Hotel and try booking a room with your good English and see what happens
A fool in any language is still a fool.
This is the only sensible thing Bowman has said as Minister. I concur.
Primarily, language is for communication purposes. I wonder how many local languages Bowman speaks. If we all have to speak our local languages, we’ll need to move around with interpreters to understand each other. Nyerere tried with a common lingua, Swahili. It failed to cope at tertiary education level. Most Tanzanians got disadvantaged in international engagements. What really is the point? Is it to become villagers?
We’ll be disadvantaged in international engagements. How many people can I communicate with in my local language? This guy wants to make us villagers!
Having to pay someone to write for you all becuase you can’t construct a single sentence without breaking the rules of grammar is so painful. I can bear with my brother. By the way what happened to that Luanshya Correspondence College? It used to do fantastic work
Having to pay someone to write for you all becuase you can’t construct a single sentence without breaking the rules of grammar is so painful. I can bear with my brother. By the way what happened to that Luanshya Correspondence College? It used to do fantastic work
Having to pay someone to write for you all becuase you can’t construct a single sentence without breaking the rules of grammar is so painful. I can bear with my brother. By the way what happened to that Luanshya Correspondence College? It used to do fantastic work
Having to pay someone to write for you all becuase you can’t construct a single sentence without breaking the rules of grammar is so painful. I can bear with my brother. By the way what happened to that Luanshya Correspondence College? It used to do fantastic work
Having to pay someone to write for you all becuase you can’t construct a single sentence without breaking the rules of grammar is so painful. I can bear with my brother. By the way what happened to that Luanshya Correspondence College? It used to do fantastic work
Having to pay someone to write for you all becuase you can’t construct a single sentence without breaking the rules of grammar is so painful. I can bear with my brother. This damn English language, so many rules! By the way what happened to that Luanshya Correspondence College? It used to do fantastic work
Having to pay someone to write for you all becuase you can’t construct a single sentence without breaking the rules of grammar is so painful. I can bear with my brother. This damn English language, so many rules! By the way what happened to that Luanshya Correspondence College? It used to do fantastic work
Having to pay someone to write for you all becuase you can’t construct a single sentence without breaking the rules of grammar is so painful. I can bear with my brother. This damn English language, so many rules! By the way what happened to that Luanshya Correspondence College? It used to do fantastic work
Having to pay someone to write for you all becuase you can’t construct a single sentence without breaking the rules of grammar is so painful. I can bear with my brother. This damn English language, so many rules! By the way what happened to that Luanshya Correspondence College? It used to do fantastic work
Ba Minister, what is Quantum Theory in your language? Let’s try something simpler. What is Policy in your language? Let’s try another one. You being a minister, what is Minister in your language? What is a decimal point in Bemba? The point being made is that there are certain phenomena that cannot be expressed in given languages, hence the need to use languages that have investigated these phenomena. If you don’t have a word for philosophy in your language, how will you teach it? The English themselves have borrowed a lot from Latin and Greek, the languages of science and philosophy before them. Nyerere of Tanzania tasked university chaps to work on kiSwahili to make it more expressive. Technical terms have been translated to KiSwahili, so one is able to study in depth in the Swahili…
The language of instruction is integral to acquisition of knowledge. Good communicators make it easy to avoid misunderstandings. Good English is helpful because of easy access to communication at national, regional and international level. To improve English communication, curriculum needs to be revised continuously. Speakers of different national languages sometimes become agitated when forced to understand other national languages. It is a government policy issue to adopt a triangular system where International (English/French) meets National (Icibemba/Chinyanja) and Provincial Language (Kaonde/Lunda/Luvale). hence, a National Advisory Language Committee would go a long way is addressing apprehensions concerning language use in the country.
The language of instruction is integral to acquisition of knowledge. Good communicators make it easy to avoid misunderstandings. Good English is helpful because of easy access to communication at national, regional and international level. To improve English communication, curriculum needs to be revised continuously. Speakers of different national languages sometimes become agitated when forced to understand other national languages. It is a government policy issue to adopt a triangular system where International (English/French) meets National (Icibemba/Chinyanja) and Provincial Language (Kaonde/Lunda/Luvale). hence, a National Advisory Language Committee would go a long way is addressing apprehensions concerning language use in the country.
Mulenga, photosynthesis is in fact not an English word. Not every native speaker of English knows the meaning of photosynthesis.
Mulenga, photosynthesis is in fact not an English word. Not every native speaker of English knows the meaning of photosynthesis.
Unfortunately most of these MP’s think in their local dialects which translates in their intelligence or the lack of it. You can pen your thoughts in your local language and get someone to translate them in English for everyone to understand. I agree that English should not be used as a measure of one’s intelligence but we also need to see raw intelligence being put on the table. We are not seeing any evidence of clever thoughts from people who have a good command of their local language.
Is he trying to make up for referring to ECL as She? … Kikikiki
Dr Makasa Kasonde, wht u are calling national languages ( Icibemba and Nyanja) and provincial languages (Kaonde, Luvale Lunda) are in fact no national languages. They were imposed on people by selfish leaders in the UNIP government. Do u know that such policies hv led to violence and even partitioning of some post-colonial and even colonial states? No doubt u know the examples as u are clearly an enlightened person. Wht higher civilisation hv native speakers of Icibemba and Nyanja languages attained which was above wht Kaondes and Luvales had reached and therefore enabled them to develop concepts and ideas above the other languages?
It’s a pity our universities are badly funded. As result there are few if any public lectures at all. This has led to silos between various academic departments and faculties. But those who hv read about language politics and the politics of language know that those whose language is clothed with national language status soon adopt a superiority complex towards those whose languages are assigned provincial status. It’s a virtually universal problem from Spain, the UK, Canada, Srilanka where it caused a bitter civil war, Cameroun where conflict is raging now. If for example there was a public lecture by the department of literature and languages, even academics in medical school would learn something and be more careful hw they express themselves on matters of language in diverse…
countries such Zambia. In other words, the policy of raising some local languages to national languages and others as provincial languages has led to some of our fellow citizens developing imperialistic attitudes towards those whose languages are marginalised. Watch the demand for autonomy and even partitioning of some countries. The problem stems from imperialistic attitudes of the chosen ones.