ktravula – a travelogue!

Browsing the archives for the Academic category.

Ten Random Questions

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10. Will it be too cold in Washington DC next week for me to enjoy the sites that I want to see there?

9. Who is the president of Nigeria now? And does it matter in the scheme of the country’s present political arrangement that there’s no one really in charge at the moment while the nation awaits the news on the president’s health? Does it stop the quotidian activities of the agents of state from going on or have citizens realized that their lives are really not controlled by whomever occupies the government houses?

8. Do I sound too angry in some of my blog entries?

7. Has someone in the entourage of Nigeria’s president been reading my blog from Saudi Arabia as Google Analytics has pointed out? Because I would really be flattered. Who else could be reading from Saudi Arabia? Could it be the president himself, to while away the time?

6. Does snow and fog affect the visibility of airplane take-offs and landings?

5. Will I still be able to make blog posts in the Winter when at this moment of just minus six celcius my fingers are already freezing up? If I don’t make new posts for more than a week, will I ever be forgiven by my now dedicated audience?

4. What other impressions does the reader of this blog get after reading a few posts, other than the fact that I’m a curious and often impulsive questioner and prankster – no, I mean quiet and quite unassuming but often probing fella?

3. Who really are those guys who read without leaving comments? 😀

2. How many of my fellow FLTAs now scattered all over the country are looking forward to seeing me at the DC conference? How many of them have forgotten my name, or even what I look like? How many of them are enjoying their teaching and learning experience as I am? How many of the ladies have already accepted marriage or relationship proposals from their American hosts? And how many of the men have made such proposals and have been brutally turned down? 😀

1. Am I really, really making my country – and/or the Fulbright Organization – proud at the moment? What does that even mean?

Ten Random Questions was published on December 6th, 2009, with the tags , , , , under the Academic, Soliloquy, Travelling category. There are currently 3 comments on this article so far.

10 Reasons To Not Speak Your Native Language in America

This post is a flipside part of my monthly “10 Reasons” blog argument. The first part of the argument is HERE, and you should probably read it first.


IMG_269310. People feel uncomfortable when you speak a “strange” language around them.

9. If you don’t already know how to speak it, or speak it correctly, how would you speak it?

8. English already has enough speakers? Perhaps not enough. And in any case, how many people understand your “African” language?

7. You could be mistaken for a terrorist.

6. If you’re gonna be in America for a long time, you may as well put the language in a safe cooler.

5. It brings you close to those who share your background and cultural similarity? Yes, but do they want to be close to you on the basis of language? Not really.

4. According to a new research finding, the new generation will rebel against your language use anyway, so what’s the point.

3. The American diversity includes only basically one other language. And it’s Spanish.

2. It’s not always easy to speak, if one thinks in English most of the time.

1. Nobody cares.


Bye bye November

10 Reasons To Not Speak Your Native Language in America was published on November 30th, 2009, with the tags , , , , under the Academic, Observations, Opinion, Soliloquy category. There are currently 8 comments on this article so far.

10 Reasons To Speak Your Native Language in America

10. You can exclude other people whenever you want.IMG_2496

9. You can learn it without having to pay money, so why not?

8. English already has enough speakers.

7. There’s no better way to be unique in a strange land.

6. It gives you practise, because if you don’t use it, you lose it.

5. It brings you close to those who share your background and cultural similarity.

4. You are sustaining a cultural legacy onto a new generation.

3. It encourages/promotes diversity.

2. It’s easier to speak.

1. It shows that you’re still in touch with “home”.

10 Reasons To Speak Your Native Language in America was published on November 30th, 2009, with the tags , , , under the Academic, Observations, Opinion, Soliloquy category. There are currently 3 comments on this article so far.

This Week

Class is winding down in three weeks’ time, but in my case, work will officially close on Monday the 7th of December when all assignments and essays are due for submission. For the final paper, the students have been given two distinct essays to write. The first one – which is unrelated to an anonymous teacher assessment form that they will all have to complete about me anyway at the end of the term – is a standard sized essay which must detail their most memorable experiences in the Yoruba language class. Their essay must say what they learnt, what they wished they had learnt, what their expectations were at the beginning of the course and whether or not it had been met by the end, what they liked and what they hated about the course and about learning the language and culture. They have been given the liberty to be free with whatever they express, but they must write something, and it counts for their assessment, I said.

The second essay, which is mostly academic is a short story that has been decided on as the main final examination. In the beginning of the course, I had made them read a short story titled “Why Atide is Talking To A Coin” by Anja Choon, and write an essay on what they learnt from it. The story is one written by a German friend of mine for her Yoruba language and culture course under Karin Barber in Birmingham, and it gave me a tour of the students’ mind about how they perceived the culture. Since then of course, we have also completed summaries of Toyin Falola’s A Mouth Sweeter Than Salt, an autobiographical novel this time written by a Yoruba man about experiences growing up in Nigeria of the 60s and 7os. The short stories previously submitted by my students but which I have now returned to them with my notes of correction all detail their own imaginative truths about Yoruba people, expressed in nine individual interesting short stories. They are as diverse as they are original. Though written in English, the instructions were followed that the characters must bear Yoruba names, must use a few Yoruba expressions that must be explained in the glossary, and must express Yoruba cultural sensibilities either in dressing or in demeanour. All I wait to receive now on the last day of class is their final draft and corrections of the stories, which I have also promised them to keep close to me as valuable materials from an unforgettable experience. What would be better – as I told them as well – is to discuss with the head of department about the possibility of making the nine stories into a book, a sort of “Collection of Yoruba Stories from an American Yoruba Language Class”. I like the idea, and they liked it too.

Meanwhile the standard anonymous teacher assessment questionnaire is a regular part of the academic review exercise at the end of the American school term which includes students having to say what they felt about the course, the teacher and the whole learning experience. It would be anonymous so that students are free to say what they feel without fear of future victimization. It always plays a part in deciding whether a member of staff is retained or dropped next year, the teacher in question will also have access to the questionnaire at least to see how his students perceive him. I like the idea, and I think that if the Nigerian educational system would adopt it, there would be less victimization, negligence and random lassitude in our educational system as we have now. No Professor will take his/her student for granted if s/he knows that they are the part of the overall deciders of his future position in that place of work.

But until Monday the 7th, I have two more classes to teach where I may or may not tell them about this blog. Now that they will no more be my students, they might need something to keep in touch with my ideas and progress, especially now that I’ve put on hold till 2010 every of their Facebook friendship request intentions.

This Week was published on November 29th, 2009, with the tags , , , , , , under the Academic, Observations, Soliloquy category. There are currently 2 comments on this article so far.

An Article

I got this link today, and I found it interesting not only because it details the experience of an American Fulbrighter in Nigeria, but because it shows the many prospects of the Fulbright programme beyond just the classroom walls. Evidently – as I’ve seen from the popularity of posts here, and the blog poll – what interests readers of this blog is not always the academic side of the scholar’s experiences, but the subtle, the fun, the personal and the daring.

Find the article here, hat tip to Chris Ogunlowo for the link.

An Article was published on November 25th, 2009, with the tags , , , under the Academic, News, Opinion category. There are currently 2 comments on this article so far.