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Thursday 31 May 2012

The Shona Language






On the 24th of May a talk show about the Shona language was hosted by the talk show queen of Zimbabwe Mrs Rebecca Chisamba who is famously known for her talk show "Amai Chisamba Show".The main topic of the show was "The Shona language".The notable guests that were present were Mr Peter Banga who is a lecturer at Harare Polytechnic college,Dr Muidzo Mawesera who is a lecturer at the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) who is also a writer in Shona and there was Dr Sekai Nzenza who is a newspaper columnist.There was also a very important visitor who is a veteran Shona book writer who has been writing for decades named Mr  Aaron Chiunduramoyo.There was also a  lot of guests who were from the examinations council and other Shona poets.
The topic was much of a big topic and the only enemy that was against people was time.A lot of people had a lot to say but only a few were privileged enough to say something.People expressed a lot of sympathy on the way the Shona language and culture is being eroded and diluted by other languages.The Shona language was said to be of late being over shadowed by the english language.The main reason why english is being chosen over Shona was that the Zimbabweans had spent a long time under western emperial rule and that the people are still under neo-colonialism.There is a lot to be done to free the people from colonialism and another speaker said that the struggle is still on to totally free the people.
Even in churches it is said that the preachers are preaching in the western language as if no one cannot understand the venecular.Jobs are also said to have been in search of people who are really good in the english language.There were also writers who write in the mother language who also said that their work is not being appreciated by the people while other western languages are selling like hot cakes.The local music that is in Shona is also not being appreciated as the international music that is being sung in the english language.There was also a teenage student who also mentioned that there is now a culture of speaking in english and that the english language is now the language that is considered the cool language to interact in.There is a  saying that says"english was made in Europe,developed in America and is being used in Africa".
There was one speaker who mentioned that the past is being lost and that is called past to dust.The past that was being mentioned was the culture of the black people and an example was made that the Chinese are developing because they respect their culture and language and it was said that Zimbabwe is not developing because there is no respect for culture and language and until Zimbabweans figure that out there will still be lost and under developed.To sum it all up the discussion was closed with strong words that said that "There was a fight for independence,now there is a fight for economy,the next will be the fight for language".