Do you speak African?

There are more than 50 countries in Africa, and it’s the second most populous continent in the world. Despite all this, I’ve encountered many people who are convinced that “African” is a language. The question is, how is this even possible when there are more than 50 DIFFERENT countries in Africa and it’s a CONTINENT? Hmm.

Some Americans are oblivious to things that occur around the world and aren’t very concerned about enhancing their knowledge on some things such as geography and global issues. I have been asked many ignorant questions when I tell people that I’m from Eritrea, which is located in East Africa. One of the first stereotypical questions that they ask is, “do you speak African?” I slightly get irritated when people ask me this question, because Africa is a continent, so why would it be a language? Is North American a language? Hmmm. I don’t think so. At times, that question is accompanied by clicking sounds and I find that extremely offensive. I feel that the media has influenced this issue. An example is the film; The Gods Must Be Crazy. This movie introduced the western society to the Khoisan people and their language consists of many clicking sounds. I remember watching this movie in my eighth grade geography class and many people came up to me and made similar sounds expecting me to understand because I apparently speak “African”. This is ignorance at it’s finest. I expected more people in college to have basic knowledge and yet I still find people asking me the same question.

I’m not exactly trying to generalize that ALL Americans are like this, but I would have to say that some of them have this mentality based on many observations that I’ve made throughout the years. I’ve traveled in various countries in Europe and the Middle East and I’ve definitely noticed some differences. When I traveled there, I didn’t receive, as many ignorant questions about Africa and most of them knew that “African” wasn’t a language and could acknowledge that it was a continent. In addition, I also noticed that they were more aware about global issues and things that occur outside of their country.

The question is why do some Americans believe that “African” is a language, when many of us have the resources to enhance our knowledge? I do believe that the media has an influence on this, BUT I still don’t think that it’s a valid reason for people to be ignorant. I feel that taking the time to learn about certain things comes a long way. When in doubt, asking a question like “What is the native language of your country?” would be more politically correct.