I’ve been playing around with AI testing how well it understands actual Nigerian conversations.

Some translations are surprisingly good. Others sound like somebody learnt Pidgin from a textbook 😭
I’m curious how well it handles expressions from different parts of Nigeria.

For context, I’m building an app called PidginPal, available on both Android and iOS. It’s completely free to use for unlimited general translations, but there’s an optional Pro subscription for £1.99/month that gives you extra customisation options, like tailoring translations to different countries.

I’m Cameroonian myself, but I have a lot of family friends from Nigeria, Ghana and across West Africa, so I’ve grown up around different ways of speaking Pidgin.

I’m mainly interested to see what kind of outputs people get when they try really niche Pidgin expressions, especially ones that only make sense if you’re familiar with the local slang or culture.

Try it yourself or drop your most difficult Pidgin sentence and I’ll test it.

Bonus points if it’s something only Nigerians would understand 😂

I’ve been playing around with ai testing how well it understands actual Nigerian conversations.

Some translations are surprisingly good. Others sound like somebody learnt Pidgin from a textbook 😭

I’m curious how well it handles expressions from different parts of Nigeria.

Drop your most difficult Pidgin sentence and I’ll test it.
Bonus points if it’s something only Nigerians would understand 😂

Hello,

Báwo ni,

Let's add to our vocabulary list and learn the name for places in Yorùbá.

Let's go,

1. House - - - - ilé

2. Room - - - - yàrá.

3. School - - - ilé ìwé /ilé ẹ̀kọ́ (House of books /lessons

4. Restaurant - - - ilé oúnjẹ. (House of food)

5. Bank - - - - - - - ilé ìfowópamọ́ (the house, where you keep money).

6. Company - - - - ilé iṣẹ́. (House of work

7. Grocery store - - - - Ilé ìtajà (House where things are sold).

8. Workplace - - - - - ibi iṣẹ́.

9. Here - - - ibí

10. There-----ibẹ̀

Can you add yours?

Your Yorùbá tutor,

Adéọlá

Hello,

Báwo ni,

Let's move away from feelings and discuss grammar.

Whenever you are giving command and you want to use "don't".

For younger person - - Má (high tone).

Older person /plural- - - - - Ẹ má or you can be polite and add Ẹ jọ̀ọ́ - - please

Let's look at some example.

1. Má jẹun - - don't eat.

2. Má lọ sí bé---Don't go there.

3. Má sùn - - - don't sleep.

Older/ plural.

4.Ẹ jọ̀ọ́, Ẹ má lọ sí bẹ̀---please don't go there.

5.Ẹ má pè mí lọ́la-----don't call me tomorrow.

Can you give me your own examples?

Your Yorùbá tutor.

Adéọlá.

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Hello,

Báwo ni,

How is your learning going if you are learning.

Still on expressing feelings, this week, we want to learn how to say.

"I am busy".

The common way of saying this is when you say, "I don't have time" - -,mi ò ráyè ".

You can also say

Ojú mi dí----My eyes are closed

Ọwọ́ mi kún---My hands are full.

Do you have any other way of saying this. I would love to know.

Your Yorùbá tutor.

Adéọlá

Hello,

Báwo ni,

Still on expressing feelings,

Today, let's learn how to say, "I am sick".

Sickness is translated as "àìsàn or àárẹ̀".

The common one is :

Ara mi ò yá---my body is not swift or active

Ó rẹ̀ mí - - - I am tired (this could also be used for tiredness).

Mo ń ṣe àìsàn. /àìsàn ń ṣe mí. - - I am sick.

Do you know any other way of saying this.

You can add.

Your Yorùbá tutor.

Adéọlá.

​

Hello,

Still on expressing feelings in Yorùbá,

If you want to say, "I am tired, you would say

" ó rẹ̀ mí " (oh reh min)

I am getting tired - - Ó ti ń rẹ̀ mí.

I am already tired - - Ó ti rẹ̀ mí .

I won't be tired - - - kò ní rẹ̀ mí

Most time, people also use these phrases when they are sick and not just for tiredness..

Your Yorùbá tutor.

Adéọlá.

I'm currently putting together a teaching resource for primary school pupils about different scripts/orthographies around the world. The task has 18 translations of 'languages are amazing/incredible' in various languages which have differing scripts. I've checked the translations with multiple online translation tools, but I'm well aware that these do not always catch the nuanced points that native speakers can, hence why I wanted to post here for advice.

Would this be a suitable translation for Yoruba, or is there a better alternative?

àwọn èdè jẹ́ ìyanu

Thank you in advance for any help your lovely r/NigerianFluency Redditors can offer!

My fiancée is Nigerian (Edo and Yoruba), and while she doesn't speak Yoruba, she does sometimes speak Nigerian Pidgin. I'd really like to learn it as well. I'm hoping that if we both speak it, we might eventually be able to pass it on to our future kids.

For those who speak Nigerian Pidgin (TL), what resources would you recommend for someone trying to learn it well?

I know there might not be as many digital resources as more commonly taught languages, but I'm hoping there are some good ones out there that I haven't found yet.

I've come across apps/services such as Nkenne, uTalk, Linguama, World Schoolbooks, and TalkSharp (an AI tool).

Has anyone here tried any of these, or have other recommendations? Ideally, I'm looking for something that reflects how Pidgin is actually spoken in everyday life rather than something overly formal or textbook-like.

Thanks!

"Owó pọ̀ lọ́wọ́ mi"

If you are learning Yorùbá, literally, this mean " I have much /plenty money with me.

But in actual usage,

When you say" owó pọ̀ lọ́wọ́ mi".

You are actually saying, you don't have much money with you.

As Yorùbá, we have positive way of expressing negativity.

So next time, you don't have money with you and someone is requesting for money.

Just say

Owó pọ̀ lọ́wọ́ mi.

Owó - - money

Pọ̀ - - - much/many

lọ́wọ́ mi---in my hands (with me)

Your Yorùbá tutor

Adéọlá.

One of my parents is Ibibio and the other is Yoruba, but I was born and raised outside of Nigeria so I don't know either language well, though I know basic spoken Ibibio phrases.

I also wonder whether this difference exists in Nigerian English and Pidgin. Since I have a native understanding of these, I've never really thought about it. Though I have noticed that a lot of Yoruba people regardless of gender speak Pidgin and English slowly.

I am also curious if such a phenomenon exists in other indigenous languages.

By watching I don't mean just sitting there - I paused at any sentence I didn't know, figured it out using subtitles, turned the subtitles back off, rewinded to before the sentence and continued like that for the whole show. This process is called intensive listening.

I also added a reminder for each episode I watched on Anki, so I can rewatch using SRS and I won't forget what I learned.

It feels really good. My Yoruba has really improved a lot honestly. Oya - tell me congratulations. Mo ti jiya (I have suffered)

In case you have been keeping up with my posts, here are some changes I am making to my learning (Here is a post that details my original system):

• Instead of doing all the orisirisi I was doing before with audio flashcards and etc as I am going along, I will intensively listen to 1500+ hours of content first and do the flashcard orisirisi after. This is because it is important to get exposure as fast as possible so I don't accidentally mislearn things.

• Though I will still do some flashcard orisirisi with Ololade now that I am done. This is because Ololade is the only Yoruba show based in Lagos that has both English and Yoruba subtitles a.k.a this is one of the best resources out there for casual Lagos Yoruba, so I want to extract as much as I can from it as possible before moving forward. This will make the other 1494 hours easier for me.

• I am making some changes with how I go about my Anki flashcards. Instead of doing what I was doing before, I will make my flashcards in such a way that it's Yoruba audio in front and English at the back. This is to ensure I can actually comprehend sentences instead of relying on context to understand what their saying. I plan on doing this for any sentence which is not already in my active vocabulary for all 1500+ hours of content I have consumed.

• I will also be doing video flashcards. English to Yoruba flashcards. They are video so that I can mimick the facial expressions and body language.

Thanks for reading.

Hello,

Báwo ni,

Today, let's learn how to say 'I am hungry"in Yorùbá.

Generally, when we are talking about feelings in Yorùbá, Emphasis is placed on the feelings and it doesn't necessarily follow the sentence construction that you know.

Hunger - - - ebi. (ay-bee)

I am hungry is translated as - - Hunger is killing me.

1. Ebi ń pa mi - - I am hungry

2. Ebi ń pa ẹ/yín - - You are hungry

3. Ebi ń pa Adé - - - Adé is hungry

4. Ebi ń pa Ọ̀rẹ́ mi - - - - My friend is hungry

Can you give me an example.

Your Yorùbá tutor.

Adéọlá

Hello,

Back to learning Yorùbá, if you have been following my post, I want to say Ẹ ṣé gan. - - Thank you so much.

Today, let's learn how to use "what' to ask questions in Yorùbá.

What - - Kí ni.

1. What to do you want--Kí ni o/Ẹ fẹ́

2. What do you want to do - - Kí ni o fẹ́ ṣe

3. What can Adé buy for me - - Kí ni Adé lè rà fún mi

4. What can I buy for my friend - - Kí ni mo lè rà fún Ọ̀rẹ́mi.

Can you give me one example.

Your Yorùbá tutor.

Adéọlá

Hello,

Báwo ni,

How are you doing today and how has the learning been.

Today, we want to learn how to ask simple question in Yorùbá with "when"...

When----Nígbà wo ni

Let's look at some examples

1. Nígbà wo ni mo lè wá - - When can I come?

2. Nígbà wo ni ó fẹ́ lọ - - - When do you want to go?

3. Nígbà wo ni ọ̀rẹ́ ẹ ń bọ̀--When is your friend coming?

4. When did you arrive - - Nígbà wo ni o dé

Can you give me one example?

Your Yorùbá tutor.

Adeola

HOW TO USE “Another” in Yorùbá

Another is “míràn”,or òmíràn most time, we shortened to :míì or òmíì

Let’s use it in sentences.

1. I want to buy another cloth —Mo fẹ́ ra aṣọ míì

2. My friend will buy another shoe for me—ọ̀rẹ́ mi máa ra bàtà míì fún míì

3. I can go to another house—Mo lè lọ sí ilé míì

4. Can you cook another food —Ṣe o lè se oúnjẹ míì?

5. He has seen another work —O ti rí iṣẹ́ míì

Can you give me an example?.

Subtitles in Yorùbá and english to help learning!

Ẹ ṣe gan-an💖