{"id":8264,"date":"2024-01-06T11:58:43","date_gmt":"2024-01-06T11:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.erjjiostudios.com\/rankfoundation\/?p=8264"},"modified":"2025-06-04T16:21:57","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T15:21:57","slug":"ripples-story-the-language-of-heritage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.erjjiostudios.com\/rankfoundation\/fellowshipnews\/ripples-story-the-language-of-heritage\/","title":{"rendered":"Ripples Story: “The language of heritage”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this article, Mariama Techie-Afful, a Rank Fellow (Class of 2009) and a first-generation Briton born in the UK to Sierra Leonean parents, shares how she developed a deck of cards to help Africans learn their native language and stay connected to their cultural roots.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019m Mariama, from the Fellowship<\/a>, Class of 2009, a first-generation Briton born in the UK to Sierra Leonean parents, married to a Ghanaian, mother of two and the founder of Nafolan<\/a> (pronounced Na-foh-lan). My parents did a fantastic job instilling a sense of cultural pride in my siblings and me. Although our ability to have conversations in Krio is questionable at best, it\u2019s a skill we possess, nonetheless. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many Africans living on the continent are multi-lingual. Meanwhile, those born outside of Africa to African parents tend to only be receptive to bilingualism; that is, they cannot engage in active conversation despite being able to understand the language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nafolan (which means \u2018You should learn\u2019) was birthed out of the desire to see more learning resources for my son in Krio and Twi so that he will be connected to his cultural roots, especially as English is the default language in my home. There are limited resources on the market for parents of African heritage who wish to teach their children their native language, something I discovered in 2021, shortly after my son was born. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this in mind, I created a deck of 25-27 cards containing words and phrases commonly used in everyday speech and a pronunciation guide. I launched the business in 2022, and with just over two years of experience, it is still in its infancy. The reception so far has been overwhelmingly positive, and whilst I am no marketing guru or know every supporter personally, it has been important from the onset to ensure I share the brand\u2019s vision with simplicity and clarity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I have been able to leverage the power of community, a lesson I first learnt during my Community Action Placement<\/a> at the Arun Community Church; it is to this that I accredit my success. Currently, we have four languages spoken by communities across Africa\u2019s Western and Eastern coasts (Krio, Twi, Yoruba, and Swahili). We are working on a series of audio guides to supplement the cards. There are more than 2000 languages spoken in Africa, so the long-term goal is to be able to provide comprehensive language resources for as many of these languages as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mariama Techie-Afful<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rank Fellow (Class of 2009)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, Mariama Techie-Afful, a Rank Fellow (Class of 2009) and a first-generation Briton born in the UK to Sierra Leonean parents, shares how she developed a deck of cards to help Africans learn their native language and stay connected to their cultural roots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":8266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59,217,118],"tags":[387,31,346,386,384,383,382,389,385,388],"class_list":["post-8264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-enterprise","category-fellowshipnews","category-ranknet","tag-african-languages","tag-cap","tag-community-action-placement","tag-flash-cards","tag-krio","tag-nafolan","tag-native-language","tag-swahili","tag-twi","tag-yoruba","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nRipples Story: "The language of heritage" - 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