Talk:Languages of Cameroon

German

Any speakers still? Brutannica 22:35, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

That's a good question. A young child at the time of Germany's loss of the colony in 1919 would be in their 90s today. Life expectancy in Cameroon is shorter than that of citizens of industrialized nations, so it's unlikely that there are that many such individuals left, if any, sadly. — Brian (talk) 23:34, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Was it much spoken before, or did the British & French work hard to stamp it out? Brutannica 00:12, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

It was the language of formal education during the German regime, so anyone who attended school before 1919 would know it to some extent. And, yes, the post-WWI colonizers did try to replace it with their own languages (France moreso than Britain). That said, anyone who had learned it wouldn't have forgotten it, I'd guess. Similarly, English was the European language of choice prior to Germany's colonization, and there were many English speakers during the German period. — Brian (talk) 01:23, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Should this go in the article? Brutannica 01:47, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

If a source were to be found for it. Everything I've said has been from my own knowledge, so it doesn't pass our standards for reliable sources. :) — Brian (talk) 02:19, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

This is a personal recollection, so not reliable. I lived there for two years in the 1970s and only encountered one German speaker - an elderly man in a remote village who still had parts of his uniform when he fought for the Germans. This was near the Nigerian border so there may have been more nearer the coast. Sadly no more now. ChrisLit (talk) 09:11, 11 March 2021 (UTC)

French (and English)

Just how deep are the penetration of French and English among Cameroonians today? Are we talking about a situation like in Algeria (where practically everybody can at least manage some French) or do only a select few know the language? Likewise with English in the anglophone areas. Q·L·1968 ☿ 15:06, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Good question. I tried to find some hard facts for you, but Google Books let me down on a quick search. From personal experience (I've visited Cameroon), the situation is like what you describe for Algeria. This is the case at least in the southern two-thirds of the country, which includes the Anglophone area and most of the Francophone area. The north may be he area with the least penetration of French, because Fulfulde serves as a lingua franca there and probably takes away some of the need for French to serve the same purpose. Ethnologue reports a literacy rate of 63.4% nationwide, and that would almost certainly be fluency in English or French, as literature in African languages is still in its infancy there. Hope this helps! — Dulcem (talk) 22:13, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, it does! Thanks. (Pity there's nothing we can cite and include in the article... I'll keep sniffing around too.) Q·L·1968 ☿ 21:53, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Here's a good source for information about Cameroon's linguistic situation: http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/cameroun.htm Aaker (talk) 20:43, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Bilingual, multilingual

I added a couple of external links that might be useful for any revision & expansion of this article. The Rosendal article in particular has a lot of info (even though it's already 5 years old).--A12n (talk) 08:56, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

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"English" actually means "Pidgin English"

I'm currently trying to find some good sources to explain the actual situation in Cameroon. The truth is that the "English" spoken there is almost 100% Pidgin English, and most Cameroonians actually don't realize this is any different from English. Only the wealthiest and most educated ~5% of "English speakers" (who are already a minority) can speak and understand the language that westerners know as "English". In reality, Camtok (Cameroonian Pidgin English) is almost unintelligible by a western English speaker. I had to learn the language to communicate when I was there. It really does need to be taken into account on this page, since it gives people the wrong impression of Cameroon. Readers may think that their English will carry them if they were to visit the "English-speaking" western provinces... this is NOT the case. For all practical purposes, there is virtually no actual English spoken in Cameroon. Bzzzing (talk) 23:32, 12 September 2018 (UTC)

Keyboard layout

Is there any evidence that a US QWERTY layout is really the most commonly used layout in Cameroon? 31.17.172.87 (talk) 14:34, 6 November 2022 (UTC)

Ethnologue

Access to most Ethnologue data requires a subscription. Is it legal to use it as a source? 伟思礼 (talk) 02:31, 19 January 2023 (UTC)

Sont subscribe to mr beast

He’s stupid so don’t!!!

2A02:8070:D183:6040:D093:C0C4:1F7:2573 (talk) 08:21, 29 December 2023 (UTC)