Failure isn't the end of the road for me as I've encountered failure in different aspects of my life, however, giving up isn't part of my plan.
I remember back then when I was schooling at FUTA (Federal University of Technology, Akure), being an Igbo lady that is (I hail from the Eastern Part of my country), but my school was located in the (Western Part of the country). During the holiday period, I decided to stay with my elder sister who was married to a Yoruba man who lived in the same state as my school to cut the cost of traveling back home, food, and other expenses.
My brother-in-law would always speak the Yoruba language to me and I wanted to learn the language too since the state my school was located was in the Western area,(Yoruba land) and it was the primary medium of communication as people in that state expects everyone living there to be familiarized with the language.
My brother-in-law started to teach me the basics, like greetings and other basics of the language, to think the Yoruba language is quite complicated because one word could mean different things for instance: Ogun could mean charm, twenty, inheritance, And even war, it all depends on the intonation used, that made it a bit difficult for me to learn, however, I was determined to learn.
One afternoon, I wanted to visit the market around the neighborhood, and my brother-in-law spoke in the Yoruba language, he said "Ba mi ra Agbon to ban lo soja", I understood perfectly, well maybe in my mind๐น ๐น, so I excitedly dressed up and headed for the market, at the market" I told them "mo fe ra Agbon", but this time I guessed the intonation of the Agbon I used meant something different, well I was handed a basket, and then I left the market after buying other things I had wanted to buy for myself.
When I got home, my brother-in-law was surprised to see me with a basket, then he asked what he sent me to buy, he said " where is the coconut I asked you to buy for me?", at that, I knew I had failed woefully! I told him that it was the basket I thought he wanted me to buy as Agbon meant both coconut and basket, but the intonation made the difference.
Now what he meant was (Buy me coconut when you go to the market) Ba mi ra Agbon to ban lo soja, but I told the market women, I wanted to buy a basket, which is (mo fe ra Agbon), "God!!" I exclaimed, I felt disappointed in myself and embarrassed as my brother-in-law laughed, he was seated outside where others could hear our conversation, so they laughed at me too. That could be a reason to give up on learning the Yoruba language, but truly I tried and failed but I was willing to try again because my boss whom I learned how to sew taught me never to give up on anything I chose to learn no matter how many times I failed, she would always say "failure is a part of life and the first stage to success, she will say, whatever you fail and eventually pass after many attempts will never leave you, that is, it will be a part of your success story and will stick in my memory for life," so after recalling those words, I was willing to face the embarrassment I might encounter on my journey of learning the new language and try again.
Later that evening, I sat beside my brother-in-law and asked him to teach me how to use the right intonation (ami-oke) for each word and then I started to watch Yoruba movies a lot.
When I went back to school, I told my coursemate to speak only the Yoruba language to me since it will make it easier to learn, and I promised to speak back with the Yoruba language, though sometimes when I speak they laugh at me and then correct me, it became a part of me, I wasn't shy anymore, I spoke the language anyway and today I am glad I was determined and yes, I am now fluent, I speak Yoruba now like the Yourbas that people even mistake me to be a Yoruba lady, my friends even gave me a Yoruba name because of my determination๐น๐น and until now, my brother-in-law communicates with the Yoruba language with me and I can understand very well now.