Bilingual Language In African

Languages

As a heritage of Cameroon’s colonial past as a colony of both France and United Kingdom from 1916 to 1960, the official languages are French and English. There are approximately 250 languages that can be found in Cameroon which include the Ewondo and Bulu, Duala, the Bamileke languages and Fulfulde. 8 of 10 regions that can be found in Cameroon are primarily francophone which it represents 83% of the country’s population and 2 regions in Cameroon is Anglophone which it represents 17%. Francophone is defined as belonging to a population using French as its first or sometimes second language. Anglophone is defined as person who speaks in English especially in a country with two or more languages are spoken. The nation strives toward bilingualism but in reality, there are only few Cameroonians speak both French and English.

However, most of the schools are separate the Anglophone and francophone sections, thus they did not provide a true bilingual experience. Among the less educated, the Cameroonian Pidgin English functioning as a lingua franca in English speaking area and in many neighbourhoods in Douala. Both languages are taught in school, but only those with a secondary education are fluent in both languages. Most of the people speak at least one local language and one official language.

Camfranglais or Frananglais is a relatively a new pidgin communication form emerging in urban areas and other locations where the Anglophone and Francophone Cameroonians meet and interact. Camfranglais has caused concern for the