I started Ẹdo Language Institute via YouTube in November 2017 with the mission to make a personal contribution to the preservation and promotion of Ẹdo language. 

Having spent my early childhood in Benin City, Nigeria, I am aware that many children in Nigeria are not raised with their mother tongue. As a result, there are many Nigerians today – born and raised in the country – who only speak English or Pidgin and do not comprehend nor speak their indigenous languages. This phenomenon, of course, has its roots in several other factors. In my case, I can speak Ẹdo language today because I was raised by my grandmother who only spoke Ẹdo and a little Pidgin. So, my world was divided into two: I spoke Ẹdo language at home and English at school.

Growing up bilingual (Ẹdo & English) and learning German as my third language, since I moved to Germany as a teenager, I’ve realized that each language that you learn opens you to its own world with its specific concepts and worldviews. At the same time, I strongly believe that your ability to speak the local language of your immediate environment does have a strong effect on which “doors” you can access, and which ones may be closed to you.

I remember many social interactions back in high school here in Germany when my mates would ask me out of curiosity to say something in Ẹdo language. They especially valued my frequent use of Ẹdo idioms and how I could pull one up for every situation. However, when they would ask me how or where one could possibly learn Ẹdo language, my response would often be “Oh we usually just speak it at home. It’s not a written language.” At some point, this response increasingly started to bother me. As a result, I would go online typing in “How to learn Ẹdo language”, “Where to learn Ẹdo language” or “Ẹdo language books”. My goal was not actually to learn the language per se, since I already spoke it fluently, but rather it was to find quality learning materials and resources for Ẹdo language.

While doing my own search, I would repeatedly come across requests from other people of Ẹdo origin in online forums such as Quora, Reddit and Yahoo answers, who like me were in search of Ẹdo language learning materials and resources for either themselves or their children. However, unlike me, I quickly realized that many had not learnt the language at all. This was particularly true for those living in the diaspora. Their parents, many of whom speak Ẹdo fluently, simply never spoke to them in Ẹdo language, they would say.

Ultimately, my decision to start teaching Ẹdo language on YouTube was born out of the necessity to meet a need that was in high demand by a specific group of people. I invite you to join me on my mission to preserve and promote Ẹdo language. You can connect with me via our social media handles down below or simply drop me a message here. 

Enjoy learning!

Steffy