Nigeria vs England - The cultural differences I experienced
I saw a post by @tangerinetravels where they talked about the cultural differences between Mexico and the United States and it gave me an idea for my own blog.
Those who know me, know that I have visited a few countries and have had some interesting experiences. I would like to share those experiences with you. It may be beneficial to fellow Nigerians who are thinking of visiting other countries or just wondering about what cultural differences exist between our culture and those of other countries.
For readers who are not Nigerian, this would allow you to understand how some Nigerians see and experience other cultures.
Note that I used the words “some Nigerians” because Nigeria is a huge place with several different tribes. I am by no means an expert in the Nigerian culture and therefore can only speak for myself.
Alright, today, I’ll tackle the differences between Nigeria and England. You may find that you are from a different country but can relate to either country. If you do, please leave me a comment, I’d like to hear what you think. Here it goes:
Number One - Language (English but not the English I know)
England
Hold on, wait. Don’t go assuming that it is because we speak a different language in Nigeria. If you did, you are absolutely wrong! In Nigeria, we speak excellent English.
Before I went to England, I never dreamed that I would have any problems speaking or understanding the language. Yes, English people have a slightly different accent but I had seen a lot of movies and have had no problems understanding them.
So, it was my first day in the country and I went into a clothing store. While browsing through the shops, a young lady comes to me and says something which sounded like “Ya-ra-ai?” I had no idea what she meant. I thought “this lady must think I am someone else and she is calling me by this person’s name”. Thinking this, I shook my head and I said “No, not Yarai, sorry” and she said to me “Oh? What can I help you with? At that point, it dawned on me that she probably worked there and was asking if she could help me out. It was not until I went to other shops that I realized that she was saying “are you alright?” Not “Ya-ra-ai”😂😂😂.
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I also learned that “are you alright” is a common form of greeting quite similar to “how are you” and that they really didn’t want to know if you were alright or not (which was another one of my errors).
Nigeria
In Nigeria, you are greeted with a “good morning/afternoon/evening” or maybe sometimes a hello or hi. Never had I heard anyone say “are you alright?”.
This is just an example of several other language differences I experienced.
Number Two - Greetings
England
In England, I quickly came to the realisation that greetings are super casual. When greeting a person whether the person is 10 years old or 100 years old, you just say hello or hi or some other casual form of greeting.
Nigeria
In Nigeria, a lot is attached to a greeting. If you walk past or meet someone who is obviously older than you are, you are expected to greet the person. If you thought that you could just say a quick hello and be on your merry way, then you thought wrong.
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You must start with at least a “good morning/afternoon/evening” and if you are lucky, that greeting is enough. Other times, you will find that a simple greeting has turned into an event, especially if this older person turns out to be a friend of your parents.
Here is a sample of a typical conversation between myself and my mother's friend who I had just met. I’ll refer to them as Elder.
Me: Good morning Ma (by the way, you must add “Ma” or “Sir” to indicate that you “respect” them)
Elder (in an angry tone) : What do you mean “good morning”. Can’t you greet me properly?
Me: (racking my brain and wondering what she means by that)
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My mum: Greet her in Urhobo (my local language)!
Remember that there are over 200 different tribes in Nigeria. I’m not sure how this lady expected me to guess by just looking at her that she was from my tribe.
Me: Oh! Sorry, Mingwo! (greeting in Urhobo)
Elder (still in an angry tone): So you cannot greet me well.
For some reason, I have ticked off this women just by being alive and in her presence. So, I bend my knee, almost kneeling, and say again
Me: Mingwo.
Elder breaks into a smile and says
Elder: Ehen! (Popular Nigerian exclamation) now you have greeted me.
So you see how something as simple as a greeting which only took 3 lines to explain how it’s done in England, has taken me almost a full page to explain the Nigerian version.
Number Three - The friendly smile and nod
England
For some of you in western countries, this is part of your regular life and you don’t even think about it. But the friendly smile and nod was a strange occurrence in my eyes. In England, I would walk along the street and catch someone’s eye. Instead of quickly looking somewhere else and continuing the walk, the person smiles at me and gives me a nod. Hmmm🤔🤔🤔. This was very confusing to me. At first, I thought “this person must know me” so I smiled back, slowed down my steps and prepared to have a conversation with this person where I would get to find out how we knew each other. But, this person just continued walking, leaving me puzzled🧐🧐🤔.
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Just like the language thing, it took a few cases of this happening before I clued in to what was happening. I guess this is what you do when you catch someone’s eye on the streets of England.
Nigeria
In Nigeria, I like to say our smiles are precious 😁. You are not getting a smile out of anyone unless you truly deserve it. If I see a stranger smiling at me on the streets, I am going to do two things. One, look behind me to make sure she/he is not smiling at the person behind me. Two, once I have confirmed that I am the recipient of that smile, then this person must know me or must want something from me. 🤣🤣
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I could go on and on but I think this post is getting too long. I will continue with Number Four in tomorrow's post.
I hope you learned something from my post today. Leave me a comment if you did or if you have had a similar experience.
Thanks for stopping by. Chat tomorrow!