Why do people spell africa afrika

Waking up at the first call of the cock, milking cows, fetching water down the valley, gathering firewood and learning how to make butter from milk gucunda -was my daily routine. It reduces my ability to understand and connect with people outside my socio-economic class and generation.

Most of my education was in Rwanda. I was privileged to attend an internationally recognized institution. However, let me introduce to you the experience of my younger sister. She is a 7th grader, in an institution that hardly teaches her her history or the history of her continent but takes pride in the fact that she will have more opportunities to excel once she graduates because of her Eurocentric education.

And honestly, I cannot say I was better than her when I graduated because, really how much truth can you remember from 5th grade? I always had that feeling that my people were not free. I mean how can you be free when you do not know your history? I always had a feeling that colonization stole something so dear to my heart. Something powerful. My generation is usually seen as the lost sheep because everyone just assumes we know nothing about our history.

It is just so interesting that the blame is always put on us-I mean learning history is a two-way thing. That is why I started my journey to educate myself on MY culture because clearly no one was going to. I usually tell them to research for themselves in hopes that they start a new journey as well.

With all the lies I have been fed, I would not be surprised to wake up and find out that it is not but this is a discussion for another time.

Afrika is a land of thousands and thousands of languages. Languages that carry historical messages from our ancestors to new generations and a sense of pride in our ancestry. In many Afrikan languages, the alphabet is rewritten in English or French dialect.

Swahili is a popular language among East African nations. It was originally written with the Arabic alphabet but after colonization rewritten with the English alphabet. Yoruba is one of the most popular languages spoken by the Nigerians. Then from Niger River to South they used to call it Ethiopia.

We Africans have not that type of name in our languages. Arabic is a relatively very recent arrival in Egypt, whose ancient Pharaonic language was more closely related to the Berber, Semitic, and Beja languages.

That language survived until the 5th century and continued as Coptic i. Egyptian until the 17th century when it gradually began to be supplanted by Egyptian Arabic. The etymological origins of the word Africa, or Afrika, as you seem to prefer are not African but variously the Phonicean-Cathargian "Afri", meaning "afar, dust"; the Greek "Aphruke" for "without cold"; and the Latin word "aprica", which is translated as "sunny".

Thus, whether you say Africa or Afrika, none of these variants are no more native to our continent and people than America or Amerika is to its indigenous populations. Do you have an idea for The New Times to cover? Submit it here! I suggest that we should avoid that type of consideration. Yosef Ben-Jochannan. Your knowledge, understanding and reasoning to visit Africa is what will make your journey most unique as the natural love and beauty of the Motherland will speak to your spirit.

Remember me Log in. Lost your password? When you make the decision.