For those of you just starting in your line of trade in an anglophone space, here’s a piece of advice on why you must master your language of scholarship. If you intend to be a subject-area expert, especially in a field that requires analysis, your biggest tool for climbing up your professional ladder is language. Master it so well that you can think in it as you do in your native language, and you will ease your journey. English
Nothing will give you publicity in your field and beyond like language. By questioning things and writing about them, you will attract attention from top organizations in your profession and be engaged as a consultant because of how eloquently you share knowledge in your field.
A foreign media platform, for instance, can offer you more than $1,000 for an essay on a subject of your expertise from the comfort of your room, and that’s because of the eloquence with which you communicate your views. So, don’t subscribe to the lazy thinking that mastering your language of scholarship is a ticket to nowhere.
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If English language proficiency isn’t a measure of intelligence, what do we call your inability to master the basics of your language of instruction in school for at least 12 years? Clearly, mastering your language of academic scholarship can’t be a sign of stupidity. If you’re unable to comprehend the basic rules of the language in which you’re taught from primary school to university, do not delude yourself with the excuse that such a deficiency means nothing. Because it does—it means you’re not smart or properly educated.
It’s understandable when, say, a Chinese engineer struggles to communicate in English. It’s not his language of instruction at school. But when a Nigerian, who has passed through Western schools and earned certificates therein, exhibits similar difficulty, the symptom is something we should not be proud of. It’s a deficiency.
It’s one thing to err; it’s another to be ignorant of things your credentials suggest you have mastered. Do not confuse ignorance with a mistake.
