(1) Sheng is already widely-spoken in urban bits of Kenya, and knowledge of it is essential effectively to communicate with anyone under 40.

(2) There's good research indicating that Sheng is not a creole or a pidgin, but rather a dialect of Swahili. (Paper by Chege Githiora attached.)

(3) It is thoroughly mysterious why Kenyans should speak only those languages that are widely spoken by its trading partners, especially in light of the fact that those trading partners do not speak only the language of their trading partners. Chinese, which you seem to have assumed is a single language, is actually a family of dialects, several of which are not mutually intelligible. I have not seen any move by the government of China to restrict their use, or formal study of them, on the ground that it is time to use only English.

Daniel Waweru
www.kenyaimagine.com
Art and analysis; debate and opinion.


On 27 February 2012 11:18, James Mbugua <jgmbugua@gmail.com> wrote:
Sheng will go nowhere and formalization is a waste of time.

The 1billion Chinese and the 1billion Indians and 600million Europeans
and nearly 800million Africans do not and will not speak it.

English as we all know is the language of business and Vision 2030
requires us to monumentally grow our export and services sector which
requires international interaction.

Sheng, like Nigerian and Jamaican pidgin is in safe hands with touts
and DJs. They will keep the flame alive.

Regards


On Mon, Feb 27, 2012 at 2:02 PM, robert yawe <robertyawe@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I believe that if we are serious about turning sheng into a formal language
> then we need a site like http://www.urbandictionary.com/ if we are to
> harmonise across the country or region.
>
> As I keep repeating, annoyingly, I grew up in eastlands (mimi sio mbabi) and
> one thing I know is that sheng is not homogeneous beyond 100 meters of where
> you are standing.
>
> Regards
>
> Robert Yawe
> KAY System Technologies Ltd
> Phoenix House, 6th Floor
> P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200
> Kenya
>
> Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696
>
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