English

British colonial rule established English in Ghana as the language of language and education during the nineteenth century. Any Ghanaian who has finished school reads and speaks some English, and many without schooling have learned some useful phrases. Local languages also incorporated English loan words for modern technologies and institutions. The English spoken by office workers and civil servants is standard British usage and spelling. Primary and middle-school leavers tend to speak with more accent and to modify their English word usage to translate local language vocabulary more exactly. If Pidgin English is heard, the speaker is most likely from another part of British West Africa, such as Nigeria or Sierra Leone.

Traders

Adama Muhammed

The Work of God (2006)

Next time that I greet you, with the grace of God you will also be a Muslim.

Allabar Women's School

Maimouna

My Mother Never Gave Up (2006)

My mother didn't go in for that early marriage. Some of the relatives stopped speaking to my father because he sent his daughters to school. I came out as a full fledged graduate in Education, with a minor in Linguistics.

Tafo Women's Fellowship

Hajia Raamatu Sanni

A Trader and a Teacher (2006)

My uncle saw that I was not interested in marriage, so one day he just called me and said 'I want you to be married to your brother', and it worked.

Hajia Habiba

Woman Can Do Anything Man Can Do (2006)

It is only me, a woman selling these double axles here. My family are proud of me as a woman selling this, because it is not easy for some women to learn this trade.

Hajia Habiba

Woman Can Do Anything Man Can Do (2006)

It is only me, a woman selling these double axles here. My family are proud of me as a woman selling this, because it is not easy for some women to learn this trade.

Hofsota Oumar

An Arabic Teacher (2006)

My advice to those who are petty traders is that they should be honest. Any time they collect goods from those who are going abroad to buy, they should send their money back to them.