[UPDATE: It’s now LIVE in my online store here – click – Watch the preview video at [Audio Book] Tayo Solagbade’s “Ten Storyfied Yoruba Proverbs for Children” Audio Book DVD – YouTube] or below:

After working on it all through December 2014, I’m excited to announce this new learning tool, originally created for my kids, will go LIVE at www.lulu.com/sdaproducts tomorrow night!

Title: Ten (10) ‘Storyfied’ Yoruba Proverbs for Children

Sub title: Ten popular Yoruba proverbs with contextual translations and story-based examples of their use, in daily life, for young children & and learners in general

For those who wonder, this is the first in what will be a series.

I did a preview of it in an issue of my weekly newsletter, few weeks back.

My motivation to do this is MAINLY to empower my kids to communicate proficiently using Yoruba.

It is also to enable them appreciate the beauty of the language – which can best be enjoyed when knows how to use and interpret proverbs and wise sayings appropriately.

I did not have the benefit, during my youth, of deliberate effort being made by adults to FORMALLY expose me to Yoruba

But I was lucky that my Dad firmly insisted, during our teenage years, that we read OUT the Yoruba bible during the daily bible study sessions we had.

That left me with the ability to actually READ the language despite being raised in Lagos city, and speaking English most of the time.

On my own, I went further as I grew older, to learn the phonetic aspects of speaking and writing Yoruba. But not in any structured way. It was all haphazard.

For instance, during my 5 year stay in Ibadan’s University of Ibadan, I was blessed to share a room with 2 guys from my home town Abeokuta, who grew up there and obviously spent most of their years with adults who had superb grasp of the language.

Almost every day my room mates mocked me about my lack of dexterity in the use of Yoruba. I was teased for speaking “Lagos Yoruba”. And they were right!

Rather than resent them, my habit of relentlessly pursuing self-improvement, made me ask them to share their knowledge with me, and by the time I left campus, even though I was nowhere near them, I had picked up enough to build on.

Over time I have consolidated that foundation, and today I have a growing library of learning resources, that I am now using to prepare coaching content for my own kids.

It goes without saying that despite the above, I am NOT in any way, an authority on reading, writing or speaking the Yoruba lanuage today.

However, what I have, I KNOW, can benefit MY kids and lots of others who lack it.

As such, I choose to focus on sharing THAT with them – and where I find others with superior proficiency, I will expose my kids to them as well!

Experience has taught me that one can teach successfully, by INVOLVING the intended learners in the process of creating the learning resources.

That way, the get exposed to it earlier, and come away with deeper understanding in the process.

That’s why the proverbs featured in my book are those that I have already discussed with my kids, and I even got them to create the MP3 audio clips with me – helping to say the proverbs in Yoruba and/or in English.

I initially planned to make it 25 proverbs per issue (click here to read details I gave in a preview)…

Below is a screenshot from the first proverb’s slide.

My “Storyfied” model is designed to facilitate contextual comprehension of proverbs by persons with limited proficiency.

My tight work schedule all through Christmas right into the New Year, has however made me settle for a 10 proverb per issue volume.

This way I can get them out with some regularity. Even if I have to churn out smaller volumes.

This is a project VERY close to my heart.

One that I am simply too passionate about and too determined to ever stop doing UNTIL I complete it (that’s talking thousands of proverbs – so maybe with time I’ll step back up to 25 or more per issue).

In case you’re wondering, my kids understand Yoruba, but they do not speak it so well.

That’s why I want to use my “Storyfied” Proverbs to break them in faster.

The stories will boost their comprehension of the proverbs, and since opportunities to use them will occur in life, they will over time learn to express themselves using proverbs.

The prestige that will result from demonstrating that ability will cause them to pay greater attention to learning MORE proverbs, and in the process they will learn MORE of the Yoruba language and culture itself. ( The language and the culture cannot be separated you see!)

The more contact you have with, and conscious attention you pay to a language, the more you internalize it.

Eventually at a point, you will achieve critical point where you become proficient.

Having said that, I realize there will be others who desire the same for their own kids, but who may not have the time and training to create a resource lik this for them.

This is why I continue to publish various resources I create in a manner that enables interested others purchase, and adapt them for their own use.

Click here to see my online store, where this new book will go on sale from tomorrow p.m.

Final Words: This Storyfied language book project won’t end with Yoruba however…

Each day I see my kids, taking instructions from and communicating in Igbo language with their mother(who is from Obosi inNigeria’s Anambra state), I tell myself I need to do the same thing (i.e create a Storyfied proverbs book) for them with the IGBO language, which also has a rich store of proverbs.

And I already have material I can start with – from a 2002 paid 3 month IGBO language course that I attended in a coaching school at Allen Avenue. But it goes without saying that – as I am doing with the Yoruba version – I will also visit persons proficient in use of the language to LEARN and get guidance to ensure I do a good job of it.

All contributors names will be acknowledged in the publication – as has been done with this Yoruba book.

PS: By way of interest, those who have followed my work since I relocated to Benin Republic in April 2013, will know that I have a Quick and Dirty Guide to French Language for English Speakers/English Language for French Speakers that I created and have been selling.

Before creating the above guide, I’d published my ebook titled “Proven 5 Step Formula for Learning ANY Language in 3 Months or LESS“.

It was based on my experiences learning to read, write and speak the French Language, within 3 months in 1999 (traveling to stay in Cameroon to improve my fluency).