![]() ![]() We have had to take the lead by gradually aiming to standardise Pidgin as spoken and written across West and Central Africa, whilst creating some form of generally acceptable usage. So in the beginning we were constantly challenged by audiences in Ghana who thought certain words should be spelt the Ghanaian way, while Cameroon audiences would disagree just as Sierra Leonean, Liberian and Nigerian audiences would prefer a different approach. ![]() We had many challenges, the key one being that Pidgin is a largely spoken language and hardly has a commonly agreed spelling or written format. There were also those who responded to our reporters by saying: "BBC Pidgin? I no fit speak Pidgin oooo." "Did you say you work for the BBC Pidgin?" was one of the most common questions our colleagues had to answer from obviously curious members of public. In the beginning, there were people who just couldn't believe that the BBC now reports in Pidgin. ![]() It was important that by setting up the service the BBC was not focusing on covering negative reports about Africa, but connecting the continent's needs and aspirations. The remit for setting up the service was simple - BBC World Service set out to expand its reach among young and female audiences in West and Central Africa - and BBC News Pidgin was the first of 12 new language services launched as part of the World Service expansion. As BBC News Pidgin marks its first anniversary, we are in no doubt about how exciting the past year has been and what the future holds. ![]()
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