Igbo
The language of southeastern Nigeria — deeply proverbial, deeply musical.
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About Igbo
Igbo (Asụsụ Igbo) is one of Nigeria's three major indigenous languages, spoken by about 30 million people as a first language. It is a tonal language with two main tone levels (high and low), and it uses a Latin-based alphabet with a handful of extra characters (ị, ọ, ụ, ṅ) for sounds English does not have.
Igbo is famous for its dense use of proverbs and idioms — Chinua Achebe once wrote that 'proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten'. Even casual conversation can carry three or four proverbial turns of phrase.
Because Igbo has many dialects and the standard written form (Standard Igbo) is relatively young, we teach it alongside notes on the most common dialectal differences, so children visiting relatives in different parts of Igboland can adjust.
The traditional 'kola nut' ritual of welcome is a moment of shared Igbo identity — and the language encoded in it is some of the most poetic in daily life.
A handful of Igbo to take away
These appear across our puzzles — every word in the app is paired with a translation and a spoken voice.
- •Focus on listening first — Igbo tones are extremely subtle and cannot be read off the page.
Pick a theme to play
Each theme gathers 40–80 words, phrases and idioms. Every puzzle type teaches the same vocabulary in a different way — children absorb the words faster because they meet them again and again from new angles.
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