Lost in Translation: The Cost of Cultural Approximation
Lost in Translation: Why African Culture Can’t Be Explained in English
Have you ever tried explaining a traditional African expression in English, only to find that the words don’t quite fit? I have. Many times. And each time, I’m left frustrated.
I find myself grasping for “equivalents.” But these so-called equivalents (Western words) strip the original expression of its meaning, its soul. What’s left is a hollow shell of the idea I wanted to share. This happens to African people every single day, especially when we’re trying to make ourselves legible to the Western world.
We bend and twist our cultural expressions into Western shapes. In doing so, we dilute them. And over time, we lose them entirely.
Take, for instance, the traditional African value of upliftment. In many cultures, when one person succeeds, they’re expected to take others with them. It’s a joyful duty that is almost sacred.
One child graduates from university? The whole village celebrates, because it means another child will likely follow. It means hope for all.
But when translated into Western terms, this communal obligation is often labeled as nepotism, a dirty word that paints a generous act as corruption. And so, some Africans, trying to appear “modern,” have abandoned the practice. Now, many rise the social ladder alone, leaving their kin behind.
It’s a tragic shift from community to individualism. And it didn’t happen by chance.
Culture or Corruption?
Let’s go deeper. In many African cultures, bringing a gift when you visit someone of higher status is normal: a sign of honor. There’s even a saying in some languages that means “pour water ahead so your feet touch cool ground.” Beautiful, right?
But the Western word for this act is often “bribery.” It sounds criminal. Shameful. So, again, Africans shy away from something deeply cultural because they’ve been told it’s wrong based on a completely different moral framework.
Even the Bible, which many Africans hold dear, says: “A man’s gift makes room for him” (Proverbs 18:16). So… is that bribery too? Or is it simply a different way of honoring relationships?
We need to stop forcing our values into foreign molds.
Losing Words, Losing Worlds
Language is more than communication. It holds the keys to worldview, memory, and spirit. When children stop speaking their mother tongues, the culture behind those languages begins to die.
In 2010, Boa Senior (the last speaker of the ancient Bo language in the Andaman Islands) died. With her, one of the world’s oldest languages vanished. That same loss is happening in parts of Africa right now. Some African parents even take pride in their kids speaking English, French, or Portuguese—but not their native tongues. As if fluency in the colonizer’s language equals success.
If our children no longer think in African languages, how can they fully live African lives?
There’s a simple truth we must face: not everything African can be translated. And it doesn’t have to be. The Chinese didn’t translate “chi” or “feng shui” into English. They made the world learn those words. Today, those ideas are respected globally.
Africans must do the same. We need to stop apologizing for our ways. Stop renaming our customs with words that twist their meaning. And when the “smart text” of the West doesn’t offer a word that fits us?
We exit that function and write our own story. Let’s keep speaking our truth in our own words.
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