It is not a big deal marrying from a different tribe or ethnic group. There are some people who frown or even heatedly oppose inter-tribal marriage. Marriage has enough challenges of its own without the added stress of linguistic and cultural differences. It can also be fun when learning together.
Feminine Corner sought people’s opinion on the issue.
According to Mrs. Benita Williams, “What matters in marriage is the compatibility between you and the person you are getting married to and the immediate family of both sides, and not the tribe. I am an Igbo woman married to an Akwa Ibom man. I have never regretted it for one minute. His family is nice and good Christians; they don’t believe in some of the things their people do. So, I categorically say that marriage is not about tribe but about both parties”.
Mrs. Chinwendu Marleen, “You can marry from any tribe of your choice. I know that communication is very important in a relationship. You can try and learn the language of your spouse. In time, with patience and perseverance you can then both speak the same language and understand each other more”.
Mr. Micheal Benson says, “It would be difficult to understand each other except with patience and genuine love. That way, it could work”.
Mrs. Gift Sophia says, “Languages are not that hard to learn and, most probably, you will be able to speak in English to start with. After that, you will both have to learn your different languages and your children can learn too. It is a unique opportunity that you can provide your children an easy learning of additional languages”.
Mr. Kingsley Okonkwo says, “It depends! My spouse doesn’t speak my language, but we speak English with each other. For me it’s important to, at least, learn how to speak some kind of language, even if it’s not my native language”.
Mr. Emmanuel Ellah says, “Marriage is different than just dating or friendship. It’s a lifelong commitment that must take into account the welfare of children”.
Miss Favour Albert says, “I think that, with time, you would learn to speak each other’s language. I have heard of this happening before and the people ended up getting along quite well. As they say, love knows no boundaries”.
Mr. Faith Paul says, “I don’t think that language barrier should stop two people from testing out their interest for one another. There is nothing wrong with that”.
Mr. Pragmatic Nwadike says, “I don’t see anything wrong with marrying someone from a different tribe. As for me, I would want to marry within my locality because I may not cope with cultural differences and a whole lot of tradition, culture, way of life and reasoning”.
Mr. Kehinde Peter says, “When you have two families from different tribes, no matter how enlightened or educated they are, there will be differences. There will be so many obstacles and stumbling blocks on the way but once the two families get through these, that kind of union is usually glamorous”.
Living with someone who doesn’t speak your language is definitely not easy. Maybe you need a challenge in your life. If you tend to get bored in relationships, living with someone who speaks another language can be so interesting and exciting.
You can learn his/her language: One good reason to date someone who doesn’t speak your language is that they might be able to help you learn their language. If it’s a language that you’ve been dying to learn for some time, you can learn it.
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