Ghana is a multilingual country with an estimated 50 ethnic languages that are spoken by people from different tribes in the country.
More than half of the population is Christian, about one fifth is Muslim, and a small segment adheres to the traditional indigenous religions.
The major ethnic groups in Ghana are the Akan 47.5%, Mole-Dagbon 16.6%, Ewe 13.9%, Ga-Dangme 7.4%, Gurma 5.7%, Guan 3.7%, Grusi 2.5%, Mande 1.1%, other 1.4%.
English is Ghana’s official language, due to its past colonisation history with Britain. English is used for all legal, administrative, official procedures and documentation. The major Ghanaian local languages used in publications are the Twi dialects of Asante, Akwapim, and Fante. Other written languages are Nzema, Ewe, Gonja, Wali, Dagaare, Dagbane, Ga, and Kasena (a Grusi language). Out of Ghana’s local languages, only 11 languages are taught in the schools.
Apart from the indigenous Ghanaian languages, there are other West African languages such as Hausa that are spoken widely in Ghana especially in the northern parts of the country.
The 2010 Population and Housing Census reports that 63.6% of Ghanaians, fifteen years and above (15+) speak English while 0.8% of Ghanaians aged 11 years and above speak French.
French is taught in Junior High School and Senior High School. Language is considered as an important identity in Ghana. As such, when Ghanaians meet in other parts of the world, they feel comfortable speaking any of their indigenous languages.
The average Ghanaian would wish to be able to carry out basic communication in French, considering that the country is surrounded by only French-speaking nations, namely Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Togo.
The usual reasons given for the inability to speak French are failure to take French lessons seriously while in Junior High School or Senior High School, and the fact that French is not spoken in the Ghanaian society which implies that most people tend to forget the French lessons they received while in school.
Written English in Ghana is generally known to be British spelling, although the use of American spelling is also widespread. However, it is advisable to stick to a specific spelling throughout a particular text.
