(VOVWORLD) - Ghana is one of 54 countries in the African continent. Today, we invite Ernesto Obeng Quarshie, an English teacher from Ghana who has been living in Vietnam for 6 years, to our show to help us get to know more about Ghana.
Hi, Ernesto! Welcome to our weekly show, Culture Rendezvous. Could you please tell briefly about Ghana, a country that many people just know by name?
Ghana is in West of Africa. Its population is about 32 million. We have our independence in 1957, 65 years ago. We are the first African country to get our independence. Ghana is pretty stable and peaceful. If you like chocolate and definitely you have tasted something from Ghana, because Ghana has been the second largest producer of Cacao. Cacao is the main ingredient in making chocolate. We are the second largest producer in the world and it has been for many years, probably for more than 50 years.
 Flag of Ghana (Photo: Internet) |
Wow! I love chocolate, so I guess I’ve probably tasted some products made from Ghana cacao. Ernesto, you’re an English teacher. Is English the official language of Ghana?
Yes, I am from Ghana. I am an ESL teacher. English is official language of Ghana. There are local languages. Actually, a lot of local languages in Ghana as well. That’s reason why we have to make English an official language, so that we are able to communicate among ourselves. Imagine like you have been in Hanoi and you speak Vietnamese and then people in HCM city speak different languages, so you can’t communicate. We have to come together and decide what to do, so instead of choosing one local language, because we were colonized by the British, so we decided to use English. It is the official language in class, in office and everywhere else. But when you are in small towns or villages, you have to speak the local language. But if I don’t understand your local language and you don’t understand mine, so English is the medium language.
 Cocoa cultivation in Ghana (Photo: DW) |
I read somewhere that Ghana is famous for its gold and diamonds. Is that true?
Yes, you are right. Ghana used to be called the gold coast before 1957. After independent, we switched our name to Ghana. I think we used to be the largest producer of gold in the world. Ghana now is the 6th gold producer in the world, and we produced about 140 tons of gold in 2020. We have a lot of gold and diamonds in particular.
 A view of Gold Coast in Ghana (Photo: Internet) |
How about the weather in Ghana? Is it really hot there?
We have only two seasons. We call it dry season and wet season or dry and rainy season. From November to February, it doesn’t rain much so we call it a dry season and from April it starts to rain a lot in Ghana. That’s the kind of weather we have. The weather in Ghana is just like HCM city’s weather. It gets colder around November, December, January and the temperature is around 20, 21 DC and normally the temperature is around 25-28 DC. The weather is not very hot in Ghana.
 Ghana's football fans (Photo: Getty images) |
Last but not least, what is the national sport of Ghana?
That’s football. Actually we are going to our fourth World Cup in November in Qatar. Most people play and watch football in Ghana. Football is our national sport and we are pretty good at it.
Thank you very much, Ernesto, for sharing some facts about your country, Ghana. Ernesto will be back with us again on VOV24/7’s Culture Rendezvous to talk about Ghana’s typical food and beverages. We’re really looking forward to that. But now it’s time to say goodbye to all you listeners out there. Goodbye!