Afrikaans schools, discriminatory?

[hawker]

I got a big WTF stare from a few people in Joburg the other day becuase I asked them for directions in Afrikaans.

The worst was when I was St John's rugby festival this year and go buy a hamburger. Go up to the counter fully expecting this white oke to ask for my order in English (seeing as this is the larney part of joburg) and the oke starts speaking in Afrikaans, I was like woah! - Damn joburgers need to make up their minds

 

[Mila]

oh...
There's plenty literature in isiZulu, with many authors. You also get lots of isiZulu media publications/newspapers, such as Ilanga, Isolezwe, Sunday Times, News24, Bona Magazine, Drum Magazine, etc. If I'm not mistaken, the first book to be translated to Zulu was the Bible.

school litrature? Encyclopedias? To teach grammar .

I was just thinking that this is a huge gap in the market for people that can write litrature in all our languages.

 

[JungleBoy]

school litrature? Encyclopedias? To teach grammar .

I was just thinking that this is a huge gap in the market for people that can write litrature in all our languages.

Well we've been doing Zulu first language for over a century now, of course there is school literature - grammar books, novels, poetry, short stories, the whole shebang. There's even a Zulu faculty at the University of Natal where you can specialise in Zulu linguistics or literature.

I've never seen a Zulu Encyclopaedia though (there might be many). While at University of Natal, one of the lectures was doing a PHD in Zulu and her thesis was a pictorial encyclopaedia specialising on Zulu dress artefacts. I helped her with the editing of the graphics in her thesis document. I don't know if that thesis was published or not.

 

[Mila]

Well we've been doing Zulu first language for over a century now, of course there is school literature - grammar books, novels, poetry, short stories, the whole shebang. There's even a Zulu faculty at the University of Natal where you can specialise in Zulu linguistics or literature.

I've never seen a Zulu Encyclopaedia though (there might be many). While at University of Natal, one of the lectures was doing a PHD in Zulu and her thesis was a pictorial encyclopaedia specialising on Zulu dress artefacts. I helped her with the editing of the graphics in her thesis. I don't know if that thesis was published or not.

thought so. it's time for all the other languages to have this.
If we have the litrature we can teach teachers. And the teachers will have material to teach with.

 

[JungleBoy]

thought so. it's time for all the other languages to have this.
If we have the litrature we can teach teachers. And the teachers will have material to teach with.

Unfortunately, today's kids go to English medium schools from kindergarten age and never really get the chance to learn their home languages. I have a strong feeling that in a not too distant future the indigenous languages will become obsolete. Already there are young African adults that do not speak (let alone read or write) any African language...and that is a real shame.

 

[Lounger]

oh...
There's plenty literature in isiZulu, with many authors. You also get lots of isiZulu media publications/newspapers, such as Ilanga, Isolezwe, Sunday Times, News24, Bona Magazine, Drum Magazine, etc. If I'm not mistaken, the first book to be translated to Zulu was the Bible.

Yeah, I think it was a Swedish/Zulu dictionary.

 

[Nicodeamus]

Unfortunately, today's kids go to English medium schools from kindergarten age and never really get the chance to learn their home languages. I have a strong feeling that in a not too distant future the indigenous languages will become obsolete. Already there are young African adults that do not speak (let alone read or write) any African language...and that is a real shame.

The smaller ones like Sepedi and Venda yes, however I don't see your bigger languages like Zulu, Afrikaans and Xhosa dying out any time soon.

 

[Zenbaas]

Unfortunately, today's kids go to English medium schools from kindergarten age and never really get the chance to learn their home languages. I have a strong feeling that in a not too distant future the indigenous languages will become obsolete. Already there are young African adults that do not speak (let alone read or write) any African language...and that is a real shame.

THAT^.
It is for that very reason mentioned above that afrikaans people sometimes come across as so protective about the language.

As for your much earlier comment about afrikaans people speaking afrikaans in a meeting with non afr speaking individuals. I have three black colleagues that do this all the time. The are all very capable english speakers but revert to speaking zulu all the time. When we complain that they must please communicate in a language that everyone can understand (ie. english) then we are told that they can't "express" themselves sufficiently although the rest of us afr speakers accommodate them.

 

[JungleBoy]

THAT^.
It is for that very reason mentioned above that afrikaans people sometimes come across as so protective about the language.

As for your much earlier comment about afrikaans people speaking afrikaans in a meeting with non afr speaking individuals. I have three black colleagues that do this all the time. The are all very capable english speakers but revert to speaking zulu all the time. When we complain that they must please communicate in a language that everyone can understand (ie. english) then we are told that they can't "express" themselves sufficiently although the rest of us afr speakers accommodate them.

I guess you get people like that from both sides (bags of douches ). What exactly is the point of speaking in a language that some in your audience don't understand? Unless you want to skinder about them

 

[Zenbaas]

I guess you get people like that from both sides (bags of douches ). What exactly is the point of speaking in a language that some in your audience don't understand? Unless you want to skinder about them

Unfortunately in our case that happens far too much for the reason you gave I believe personal conversations can be in whatever language as you mentioned earlier, but when speaking to groups you should try to accommodate everyone. That said I've heard some very entertaining afr accents over the years

 

[noxibox]

I work with a lot of Afrikaans people and invariably they'll slip into speaking in Afrikaans, then realise they're doing it and ask if they should repeat in English or just continue in English. Not since the Apartheid days have I had someone refuse to speak English just to be difficult (when dealing with someone who obviously doesn't understand the language). It doesn't usually matter to me whether they use English or Afrikaans, but you can't insist on using a language some of your audience obviously doesn't understand.

 

[bubbatentoe]

thought of replying. actually started typing.
decided against it.
stupid argument.
going to watch paint dry now.

 

[ponder]

I've never seen a Zulu Encyclopaedia though (there might be many).

From what I recall the first proper one was only released a few years ago, made the news. Pity it's based on a alphabet and writing system brought here by the evil settlers, we should burn it!