Sepedi at TUKS

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xtermin8or

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Freedom front Plus Youth leader, Mr. Cornelius Jansen van Rensburg, welcomed the University of Pretoria (UP) Council’s decision to accept Sepedi as a third communication language and described it as a step in the right direction.

“South Africa is a community of communities, and language is a central key in the upliftment of these communities”, Jansen van Rensburg said.

By granting another African language, besides Afrikaans, official status on the UP campus, a new partnership for the upholding of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction could be established.

Jansen van Rensburg, who organised a mass protest of 1 500 students for Afrikaans on the campus while he was chairperson of the student representative council, said that the challenge remains now for UP management to make real multilingualism part of the ethos of the University, and to abandon the current approach of ‘English at all cost’.

Until now, Afrikaans played second fiddle to English. Especially since 2004 there is great concern amongst current, prospective and past Afrikaans UP-students about the future of Afrikaans at Tuks.

A correct implementation of this policy is of utmost importance and can help to curb the current alienation of Afrikaans students. Faculties and department that do not comply with the new arrangement should be dealt with strictly.

Tukkies’ new language policy now also poses a challenge to all predominantly English Universities to start making a significant contribution towards multilingualism.

“The FF Plus Youth calls on the Minister of Education to financially assist those institutions that advance African languages (including Afrikaans) in order to create greater capacity”, Jansen van Rensburg said.

If we empower individuals with multilingualism, it will lead to a positive and sustainable understanding between the numerous language communities in South Africa.
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via e-mail

About time :)
 
It will be very expensive to implement it, very difficult to translate every single class test to another language. Who will pay for all of that?
 
By "Sepedi", don't you mean Northern Sotho.

Will we ever see research papers in Northern Sotho, or even textbooks ... I doubt it very much.
 
Shouldn't these languages be offered in high school before university? Doesn't make sense to do it the other way around.
 
There's a big difference between a communication language and a language of instruction/tuition.
I doubt that it is even feasible to teach courses in Sepedi at this point.
 
Syndyre said:
Shouldn't these languages be offered in high school before university? Doesn't make sense to do it the other way around.
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They are being offered in high schools. Higher learning institutions have not come to the party before but it seems that may be changing. Here's hoping for more positive changes like this.
 
edc said:
It will be very expensive to implement it, very difficult to translate every single class test to another language. Who will pay for all of that?
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You can't quantify such an excersise only in monetary terms. People's dignity is more important in this case, but i'm sure they've done some form of a feasibility study before they decided.
 
Jozi101 said:
You can't quantify such an excersise only in monetary terms. People's dignity is more important in this case, but i'm sure they've done some form of a feasibility study before they decided.
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dlk001 said:
I guess it will be similar to the English translation I requested during my studies there.
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People's dignity? Please explain your logic behind that statement?

As far as I am concerned, stop with the dignity crap (people's dignity should not, is not that fragile), if you lose your dignity because you are not taught in your 1st language then you are a sorry excuse for a supposedly intelligent, confident person to start with. Dignity has nothing to do with the topic at hand. You lose dignity if you are raped, not when the lecturer speaks English.

If you are unable to study in English, you do not have a future in the corporate world, is it as simple as that. You have to be articulate in English. My auditing textbook is in Afrikaans, I have to translate 5 chapters today, my dignity is intact.

There is a difference between translating in to a language, like English, for which international textbooks already exist, or Afrikaans which 75%+ people can speak and understand. The difference is that there should be a demand for it, which makes economic sense. It is only going to become a hassle for lecturers. The student fees will go up, because of the extra expenses and who will be the first group of people to riot about it?

I am a 4th year Bcom student, I know what the topic at hand entails.
 
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I wrote a management accounting exam in Afrikaans before, all my classes are in Afrikaans and I have done very well up to this point, the only language which should be used at tertiary level is English, with the option to answer the question paper in any language.
 
edc said:
People's dignity? Please explain your logic behind that statement?

As far as I am concerned, stop with the dignity crap (people's dignity should not, is not that fragile), if you lose your dignity because you are not taught in your 1st language then you are a sorry excuse for a supposedly intelligent, confident person to start with. Dignity has nothing to do with the topic at hand. You lose dignity if you are raped, not when the lecturer speaks English.

If you are unable to study in English, you do not have a future in the corporate world, is it as simple as that. My auditing textbook is in Afrikaans, I have to translate 5 chapters today, my dignity is intact.

There is a difference between translating in to a language, like English, for which international textbooks already exist, or Afrikaans which 75%+ people can speak and understand. The difference is that there should be a demand for it, which makes economic sense. It is only going to become a hassle for lecturers. The student fees will go up, because of the extra expenses and who will be the first group of people to riot about it?

I am a 4th year Bcom student, I know what the topic at hand entails.
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75%+ :confused: :confused:
 
edc said:
People's dignity? Please explain your logic behind that statement? As far as I am concerned, stop with the dignity crap (people's dignity should not, is not that fragile),
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A people's pride in their language inspires confidence in who they are as a people. Anyways, coming from an you <deleted by='ic' reason='inciting racial tensions'/>, your statement is a little hipocritical.

edc said:
if you lose your dignity because you are not taught in your 1st language then you are a sorry excuse for a supposedly intelligent, confident person to start with. Dignity has nothing to do with the topic at hand. You lose dignity if you are raped, not when the lecturer speaks English.
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You never cease to amaze me. Exactly how you're able to turn such a noble gesture into a negative is beyond me. You ever been to france? Go and say that in france and see how much of a fool you'll look like.


edc said:
There is a difference between translating in to a language, like English, for which international textbooks already exist, or Afrikaans which 75%+ people can speak and understand.
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What???:confused: 75% of what exactly? Before i respond to this, tell me what you mean by 75%.

edc said:
I am a 4th year Bcom student, I know what the topic at hand entails.
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I'm a BEng Graduate. So what? Keep to the topic please.
 
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Jozi101 said:
A people's pride in their language inspires confidence in who they are as a people. Anyways, coming from an you an afrikaaner, your statement is a little hipocritical.
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I am English. I don't base my pride or dignity on a language.

Jozi101 said:
You never cease to amaze me. Exactly how you're able to turn such a noble gesture into a negative is beyond me. You ever been to france? Go and say that in france and see how much of a fool you'll look like.
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Tukkies is in South-Africa, most graduates who leave the country, do not go to France. The corporate language in South-Africa is English. If you are not articulate in English how can you expect to be hired? Unless you are lucky enough to be hired based on pigment, rather than the ability to speak and write English among other things.

Jozi101 said:
What???:confused: 75% of what exactly? Before i respond to this, tell me what you mean by 75%.
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75% of people in South-Africa, can understand Afrikaans. What percentage understands sebediidfdjf? Wikipedia is offline for me, feel free to correct me.

Jozi101 said:
I'm a BEng Graduate. So what? Keep to the topic please.
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Then you should be aware of the value of English, rather than Afrikaans or any other language.
 
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrikaans
Geographically, the Afrikaans language is the majority language of the western one-third of South Africa (Northern and Western Cape, spoken at home by 69% and 58%, respectively). It is also the largest first language in the adjacent southern one-third of Namibia (Hardap and Karas, where it is the first language of 43% and 41%, respectively). It is the most widely used second language throughout both of these countries for the population as a whole, although the younger generation has better proficiency in English.
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75% of people in South-Africa can understand Afrikaans.

You guys really should read more, as your comprehension skills are not quite up to par. It is of no benefit to the students, if they are to walk in to the English corporate world without the English skills developed at varsity.

As an example, would studying accounting help them if they can not draw up a proper English balance sheet, only in Sepedi for their national investors?
 
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