South Africans should learn to speak each other's languages, says KZN artist

[MagNorthDigital]

All of this so he could bring home a strapping young Zulu boy... Uthando lu isimangaliso. Jou pa gan nogsteeds nie papgeld of lobola betaal nie.

 

[JuliusSeizure]

I agree here. It will definitely promote social cohesion.

For instance, in KZN, IsiZulu should rather be made compulsory with other languages being scrapped. I did Afrikaans simply because I would have had nobody at home to do my Zulu essays (as much as they say otherwize, most students ask someone else to do their essays) and it has been absolutely useless. I'd have been better off doing Zulu.

 

[JuliusSeizure]

Languages are difficult, I'm still learning English

The SA languages are mostly not that hard compared to the Asian languages or some Euro ones.

I think with serious study, most of us can get to at least conversational level in any of the 11 official languages of SA within a year maybe excluding English as English tbh is a very hard language to learn.

 

[JuliusSeizure]

Problem is (and it is great for outsider actually) that due to general English literacy, I can get by anywhere without having to learn any SA language. In certain countries, you face hostility (or at best noncooperation) if you don't speak country's main native languages. Here it is not so.

You can get by in most places with just English in SA but knowing a language like for instance English or Xhosa comes with advantages.

1. It will make you more street smart, an American guy who speaks Xhosa said it has come with benefits like not having to stand in lines as much. Plus you will get more respect and trust from communites so they will be more likely to help you in times of need.

2. It could even help you out of dangerous situations as people will know you are street smart and less likely to take a chance with you.

 

[Polymathic]

In Durban it's easy to stay monolingual basically everybody under the age of 45 can speak English conversational English at a near native level.

 

[Oldfut]

I agree here. It will definitely promote social cohesion.

For instance, in KZN, IsiZulu should rather be made compulsory with other languages being scrapped. I did Afrikaans simply because I would have had nobody at home to do my Zulu essays (as much as they say otherwize, most students ask someone else to do their essays) and it has been absolutely useless. I'd have been better off doing Zulu.

Eh, including Inglish in the "other languages"? If possible, let it be optional to learn a second language BUT pick the first one carefully. I am lucky enough to be able to speak passable Zulu but feel its usefulness is declining as urban people and young people generally speak, understand etc better English than my Zulu. There is a trend in some (bigger in KZN) municipalities etc to converse in Zulu but getting infrequent. Quite a few non-Zulu speakers in the "black" work force as well, can be slightly embarrassing.

 

[wingnut771]

In Durban it's easy to stay monolingual basically everybody under the age of 45 can speak English conversational English at a near native level.

It is the reason why I choose to stay here. Born here, can only speak english.

 

[JuliusSeizure]

In Durban it's easy to stay monolingual basically everybody under the age of 45 can speak English conversational English at a near native level.

You can get by with just English yes, but things and moving around will be a lot easier if you know Zulu. You will be able to get things done quicker and more efficiently because people will feel more comfortable around you. If you ask any non-native Zulu speaker who speaks the language, they will tell you.

 

[JuliusSeizure]

Eh, including Inglish in the "other languages"? If possible, let it be optional to learn a second language BUT pick the first one carefully. I am lucky enough to be able to speak passable Zulu but feel its usefulness is declining as urban people and young people generally speak, understand etc better English than my Zulu. There is a trend in some (bigger in KZN) municipalities etc to converse in Zulu but getting infrequent. Quite a few non-Zulu speakers in the "black" work force as well, can be slightly embarrassing.

I've noticed that the kids of the black middle class often speak a creole of their native language and English (some speak American English, lol) but with that being said, these are not the majority of this demographic and so most still live in townships. Their English is mostly business level but they still feel more comfortable speaking in their native language. There is a joke amongst themselves that they sometimes "run out of English bundles".

 

[wingnut771]

IMHO, the time to learn a language is in your early formative years. My mother is afrikaans but never spoke it to my brother and I, we also had a domestic worker that lived with us. Oh do I wish she spoke Zulu to me and mother speaking afrikaans and father speaking english. My mother couldn't speak english when she met my father but she learnt it which is probably why she never spoke afrikaans to us. You wouldn't be able to tell that she is afrikaans if you hear her speak.

 

[wizardofid]

English is not an easy language, we just think it is as it's the third most spoken language in the world, I'm sure Spanish people think it's easy, or Mandarin is easy.
You will think your birth language is easy cause you were born with it.
Non native speakers don't find it easy, they just learn it as a lot of English speakers struggle to learn new languages.

Lol good luck with mandarin, there is over 100K characters in general in chinese, the average educated person knows 5000 to 8000 of them, while there is so many they rarely use more then 20K. You are better off learning Japanese which requires learning 2136 kanji for standard literacy. Besides I discovered I hate chinese in general, there is a lot of word slurring, almost an annoying whistling sound they make, especially with Z, the general tone is also annoying.

There is 195 countries in the world, only 55 has more than one spoken official language and only 43% of the world population is bilingual, 12% can speak more than 3 and 3% more than 4. Mandarin is pretty much the hardest language to learn, visa versa if you don't understand english. Yes english is extremely difficult, if you don't speak it, however if you do you will have a much easier time learning European languages in general.

 

[wizardofid]

With ek is, jy is, sy is, hy is, hulle is, ons is - what do you expect? LOL.

Reminds me of my german class

ich bin
du bist,
er, sie, es ist,
wer sind,
ihr seid,
sie Sei sind,

That shyte got drilled into us, along with this stupid song I still remember 30 years later.

Ein kleiner Matrose umsegelte die Welt.
Er liebte ein Mädchen, das hatte gar kein Geld.
Das Mädchen musste sterben, und wer war schuld daran?
Ein kleiner Matrose in seinem Liebeswahn.

 

[Polymathic]

You can get by with just English yes, but things and moving around will be a lot easier if you know Zulu. You will be able to get things done quicker and more efficiently because people will feel more comfortable around you. If you ask any non-native Zulu speaker who speaks the language, they will tell you.

A friend of mine was able to do that just by knowing the greetings and terms of endearment and respect.

I had for the first in probably a decade, when I looked at the label I came to the conclusion that more SA schools should offer Portugese

 

[Lupus]

Lol good luck with mandarin, there is over 100K characters in general in chinese, the average educated person knows 5000 to 8000 of them, while there is so many they rarely use more then 20K. You are better off learning Japanese which requires learning 2136 kanji for standard literacy. Besides I discovered I hate chinese in general, there is a lot of word slurring, almost an annoying whistling sound they make, especially with Z, the general tone is also annoying.

There is 195 countries in the world, only 55 has more than one spoken official language and only 43% of the world population is bilingual, 12% can speak more than 3 and 3% more than 4. Mandarin is pretty much the hardest language to learn, visa versa if you don't understand english. Yes english is extremely difficult, if you don't speak it, however if you do you will have a much easier time learning European languages in general.

I actually did try to learn japanese . Though we were taught katakana not kanji, but I can only remember a few words from the class, like cat = neko, horse = uma, bear = kuma and watashi no namae wa Lupus desu

 

[wizardofid]

I actually did try to learn japanese . Though we were taught katakana not kanji, but I can only remember a few words from the class, like cat = neko, horse = uma, bear = kuma and watashi no namae wa Lupus desu

Lol I watch A LOT anime and picked up a few words here and there in the process. japenese is quite pleasant to the ear, I wouldn't mind learning it. I think they teach katakana with word association, to make it easier to remember ?

 

[surface]

A friend of mine was able to do that just by knowing the greetings and terms of endearment and respect.

I had for the first in probably a decade, when I looked at the label I came to the conclusion that more SA schools should offer Portugese

What is the benefit of speaking Portugese in SA ? Serious question as one hardly hears this language in Johannesburg. I know of only one fruit n veg store in Northcliff where I believe owners & 2-3 cashiers are portugese.

 

[Polymathic]

What is the benefit of speaking Portugese in SA ? Serious question as one hardly hears this language in Johannesburg. I know of only one fruit n veg store in Northcliff where I believe owners & 2-3 cashiers are portugese.

BRICS

 

[JuliusSeizure]

What is the benefit of speaking Portugese in SA ? Serious question as one hardly hears this language in Johannesburg. I know of only one fruit n veg store in Northcliff where I believe owners & 2-3 cashiers are portugese.

Yeah, you probably better off learning Chinese in SA. My uncle was once trying to get his kids to learn Chinese because he felt it would open up opportunities later in life but I don't think it went well.

 

[surface]

BRICS

TTEETM

 

[Phylax]

South Africans should learn to speak each other's languages, says KZN artist | News24

KwaZulu-Natal artist Farrèll Drew is one of many South Africans who enjoy amapiano music but one of the few who can rap to DJ Maphorisa's verse in the hit song 'Izolo'.

www.news24.com

This multiculturalism ship, together with speaking each other's languages while also singing songs of Ubuntu while holding hands, has long ago sailed.

We are just too different.

What is basic everyday manners for some, are completely foreign to others.

A country with 11 official languages, should've never been one country!

The experiment failed.