This German student mastered isiXhosa in a year and encourages others to do the same: 'It's a respect thing'

PrimeSteak

Honorary Master
Joined
Nov 7, 2020
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15,117
It's pretty cool. Here's a vid of him:

It seemed only natural to choose isiXhosa because "in Cape Town a lot of people speak isiXhosa", he says. "It's just unfortunate that a lot of white people hardly speak the language."
It is because everyone in SA has the tendency to switch to English if they can't speak the other person's language. Hence, a lot of people just speak their home language and English.

I intend to learn a SA language when I'm finished with my studies.

Torn between Xhosa (since it is the most practical option for WC) or Sotho (seems the easiest to progress to from an Afrikaans background).
 

RunningFromFat

Expert Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
3,142
It's pretty cool. Here's a vid of him:


It is because everyone in SA has the tendency to switch to English if they can't speak the other person's language. Hence, a lot of people just speak their home language and English.

I intend to learn a SA language when I'm finished with my studies.

Torn between Xhosa (since it is the most practical option for WC) or Sotho (seems the easiest to progress to from an Afrikaans background).
It's a cool video but clickbaity, he hasn't mastered it, he even admitted it himself that it's very broken.
 

zolly

Executive Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2005
Messages
5,910

I've been meaning to learn how to say
  • hello
  • how are you
  • I'm fine thank you, and
  • sorry that's all I can speak so far
in the most popular languages, including Arabic due to the massive Islamic community down here in the WC (also because people keep on thinking I'm Muslim). I agree that it's a respect thing and will do a lot to help bridge the gaps between communities.

But ya, it's a cool video. Dude is at UCT though so it's nice to have a space where yes, learning is the focus. I tried to learn Zulu in school and my teacher was so **** I switched to French (she got fired a month after I changed subjects).
 

ForceFate

Honorary Master
Joined
May 18, 2009
Messages
41,137
It's pretty cool. Here's a vid of him:


It is because everyone in SA has the tendency to switch to English if they can't speak the other person's language. Hence, a lot of people just speak their home language and English.

I intend to learn a SA language when I'm finished with my studies.

Torn between Xhosa (since it is the most practical option for WC) or Sotho (seems the easiest to progress to from an Afrikaans background).
Could it be because Sotho speakers in the FS tend to use Afrikaans loan words a lot more, that you think there are similarities? Each language has a set of challenges, especially if you already speak another language.
 
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