![]() These reasons highlight very clearly why someone new to the learning Afrikaans, or any new language, must have identified very clearly his or her motivation for wanting to learn the new tongue. Accompanying such an impediment would be the structure, conventions and influence of the learner’s mother tongue and its pronunciation and inflexion. A novice does not have that luxury and, in essence, is starting off with a significant handicap. A native speaker would have been hearing and responding to and in Afrikaans for many years, actively starting from the day they were born. One of the very significant ones is time. Learners of a language, which is foreign to them, have quite a number of obstacles to overcome. Let's go! Should Afrikaans Teachers Introduce Unusual, Weird and Funny Expressions in a Classroom Setting? The need for Afrikaans speakers, teachers, tutors and writers is therefore very real! Further, courts require the services of interpreters and various agencies are always in need of persons who can translate documents, fliers, billboards and even books into and from Afrikaans. Since Afrikaans is also increasingly being chosen as a language of study by high school students, the need or demand for Afrikaans teachers and tutors is growing. Knowledge of the language is also imperative, especially if you find yourself outside of a big city, where the choice of language is limited and you need to make yourself understood on a daily basis. It may, thus, be quite advantageous for anyone wanting to connect with locals anywhere in the country to try their hand at Afrikaans, especially if they find learning an indigenous language challenging. Many people in South Africa speak two or more languages, with Afrikaans very often in the mix. These adherents are referred to as Afrikaners and they engage in activities such a volksspeletjies and annually host an Afrikaans festival, the ATKV (Afrikaanse Taal- en Kultuurvereniging)-fees where Afrikaans is celebrated in many art forms. Culturally, there are many who cling to it as a unifying element which embodies their culture and history. It is a language with a proud history, rich literature, drama, music and active movie-making industry. Afrikaans has many curious words and tongue twisters. Afrikaans is spoken by most ethnic groups in the country as a second or third language and is largely favoured as a first language in the western half. Back home, it is recognised as one of the official languages of South Africa, is widely used in business and industry and even has a monument erected in its honour in Paarl in the Western Cape. So, from the coldest reaches of the planet to some pretty cool and, even, hot locations in Africa and elsewhere, you will find Afrikaans spoken with relish. The current station is called SANAE IV and is operated by the South African National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE). You will even find concentrations of individuals speaking it on every continent of the globe, including Antarctica, where South Africa has maintained a research station since 1959. Many consider Afrikaans an easy language to learn, once you’ve become used to its guttural pronunciation, because it basically only has three tenses, viz, present, past and future no future progressive (continuous) or past perfect, etc.įurther, Afrikaans is the language with the widest geographical spread as it is spoken in all of South Africa’s nine provinces, as well as in Namibia (where it is recognised as a national language), Botswana and Zimbabwe. These are some of the comments you would come across when enquiring about this language for the first time. ![]() A European language spoken in Africa, some would say. Afrikaans, the youngest language in the world! The third-most spoken language in South Africa.
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