Eleven

South Africa has 11 official languages:

1. English

2. Afrikaans

3. isiZulu

4. isiXhosa

5. siSwati

6. isiNdebele

7. Sesotho

8. Sepedi

9. Setswana

10. Tshivenda

11. Xitsonga

Nine of these languages are Bantu languages, meaning native. The first two, English and Afrikaans, are of European origin. I’m amazed and grateful to live in a country that prides itself on diversity and acceptance of cultures. South Africa, if I might add, also has one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. I love the part of the Preamble that states, “And believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.”

I’ve been lucky enough throughout my time here so far to hear almost every official language in some way shape or form. Setswana is my favorite (I’m biased because that’s what we speak in my community) but seriously I love the simplicity and beauty of how it sounds! I continue to be amazed by the intricacies and overlap of each one. One of my goals for this year is to learn how to greet people in all eleven languages, it’s a work in progress.

When I greet people in my community in Setswana, some people are shocked. They say, “Yoooooooo! You know Tswana?!” I’ll never forget the day I was walking to my crèche and greeted a gentleman in passing. He stopped and said, “I never thought I would hear a white person speak Tswana to me. Thank you.” I never realized how my white privilege is connected to language. If I don’t greet them first, people greet me in English or sometimes, but rarely, Afrikaans. I certainly don’t know Afrikaans, so my puzzled face in response provides a laugh and the next question, “Which country are you from?” In a book I recently read called A Different Kind of Aids, the author, David Dickinson, spends some time talking about language. He states, “The vast majority of white South Africans speak hardly a word of any African language.” In South Africa, your race contributes to what language you speak. This is a result of the Apartheid government, in which people were separated by force of the government based on race in 4 categories: white, Indian, colored, and black. This then resulted in separation and lack of exposure to all the languages of South Africa.

Ive also come to learn, especially at my primary school, that English is “taking over.” I watch kids struggle in reading and writing in Setswana. Every year in grades 1-7 the students take their Home Language of Setswana and their First Additional Language English. Even some of my friends my age here have told me they can only hear Setswana, they can’t read it. In school they were taught to read and write in English. Dickinson also says in his book, “The ritual reality of language in South Africa is that 9 of the 11 official tongues, which are nominally equal, are dying. They are being abandoned by those who seek to get ahead. To get ahead means immersion in a world that communicates in English, the language of the universe, the language of science, the language of business, the language of law, the language of diplomacy, the language of the future.” I find discomfort in the truth of his statement and witnessing it in everyday life. In South Africa, in order to attend most universities you must know English and have high grades from your Matric Exams. Although I see and recognize the counter argument, that English is a mediator between languages to help people of differing languages communicate, it still saddens me. There are amazing languages all over the world losing traction to English. Becoming lessened and forgotten.

In the US we don’t think about these kinds of issues. We want things to be efficient and for communication to be easy. I cringe at the thought of the comment we tend to hear all to often, “You’re in America speak English.” We require it of each other. We don’t want to listen. We don’t want to learn. We want everyone else to conform. We marginalize the other.

My most humbling and unwavering Setswana teachers are my 2 and 3 year olds at the crèche. They continue to remind me, without even knowing, to stop and listen. To actually listen, not just hear and shrug in lack of understanding. To try with one another. To not get frustrated in miscommunication (even though they sometimes do get frustrated with me haha). That language is more than words, and we don’t have to speak the same one to know one another. Together these little kiddos and I laugh, smile, jump, dance, cry, eat, and give the best most amazing hugs to one another all in the same language.

Tags:

Categories: