Ndebele Art

The fear of traveling in a new country is often exacerbated by the desire to learn a new language.

The uniqueness of South Africa is that, on arrival, you need to learn to welcome not one but 11 official languages and dozens of more informal over it. It is interesting to print first!

Of course, landing in South Africa (usually at OR Tambo International), you would be hard to look around and identify the members of each nation's language. Thus, to help, here is a broad distribution of general areas in which languages are spoken. Currently, non-official languages take a back seat. Please note, due to how our country always exciting, things tend to change often ...!

Eastern Cape: Xhosa (83%), Afrikaans (9%),
Free State: Sesotho (64%), Afrikaans (12%),
Gauteng: Zulu (21%), Afrikaans (14%), Sesotho (13%), English (12%),
KwaZulu-Natal: Zulu (81%), English (13%)
Limpopo: Sepedi (52%), Tsonga (22%), Venda (16%),
Mpumalanga: siSwati (31%), Zulu (26%), Ndebele (12%),
Northern Cape: Afrikaans (68%), Setswana (21%),
North West: Setswana (65%), Afrikaans (7%)
Western Cape: Afrikaans (55%), English (19%), isiXhosa (23%),
Source: SouthAfrica.info

Now, what may appear as a generalization and it may well be a bit boring, but keep in mind, South Africa is as diverse as its languages. This makes a common one occasion hello!

Goeie dag Afrikaans
Hello English
Ndebele Salubonani
Pedi T Hobel
Sotho Lumel
Swazi Sawubona
Tsonga morning [] Avusheni
Tsonga afternoon [] Inhelekani
Tswana Dumela
Venda Avuwani
Molo Xhosa
Zulu Sawubona

And many more languages, the South Africans have several styles of greeting, of course all depending on the ethnic heritage of the person you meet. In the case of foreigners, most offer a handshake while maintaining eye contact and smiling. Others prefer not to look up as a sign of respect. And with some, the hand shake is two hands ... Lost? Do not worry too much about this but we are generally a nice group who do not take offense if you do not get it right first time!

Once you've mastered, let me help you with some words and phrases in the English South Africanese that can help us understand when we speak - even if they are words that you think you recognize at first.

Howzit - Hello, hello a general, especially invented by the lazy surfer.
Cape Doctor - The South-Easter, howling through the Cape Peninsula in summer, riding on a cloud Table Mountain also known as the fabric of the city table. "The wind blows away all the pollution.
Robot - traffic light - the only country in the world outside of France, which refers to the traffic light ... thusly need to say more?
Shot - a particular way, which primarily means "Thanks".
Tune - Another word to say or speak. "Tune me ages". Get it? Or you can simply ask for the time.
Just now - soon, soon, which may be closer to "eventually" or "never."
Now, now - that "just now" ... I hope sooner.

The last two sentences in fact, does not even make sense anywhere else but here. But you learn to live with them, like walking through the minefield that is "hello" in South Africa can sometimes be confusing, often frustrating, but when you do it right, it is always rewarding.

By Jo Jordan
Jo.Jordan @ lingoproz.co.za

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