South Africa is diverse in culture but could be unified in language. English should be South Africa’s unifying language. It is necessary to understand what nationhood is, so that you the reader realise that a national language does not alter a nation. It binds the nation. I will also discuss South Africa’s diverse cultures and how a unifying language can merge these cultures. Lastly, I will demonstrate the links between language and identity. The concept of a nation is not easily defined. ”Nationalism
linguistics, South Africa is like a melting pot of languages. In total, South Africa has eleven major languages coming from both Africa and Europe. The major languages used are Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sesotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu. In order to understand how each of these languages arrived in South Africa, we must first look at the history of people living in the country. The first identified language spoken in the South Africa was Khoisan. This language was spoken
Language is a system of representation that enables us to encode and convey meaning through the production and combination of signs. (Neves, 2011) Multilingualism can, therefore, be described as a person’s capability to maintain and practice two or more languages in an environment. This concept is quite commonly seen throughout South Africa as there is a total of eleven official languages. These languages are critical in today’s youth as they are exposed to a culturally diverse society which enables
After British found out there were much mineral in South Africa, so British decided to fought with Germany, called Boer Battle. After took over Germany, British colonize South Africa for more than fifty years. During these years, South Africa change a lot, especially in Food, language, political system and clothing. First of all, food has very big changes. Before the Europeans came to South Africa, South Africans even do not often have poultry for meal, they often hunt the wild animals for meal
South Africa is a nation with a wonderful and varied culture. This country has been called “The Rainbow Nation”, a name that reflects the diversity of such amazing place. The different ethnic and cultural groups of the South Africa do, however, appreciate their own beliefs and customs. Many of these traditions, besides African culture, are influenced by European and Western heritage. The complex and diverse population of the country has made a strong impact to the various cultures. There are
“The Power of One” by Bryce Courtney is a novel that revolves around the differences between the English language and the Afrikaans language. Peekay is the protagonist who is tormented because he is the only English-spoken student in his boarding school. His inability to speak the Afrikaans language makes him a target among the boys in the school. He is often abused and tormented as they don’t not see him acceptable in their eyes. The boys call him names such as, “pisskop” and “Rooineck”
important for young South Africans for multiple reasons which include; cultural diversity and identity and prevention of globalization, for overcoming communication problems and language barriers, for enhancing cognitive ability, and in order to compensate for the inadequacies of South Africa's governing systems. All of these points will be discussed. Ensuring linguistic and cultural diversity Most of the world's languages have slowly faded from existence overtime and many languages today are also threatened
With eight million people spread across South Africa, amounting to fifteen percent of the population, the Xhosa people are a large cultural group. The Xhosa had a harsh history, full of violence and relocations across the country. Their diverse culture has a major impact on how they live their lives, and on the proper ways to perform ceremonies, such as marriage. There is also a Xhosa language, and is one of the eleven official languages of the South African people. Leaders such as Nelson Mandela
interact. This introduces us to a pidgin. A pidgin arises for the communication between two or more social groups. There is one dominant language and one less dominant. A pidgin is not aimed at learning but rather it is used as a bridge to connect people with different language backgrounds. The less dominant language is the one that develops this ‘restricted language' known as the pidgin. In historical times pidgins came about when during the colonial era there used to be situations where officials
particular language learnt as you grow up, rather than a language learned at school or as an adult (Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2013). The term mother tongue originates from conception that linguistic skills of a child are improved and shaped by the mother, but it does not mean that the language spoken by the mother would be the fundamental vernacular that the child would learn. In this essay I will argue that the mother tongue of the learners should not be the medium of instruction in all South African
CONTRASTING THE SOUTH AFRICAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM TO FINLANDS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM INTRODUCTION Education is one of the most important pillars of any country or society. It is therefore of utmost importance that all countries should have a very good educational system. In recent years the Finnish Education System has become known as one of the best education systems in the world having constantly been pitted at the top of the list of best performing systems globally in recent international tests (cf
African Cultures Africa has more than 800 languages native to its continent. African cultures are so diverse that they are different from any other culture of the world. African cultures contain many different languages. African languages range from common French to languages unheard of to most people such as Swahili. African arts are much different than American arts. Their art involves much more creative pottery, masks, and paintings. Africa has a very interesting culture. Reasons being the people
the structure of the South African’s personal lifestyle. Scholars note that colonization has had an effects on the gradual breakdown of traditional family values (8). The reason being that the Western idea of social organization has been brought into the African countries, resulting in the gradual loss of the traditional ancestral honor. Arowolo’s account on the situation stated: “there is no more respect for age; no more respect for values that we held sacrosanct in Africa; younger ones now find
incidents in Jakarta. Walmart also owned approximately 16 stores in South Korea and 85 in Germany; however, it sold off these operations in 2006 after merchandise failed to match consumer tastes, distribution and re-bagging problems arose, and strong loyalties to other brands made attracting customers difficult and expensive. Walmart’s failure: Walmart failed in several countries like Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia and South Korea mainly because they did not understand the culture of these countries
nation must have a common language, mentality, symbols, traditions, history, culture and political development, including a constitution or an ideology that will enforce governance so that there should be a division of power. South Africa seems to possess almost all of these traits, but a country with a complex history will often have a complex national identity. Identity has been a very fragile topic since apartheid and it still continues to be a problem even after South Africa has been declared as a
Introduction Culture is characterized by language, religion, food, music, arts and social norms (Zimmermann, 2012). Just from that definition, this characterizes diversity from a standpoint of cultural value, consumer behavior, and market environment. South Africa is the epitome of diversity. It is made up of a variety of other cultures that are all housed on one country. This country has 11 different ways to communicate, which is a great reason why South Africa is important in the global market. With
ecotourism, countries, such as South Africa, have grown to try to adapt to ecotou... ... middle of paper ... ...ourism Management: Using Australia and Africa as Case Studies." Retrieved 4/12/02 from: http://www.ahs.uwaterloo.ca/rec/ectour.htm 2. Moosa, Valli. (October 2001). " Celebrating the hoisting of the World Summit on Sustainable Development." Retrieved 4/13/02 from: http://www.environment.gov.za/NewsMedi…/Jowsco_11102001.ht 3. "Ecotourism in South Africa.." (nd). Retrieved 4/10/02 from:
I am from the Democratic republic of Congo. I moved to South Africa when I was 15 and lived there for 6 years. French is my first language and I speak a total of 6 languages. I want to live my mark in the world and change the perspective that most people seem to have about people from my country. I want to be able to use my experience in travelling to many countries and gaining knowledge to bring something positive to my country and inspire the youth. I want to honor my parents, particularly my father
History of South Africa South Africa is one of the most diverse, enchanting countries in the world. Officially known as the Republic of South Africa, it has a population of 52 million people, people of different origins, cultures, languages and religions. Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa; however, Cape Town is the legislative capital, Pretoria the administrative capital and Bloemfontein is the judicial capital. South Africa has 11 official languages, nine of which are domestic. Many
January 9th, 2017 "Music is a vital aspect of the daily lives of people throughout sub-Saharan Africa." In their book, "World Music: A Global Journey", Miller and Andrew recognized that music is the epitome of Africa as it represents a great sense of culture and identity. Therefore, the act of altering, or influencing the music of Africa can be likened to the obliteration of African culture and identity. Solomon O. Ikibe, a professor at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria