Three languages you should learn in Ekurhuleni
Today, February 21 is recognised as International Mother Language Day; with this in mind here are three languages anyone living in Ekurhuleni should learn.
AFRIKAANS
Afrikaans is one of the official languages of South Africa. It is a West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and, to a lesser extent, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
It is an offshoot of several Dutch dialects spoken by the mainly Dutch settlers of what is now South Africa, where it gradually began to develop independently in the course of the 18th century.
Historically, it is a daughter language of Dutch, and was previously referred to as ‘Cape Dutch’ (a term also used to refer collectively to the early Cape settlers) or ‘kitchen Dutch’ (a derogatory term used to refer to Afrikaans in its earlier days).
The language is used by most of the towns in the East Rand, however, it is most dominant in the following areas; Boksburg, Brakpan, Springs and Alberton.
Other areas where the language is popular are, Kempton Park, Germiston and Benoni.
NORTHERN SOTHO
Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa Leboa, also known by the name of its standardised dialect Sepedi) is a first language for over four million South Africans.
To be exact, according to the 2011 census it was the first language of 4,618,576 people in South Africa, principally in the provinces of Limpopo, Gauteng and Mpumalanga.
Urban varieties of Northern Sotho, such as Pretoria Sotho (actually a derivative of Tswana), have acquired clicks in an ongoing process of the spread of such sounds from Nguni languages[citation needed]. The spiritual father of Bapedi is King Sekhukhune who lived from 1814 to 1882.
Unlike other townships in Gauteng, Northern Sotho is the most commonly used language in Ekurhuleni. Townships such as Tembisa are an example of how popular the language is.
ZULU
Zulu or isiZulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority (over 95 per cent) of whom live in South Africa.
Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa (24 per cent of the population) as well as being understood by over 50 per cent of the population (Ethnologue 2005). It became one of South Africa’s eleven official languages in 1994.
Isizulu is a popular language in Kwa Thema and Duduza, the two townships near Springs.
Source: Wikipedia
