POLOKWANE – Mabunda has received awards over the years, both internally and externally. She takes pride in the work that she does with the Xitsonga language and has over the years taken many learners with no prior experience in Xitsonga under her wing and given them a good Xitsonga final mark.
She shared that her passion for teaching Xitsonga stems from her own personal experience as a learner with no history of Xitsonga moving to Giyani where Xitsonga was a prerequisite.
“My mother was Sepedi and my father spoke Xitsonga. I grew up speaking Sepedi until we moved to Giyani where I had to learn Xitsonga. I recall the challenges that I faced in transitioning and I wanted to be able to help learners who are in the same shoes as I was,” she explained.
She took from her own personal experience and used it to help formulate a teaching style that brings results. As a result of her passion, in 2000, she found herself teaching Xitsonga in two different local schools – Flora Park Comprehensive High School and Capricorn High School.
“I was volunteering to teach Xitsonga at Capricorn High School and introduced it as a subject,” she said.
She explained that her secret to producing good results is that she gives learners who are struggling extra time and patience.
“I try to put myself in their shoes. Learners must love the subject and it must be understandable. I also tell the learners that if you hate a teacher, you will hate the subject and you won’t perform well,” she said.
Mabunda is also an author with many Xitsonga publications under her belt. She also does translation work and shared that there is nothing that irks her more that seeing Xitsonga mistranslated or written incorrectly.
“One of the main things is to be passionate. Love the language and parents must also be supportive of the child’s journey to learning Xitsonga. They must love and be proud of being Vatsonga because the learners feed on the pride that their parents have,” she concluded.
