My journey with my mother tongue Afrikaans – Samantha in Year 8 writes about why Afrikaans is important to her and how learning the language expands her horizons. For the benefit of Linguistica readers, she has also translated her article – see underneath.
Afrikaans is ‘n Germaanse taal, dit kom van Nederlands af en word gepraat in Suid-Afrika en ander lande daar naby, byvoorbeeld Namibia en Botswana. Dit word ook gepraat in lande soos Australië, Zimbabwe en Nieu-Seeland en ook oral oor die wêreld. In totaal praat amper drie en twintig miljoen mense Afrikaans wêreldwyd. Daar is elf amptelike tale in Suid-Afrika, maar baie dialekte word ook gebruik. Zulu is die mees gesproke, met elf miljoen [11.58 miljoen]. Volgende is Xhosa, met agt miljoen [8.15 miljoen] mense wat dit praat. Afrikaans word gepraat deur ses miljoen mense [6.85 miljoen] – die derde mees gesproke van die elf tale. 13.5% van die populasie praat Afrikaans, baie mense gebruik dit as ‘n tweede taal ook, in plaas van hulle eerste taal.
Die meeste mense in Suid-Afrika praat verskeie tale, party mense praat selfs al elf amptelike tale! Dit is baie belangrik om te probeer om meer as een taal praat; tale is opbouend en inspirerend. Dit bevorder samesyn en verhoudings. Omdat ek Afrikaans is kan ek baie meer van die kulture geniet; ek kan met ander Afrikaanse mense praat, na liedjies luister en ek kan leer in en van Afrikaans. Ek is so bly om ook baie Suid-Afrikaanse rol modele te hê soos Nelson Mandela en Desmond Tutu. Dit is dieselfde met ander tale en is hoekom ons almal moet aan hou om ons tale te deel.
Om ‘n tweede taal te kan praat is wonderlik. Dit beteken baie vir mense wanneer jy met hulle in hulle eie taal kan praat. As jy die moeite doen om met iemand te kommunikeer in die taal waarmee hy gemaklik is, wys dit vir die ander mens hoe baie jy vir hulle omgee. Jy kan meer leer van die persoon want hulle sal beter kan kommunikeer en emosies wys. Dit is nie net die skoonheid van so omgee nie, maar om die moeite te doen om met iemand anders te praat in hulle gekose taal, wys dat jy omgee en met hulle wil praat. Selfs as jy net ‘n paar woorde leer is dit baie mooi, maar om ‘n taal ten volle te kan gebruik is net ongelooflik! Daar is so baie van ‘n taal wat jou kan help, dit maak jou nie net meer intellektueel nie maar dit het ook ‘n paar fisiologiese voordele. Wanneer jy ‘n tweede taal leer, groei die dele van jou brein wat met taal te doen het, dit beteken jou eerste of selfs tweede taal sal ook verbeter. Narvorsing toon dat mense wat tweetalig is vinniger van een taak na ‘n ander taak kan oorskakel. Hulle kan ook by nuwe omstandighede aanpas.
Afrikaans is ‘n baie beskrywende taal, daar is so baie voordele daaraan om dit te kan praat. Suid-Afrika is een van die mooiste plekke op die aarde. Die mense is almal so wonderlik en vriendelik met almal en die land is ongelooflik. Suid-Afrika word die Reënboognasie genoem, so genoem deur Desmond Tutu. Dit is ‘n metafoor vir die samehorigheid en diversiteit van al die mense van Suid-Afrika.
Translation:
Afrikaans is a Germanic language, which developed from Dutch and is spoken in South Africa and other places nearby, for example Namibia or Botswana. It is also spoken by expat communities in places such as Australia, Zimbabwe and New Zealand as well as all over the world. In total, almost twenty three million people speak Afrikaans worldwide. There are eleven official languages in South Africa, but there are many dialects also used. Zulu is the most spoken, with eleven million [11.58 million]. Next is Xhosa, with eight million [8.15 million] people who speak it. Afrikaans is spoken by six million people [6.85] – the third most widely spoken of the eleven languages. 13.5% of the population speak Afrikaans, many people using it as a second language, instead of their first one.
Most people in South Africa speak many languages, some people even speak all eleven of the official languages! It is very important to try and speak more than one language. Languages are uplifting and inspiring. It promotes togetherness and relationships. Because I am Afrikaans, I can enjoy a lot of the culture along with it; I can speak to other Afrikaans people, I can listen to songs and I can learn about Afrikaans in the language. I am also so happy to have many South African role models such as Nelson Mandel and Desmond Tutu. It is the same with other languages and is a reason why we should all continue to learn and speak different languages.
To be able to speak a second language is wonderful. It means a lot to people when you can speak to them in their own language. If you put in the effort to communicate in the language with which a person is comfortable, you show the other person how much you care for them. You can learn more about a person because they will be able to communicate better and they will be able to show emotion. To put in the effort to speak to someone else in their chosen language shows you care and want to speak to them. Even if you only know a few words, it is very good to know a whole language and to be able to use it is just incredible! There is so much of a language that can help you. Not only does it make you more intelligent, it also has physiological advantages. Research shows that people who are bilingual can switch more quickly from one task to another, they can also adapt more easily to new circumstances.
Afrikaans is a very descriptive language. There are so many advantages in being able to speak it. South Africa is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. The people are all so wonderful and friendly to everyone and the country is unbelievable. Desmond Tutu called South Africa the Rainbow Nation. It is a metaphor for the togetherness and diversity of all the people in South Africa.