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The Afrikaans Language

LTC Team — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 09:58:12 +0000

Afrikaans is one of the modern antique spoken languages in South Africa. What makes this language so unique?

Afrikaans is the first language of most Afrikaner and Coloured people of Southern Africa. It is a West Germanic Language and it is spoken in South Africa, Namibia, and to a lesser extent, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Afrikaans is South Africa’s third mother tongue; it is spoken by fifteen percent of the population. There are more people that speak Afrikaans as their mother tongue. Only nine percent of the South Africans speak English as their native language.

Approximately 95% of the words from Afrikaans comes from the Dutch language. Modern Dutch and Afrikaans share over 90 percent of their vocabulary. Afrikaans speakers are able to learn Dutch within a comparatively short time. Native Dutch speakers pick up written Afrikaans even more quickly, due to its simplified grammar, whereas understanding spoken Afrikaans might need more effort. Afrikaans was first called ‘’Kaap-Hollands’’ which means ‘’Cape-Holland’’ before it changed to Afrikaans. There are about 10 million native speakers. The language has not only influence from Holland but also English, German, Low Saxon, Scottish and Yiddish.

South African Flag

In 1682 the first signs of people speaking Afrikaans were reported when a Dutch East India Company official from the Netherlands complained about a ‘’distorted and incomprehensible’’ version of Dutch being spoken around modern-day Paarl. In the nineteenth century the language was widely spoken in the Cape by both white and coloured people, but was looked down on by the elite.

In 1925 Afrikaans was recognized as one of the official languages of South Africa. To remind the people of this event, they build a statue called the Afrikaans Language Monument at Paarl in 1975. This is one of the two statues that is dedicated to the language; you can find the other statue, the Dutch Language Monument, in Burgersdorp in the Eastern Cape. The Afrikaans Language Monument is a 45 minute drive from Cape Town. They built the statue on a hill and it offers a beautiful view over the Western Cape.

A funny detail to this monument: When you pass Paarl, you officially enter the ‘boerewors gordyn’, as the locals call it. This means that the language you hear after you passed this ‘border’, it’s probably Afrikaans. When you are at the language monument, you must check the quotation from the poet N.P. van Wyk Louw.

‘’Afrikaans is die taal wat vir Wes-Europa en Afrika verbind… Dit vorm ‘n brug tussen die groot helder Weste en die magiese Afrika… En wat daar groots aan hulle vereniging kan ontspruit – dit is miskien wat vir Afrikaans voorlê om te ontdek. Maar wat ons nooit moet vergeet nie, is dat hierdie verandering van land en landskap as’t ware aan die nuwe wordende taal geslyp, geknee, gebrei het… En so het Afrikaans in staat geword om hierdie nuwe land uit te sê… Ons taak lê in die gebruik wat ons maak en sal maak van hierdie glansende werktuig…”

What means:

‘’ Afrikaans is the language that connects Western Europe and Africa … It forms a bridge between the large, bright West and magical West Africa … And what great things spring from this union – which is perhaps something to discover for Afrikaans. But what we must never forget is that this change of land and landscape as it were, cut the new language, has kneaded and knitted … And so Afrikaans been able to express this new land … Our task is in the use we make of this shiny tool, and will make … “

When the National Party took power in 1948, its apartheid policy went hand in hand with promoting the interests of its Afrikaans-speaking supporters. Because of this the Soweto uprising arose in 1976, when the government tried to force Afrikaans as a required subject in African schools. During this time, the repression of the 1970s and 1980s and the forced removals under the Group Areas Act, made a lot of African people to rather speak English than Afrikaans.

Are you interested in learning the Afrikaans language? LTC – Language Teaching Centre, is the place for you! Contact us and we will get in touch with you as soon as possible.

The secret to learning a new language successfully

LTC Team — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 09:46:01 +0000

Want to know the secret to making your attempt at learning a new language more successful? Want to find out what will keep you motivated and learn much faster? Well, that secret is…confidence.

“Confidence comes from not always being right, but from not fearing to be wrong.”

-Peter T. Mcintyre

Yes, that secret might not seem like much, and may come across as more of a disappointment, but if there is one thing you can do to fast-track your language learning it is being confident. Your success depends on your level of confidence. It may sound obvious, but it isn’t actually. Confidence is the biggest hurdle anyone who is trying to learn a new language has in the beginning. Languages are about talking to people, putting yourself in situations where you might not feel very comfortable. If you lack the confidence , you will never truly be able to speak the language you are learning properly.

It doesn’t matter whether you make mistakes or that not everyone you talk to reacts positively. All that matters is that you are out there trying your best with what you know – and ultimately learning from your mistakes.

“Belief in oneself and one’s powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance; assurance”
– Webster’s New Universal.

Once you start believing in your abilities and start saying you “speak” a language rather than that you are “learning” a language, your learning will speed up. As a result, you will focus less on what you are getting wrong and start focussing more on what you are getting right. Just keep at it – the more you speak, the less you will worry. Remember that any progress is good and means you are getting better at the language. Perfection isn’t nearly as important as believing in yourself.

Once you are confident, you will start thinking about correcting your mistakes. Yes, some native speakers will correct you, but that’s how you learn! No need to be embarrassed.

Learning a language by yourself is taxing – and usually unsuccessful. Most people quit once they hit a speedbump in their learning. But taking a Language Course in Cape Town with the Language Teaching Centre (LTC), you are not alone! At LTC you are encouraged to work hard and strive to learn the language you have chosen. With the help of our highly qualified teachers, you will be taught in a nurturing and positive environment where you will be encouraged to try your best. You don’t have to struggle by yourself – let the Language Teaching Centre help you.

Sound like a native speaker with idioms

LTC Team — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 14:17:40 +0000

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, an idiom is: “A group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words.”

The main difference between a fluent speaker and someone who is learning a language is obvious: the fluent speaker knows how to use idioms.

Every language has a “flavour” such as the words, jokes, and phrases that can’t really be translated into another language. These aspects of a language play a big part in the personalities of native speakers of a specific language.

An example is Italian. It is a language packed with beautiful food-related idioms to express joy, problems, and so much more in daily life – most of which can’t be translated literally into another language. The word “abbiocco” is used to describe the contented and sleepy feeling one gets after a nice big meal. The closest phrase to this in the English language is a “food coma” which means being so full you can barely move. Or the phrase “Non tutte le ciambelle riescono col buco”, which directly translates as “not all doughnuts come out with a hole”. This means that something doesn’t turn out as you expect it to. An English speaker would instead say “there’s more than one way to skin a cat” which is similar to the Italian phrase.

Another example comes from Portuguese. The word “apaixonar” describes the moment just before someone declares their love to another. It is a verb, the actual act of falling in love. The closest word in English to this is “impassioned” but compared to the meaning “apaixonar” has, it is quite bland.

These words and idioms mirror the culture of the language they originate from. While Italian uses phrases that have to do with food, English speakers are much more likely to use idioms that offer disturbing images for comic effect. This reflects the dark humour of the British.

Using idioms that are unique to a specific culture is a huge part of your cultural identity. As someone learning another language, the quicker you understand – and begin to use the idioms of the language you are learning – the faster you will be able to have meaningful conversations with a native speaker.

But not to worry, you won’t have to do this all by yourself, the Language Teaching Centre (LTC) is here to help. LTC gives students from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds the opportunity to learn and engage with other diverse students and learn and discover more about each other’s languages and cultures. Study English in Cape Town, or Portuguese, Spanish, Xhosa, Zulu, German, Mandarin, French, Arabic, and Afrikaans. So do it – take a Language Course in Cape Town at the Language Teaching Centre. You won’t regret it!

Mistakes to avoid when learning a language

LTC Team — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 06:30:56 +0000

Don’t let these mistakes get in the way when you learn a new language, learn to avoid or overcome them and you are guaranteed to succeed! Here are the biggest mistakes to avoid when learning a language.

Fear of making a mistake

You might enjoy writing and reading in a different language, but when it comes to speaking it, you freeze up. No matter your level of confidence in general, the fear of making a fool of yourself when trying to speak a different language is very real. This almost irrational fear happens to the best of us, even Barack Obama freezes up when having to speak a foreign language.

The key to avoiding this mistake is just to push through your fears. It’s especially the anticipation of speaking a foreign language that gets to you, and just by pushing through that fear each time you will eventually feel confident enough not to dread speaking a different language. The more you speak the faster you learn. Force yourself to speak as much as possible in the language you are learning, and watch yourself flourish.

Not being open to other cultures

Don’t approach learning a new language with a closed mind, as this will show in your progress. To learn a language you need to live the language.

This means embracing its people, culture, and ways. If you are immersed and interested in the culture of the language you are learning you will be motivated to learn more – and faster. Immerse yourself as much as possible – you might even end up enjoying it!

Not listening

If you find that you regularly fall into the trap of not listening to what a foreign speaker is saying the chances are high that it is connected to your fear of making a mistake.

Many people get so caught up in needing to annunciate properly and use the correct grammar that they forget to actually listen to what the person is saying. This is actually much worse as you are more likely to say something irrelevant or be thrown off if they say something you weren’t expecting.

Making it insurmountable

Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. If you make learning a language seem insurmountable, your brain will shut down and you will be unable to learn anything. You need to see learning a language as a marathon – not a sprint. Break your learning down into manageable chunks and achievable goals. Everyone learning a language starts out somewhere.

Don’t assume that other people are more intelligent than you because they speak 2 or 3 languages. All of them have gone through the frustrating process of learning and making mistakes. But they did not give up. So neither should you. Learning a new language is definitely achievable with the right tools and a healthy attitude.

The Language Teaching Centre (LTC)

One of those tools is the Language Teaching Centre (LTC). A language school in Cape Town, LTC gives you all you need to be able to learn a new language properly and easily. The Language Teaching Centre not only gives you the opportunity to learn new languages but also lets you engage with other students from different cultures and backgrounds. We even offer excursions about twice a week which are there to help students discover the beautiful city we live in. The breathtaking view of Table Mountain and the harbour will inspire you to tackle the task of learning a new language with vigour. Take a language course in Cape Town at the Language Teaching centre today and see yourself flourish.