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Abstract

g/wiki/Venda_language"> Venda (Tshivenda)</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsonga_language">Tsonga (Xitsonga)</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swazi_language">Swati (SiSwati)</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ndebele_language">Ndebele (IsiNdebele)</a>.</p><p id="598c">Personally, I speak Sepedi, which is my native language, then English (fluent), Setswana (80% fluent), Sesotho (70% fluent), Zulu and SiSwati (50% fluent). My level of comprehension for the other languages is quite high, it is the same for most of the black population of South Africa.</p><p id="1bd7">There are people who speak all the languages and there are a lot of them, especially people who travel across the country like athletes, artists, and businesspeople. The points hit home better when you listen to music, be it rap, or pop, and it becomes clear that South Africans are naturals.</p><h2 id="833b">Can you try?</h2><p id="6814">Image yourself as an English native speaking all the languages in the Romance language family. Before someone says that English is part of the Germanic language family and not Romance, I know. The thing is that English is closer to languages in the Romance language family that it is to Germanic's. Even though English is officially classified under the Germanic language family due to its roots,<a href="https://blog.mangolanguages.com/are-the-romance-languages-really-more-romantic

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-and-other-important-questions"> most people agree that it should be part of the Romance family with French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian because of similarities.</a></p><p id="7212">The point was to imagine yourself speaking English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian, the same way South Africans are able to speak different Bantu languages of South Africa. Subtracting English and Afrikaans, there are nine Bantu languages of South Africa. This does not only apply to South Africa, so is Zimbabwe and other African countries.</p><h2 id="9426">Lyrics analysis</h2><p id="bb8d">Here is a snippet from a song by <a href="https://twitter.com/KwestaDaKAR?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Kwesta</a> featuring <a href="https://twitter.com/casspernyovest?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Cassper Nyovest</a>. The following verse was done by Cassper, a Tswana native, that is why most of the song is in Setswana. There is a lot of English too because it is the main mode of communication in the country. There is Zulu which is underrepresented compared to how many people that speak it. Afrikaans also appears, which s a norm for Pretorian slang (Pretoria is the capital of SA).</p><figure id="7b96"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*UixfDq7EFeSFRADWthipOg.jpeg"><figcaption>Image by author</figcaption></figure></article></body>

People speak eleven official languages, but how?

Imagine yourself speaking three languages.

I am a South African, and we typically speak about four to five languages and understand as much as all the eleven official languages. It is not rare for a person to mix three or more languages in one sentence, in fact it is so common that we that every day. Our languages are as follows: English, Afrikaans, Zulu (IsiZulu), Xhosa (IsiXhosa), Pedi (Sepedi), Sotho (Sesotho), Tswana (Setswana), Venda (Tshivenda), Tsonga (Xitsonga), Swati (SiSwati) and Ndebele (IsiNdebele).

Personally, I speak Sepedi, which is my native language, then English (fluent), Setswana (80% fluent), Sesotho (70% fluent), Zulu and SiSwati (50% fluent). My level of comprehension for the other languages is quite high, it is the same for most of the black population of South Africa.

There are people who speak all the languages and there are a lot of them, especially people who travel across the country like athletes, artists, and businesspeople. The points hit home better when you listen to music, be it rap, or pop, and it becomes clear that South Africans are naturals.

Can you try?

Image yourself as an English native speaking all the languages in the Romance language family. Before someone says that English is part of the Germanic language family and not Romance, I know. The thing is that English is closer to languages in the Romance language family that it is to Germanic's. Even though English is officially classified under the Germanic language family due to its roots, most people agree that it should be part of the Romance family with French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian because of similarities.

The point was to imagine yourself speaking English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian, the same way South Africans are able to speak different Bantu languages of South Africa. Subtracting English and Afrikaans, there are nine Bantu languages of South Africa. This does not only apply to South Africa, so is Zimbabwe and other African countries.

Lyrics analysis

Here is a snippet from a song by Kwesta featuring Cassper Nyovest. The following verse was done by Cassper, a Tswana native, that is why most of the song is in Setswana. There is a lot of English too because it is the main mode of communication in the country. There is Zulu which is underrepresented compared to how many people that speak it. Afrikaans also appears, which s a norm for Pretorian slang (Pretoria is the capital of SA).