Saving South Africa's first language


Katrina Esau teaching a class in Upington, Northern Cape

Language is one of the many ways we identify ourselves by and is an important part of who we are and where we have come from. Languages are often the first to go however when people move to a new place or when meeting new people. Often times, however, forgetting your native tongue is forced on to you and are punished for speaking it. Katrina Esau is fighting to keep her native tough alive. When the Dutch arrived in South Africa they new language they introduced was Afrikaans. Many people were punished if they were caught speaking their native language Nluu which is also known as Bushmen. Due to the years of negativity surrounding the language, many have abandoned their history and only speak Afrikaans. Katrina who is 84 is only one of 3 people who still today understand their native language. Her two sisters who are in their 90s also speak Nluu. She is determined to teach the language to the next generation because she does not want it to die out. She has worked with scholars to create an alphabet and grammar to keep the language assessable for future generations. Many of the students want to learn their native language because it will connect them to a part of themselves and their ancestors. Right now they are also fighting to have Nluu and other native languages marked as an official language in South Africa.  

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-39935150

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Forgotten History: Congo House

Image
Reverend William Huges who lived in Congo from 1882-85 when his health started to fail wanted to do more for the people he meet during his time in the Congo. He wanted to give the kids who he meets there a better chance at life and to improve the lives of those after them. When he returned to Wales in 1885 he did just that. He brought with him KinKasa and Nkana and they were know as the Congo boys. Reverend Huges idea was to create a training institute that would teach the brights and more promising students from Africa in law and medicine. Then would they return back to Africa to teach more students what they had learned and better those students in the education they had received. He did not like the idea of white missionaries going to Africa to teach these young people especially since he believed that these students were just as bright but lacked the same opportunities given to him and fellow white man. His institute brought students from all over Africa including Cameroo
Read more

Education in Nigeria

Often times when we see international students here in the US and even on our campus, we often ask why are they here? what brought them all this way just to go to school? Well after reading this article on the education system of Nigeria it is no wonder why more students are not seeking education outside of their country. The government posted a statement saying that the teachers who were given a test were expected to pass with a 75% score or better. Sadly they said that 66% of the teachers were unable to make these scores. Many officials vowed to make a change and redo the whole system and only hire qualified teachers. The teachers however and those who are working at these schools were not happy with these results. They said that this was the 3 test that year that they had to take and the government is not being fair with the results and are only posting only what makes the teachers look bad. There is the bigger issue with that many teachers do not want to be teachers and find it har
Read more

Refugee Displacement

Image
Since 2015 Cameroon has been accused of forcibly returning 100,000 Nigerians back to their homeland. Many of these refugees have been fleeing Islamist violence. Ther are accused of beating people and sexually exploiting the women. Cameroon has claimed that many of the refugees that are coming in are actually part of Boko Haram. They blame the refugees for the attacks brought on by the Boko Haram and distrust any refugees that come in. The Boko Haram is a militant Islamic group that has been waiting for terror all over heavily populated town throughout Africa. Their goal is to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state. The UN has also commented on the situation and criticized the treatment the soldiers have treated the refugees. The Boko Haram is a big treat in Africa and many of these refugees are displaced because of their actions. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13809501 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-41413312
Read more