About the Afrikaans Language. The Afrikaans language is one of South Africa's official languages and a large proportion of the local population uses it as their first or second language. ... Some believe that Afrikaans is a dying language , however, it remains spoken all over the country and respected for its origins.
Is Afrikaans growing in South Africa?
According to Connie Mulder, head of the Solidarity Research Institute, the overall conclusion of their research is that the number of Afrikaans-speaking people in South Africa in general, and of white Afrikaans-speaking people specifically, is increasing . ...
Is Afrikaans an endangered language?
According to the experts, a total of seven languages in South Africa can be classed as ‘endangered'. However, Afrikaans is noticeably missing from this list . The dialects in trouble of falling out of favour for good include local, little-known language sets.
Is Afrikaans important in South Africa?
The Afrikaans language is one of South Africa's official languages and a large proportion of the local population uses it as their first or second language. It is still taught in schools. Afrikaans has a fascinating history of its own, and a heritage and culture that are deeply entwined in its character.
Is Afrikaans a useful language?
If you're worried that your ability to learn foreign languages might not be up to par, this is a great language to begin with. While it might sound exotic, you shouldn't be fooled by the name. Afrikaans is actually quite simple to learn , and many language learners consider it one of the easiest languages to master.
Who speaks Afrikaans?
| Afrikaans | Native to South Africa, Namibia | Ethnicity Afrikaners Basters Cape Coloureds Cape Malay Griqua | Native speakers 7.2 million (2016) 10.3 million L2 speakers in South Africa (2002) | Language family Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Weser-Rhine Germanic Low Franconian Dutch (Hollandic dialect) Afrikaans |
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Are Afrikaans white?
| Province | Mpumalanga | Afrikaners | 164,620 | % Afrikaners | 83.5% | All whites | 197,078 |
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Are Afrikaners and Boers the same?
The Boers, also known as Afrikaners, were the descendants of the original Dutch settlers of southern Africa . ... In 1833, the Boers began an exodus into African tribal territory, where they founded the republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State.
Is Afrikaans music popular in South Africa?
Afrikaans music is currently one of the most popular and best selling industries on the South African music scene.
What is the hardest language to learn?
- Mandarin. Number of native speakers: 1.2 billion. ...
- Icelandic. Number of native speakers: 330,000. ...
- 3. Japanese. Number of native speakers: 122 million. ...
- Hungarian. Number of native speakers: 13 million. ...
- Korean. ...
- Arabic. ...
- Finnish. ...
- Polish.
How do you talk in Afrikaans?
Afrikaans is actually quite simple to learn , and many language learners consider it one of the easiest languages to master. Most Germanic languages have two or even three genders, but Afrikaans, like English, uses a singular gender.
Is Afrikaans a compulsory subject?
In 1974, the Minister of Bantu Education and Development issued a decree commonly known as the “Afrikaans medium decree” in which the use of both English and Afrikaans was made compulsory in black secondary schools .
Who spoke Afrikaans first?
Afrikaans language, also called Cape Dutch, West Germanic language of South Africa, developed from 17th-century Dutch , sometimes called Netherlandic, by the descendants of European (Dutch, German, and French) colonists, indigenous Khoisan peoples, and African and Asian slaves in the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good ...
Is German a dying language?
Much too many people speak German as a native language, and the fact that it's an Indoeuropean language makes it less likely to die out. ... Right, so the language isn't dying , but it has definitely changed. According to Thomas Steinfeld, German is an invention of the late 1800s.
How old is the language Afrikaans?
It can be traced all the way back to the 16 th century when Dutch seafarers sailed to South Africa and met the Khoi-Khoi – an indigenous people of Southwestern Africa whose Khoisan languages are now almost extinct.
