Stellenbosch University Language Centre

Category: Multilingualism

Language learning at Language Centre opens doors for internationalisation

SU uses the concept of internationalisation at home to enhance the integration of local students with visiting students from other countries. This approach gives the Language Centre an opportunity to leverage its ability to create value from a service delivery perspective, and collaborate on global initiatives. We’re sharing a few of our language learning initiatives from the first semester of 2023 below:

The closing ceremony with the INP-HB Côte D’Ivoire group, who did a five-week Business English immersion course with the Language Centre’s English portfolio

Ivory Coast students immerse themselves in English with the Language Centre

A group of 23 master’s students from the National Institute of Polytechnics Félix Houphouët Boigny in Côte D’Ivoire completed an intensive five-week Business English immersion course with the Language Centre’s English portfolio during May and June. The English portfolio collaborated with SU International and Dr Nico Elema, director of Centre for Collaboration in Africa (CCA) to realise this event. This short-term programme is the first-ever non-degree Africa mobility event to take place through the CCA and SU International, and there is hope for more initiatives like these. A video was made to capture the students’ experiences.

Fresh cohorts of Parisian students visit the Language Centre to improve their academic English

A group of 280 students from the SKEMA business school in Paris completed the English for Academic purposes (EAP) course offered by the Language Centre’s English portfolio in the first semester.

A second group of students is expected to attend another EAP semester course in the second half of the year. The collaboration with the SKEMA business school is a valuable way for SU to enlarge its global footprint and deliver high-quality service to international partners.

SKEMA students completing their EAP writing exams

IEP students on an excursion to the SU Botanical Gardens

Intensive English Programme draws students from all over the world

The Intensive English Programme (IEP) focuses on improving students’ English reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. It is presented in blocks of eight weeks across six levels, from beginner to advanced. The English portfolio’s current intake of multilingual students for the IEP are from China, Congo, DRC, Gabon, Sweden, Turkey, Germany, Chile, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Angola and Libya. A unique feature of the programme is the fortnightly outings, which give students the opportunity to communicate and connect with each other outside the classroom.

Visiting students from Georgia, USA, learn Afrikaans and isiXhosa during their stay

A group of 16 students visiting from the University of Georgia in the United States of America learnt basic isiXhosa and Afrikaans alongside their studies at SU in seven sessions for each language during the first semester of 2023 with the Language Centre. They learnt to speak basic Afrikaans and gained more insight into Afrikaans culture as well. At first the students struggled a bit with pronounciation in isiXhosa, but as time went on, they grasped the isiXhosa terms they needed to communicate around Stellenbosch. They were particularly interested in South African culture and also asked for music recommendations. “When introduced to some songs, their faces lit up because they have a heard snippets of the songs and they now had a better explanation of what they meant,” isiXhosa facilitator Stembele Johnson explains.

Students visiting from the University of Georgia in the United States of America

Beginner Afrikaans level 1 students with their lecturer, Dr Vernita Beukes (3rd from left)

Exchange students from all over the world choose to learn Afrikaans while visiting SU

During the first semester of 2023, students from England, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, the United States of America and Dubai attended the Beginner Afrikaans level 1 module offered by the Language Centre through SU International’s GEP offering. By the end of the module students were able to have basic conversations in Afrikaans with conversational partners all over Stellenbosch.

Afrikaans Culture Course for Dutch-speaking students highlight language connection

The Afrikaanse taal- en kultuurkursus vir Nederlandssprekendes, part of SU International’s GEP offering, had a very successful intake in the first semester and the Language Centre hopes to welcome a group of new students in the second semester.

The aim of the course is for the students not only to discover the wonderful differences (and similarities) between Afrikaans and Dutch, but also to experience the rich culture of the diverse Afrikaans-speaking community.

Topics such as identity, history, music and literature form part of discussions, and outings to places such as the Afrikaanse Taalmonument or a visit from Tribel Echo’s Frazer Barry give these students a unique experience of Afrikaans language and culture.

Dutch-speaking students on an excursion visiting the Afrikaanse Taalmonument

Five of the students wearing some traditional attire during a field trip to Kayamandi

International students eager to learn isiXhosa

The IsiXhosa Language and Culture module, also part of SU International’s GEP offering, is a semester course aimed at international students offered by the Language Centre. Most of the students who attended the offering in the first semester of 2023 were busy with postgraduate studies and some have been in South Africa for a year already. They were eager and excited to learn about the Xhosa culture, and participated well, attending most of their lectures and submitting their work on time. They wanted to explore Cape Town and use vocabulary they have acquired in class.

The course concluded with a field trip by Nocawe Holdings in Kayamandi. This included a tour of Kayamandi, a spread of African food, an opportunity to dress up in Xhosa attire and sing some Xhosa songs, and hearing more about Nocawe’s upbringing and context. Field trips like these help students gain insight into more aspects of the South African context.

More SU staff members learning isiXhosa

The Masabelane isiXhosa course for SU staff is becoming ever more popular on campus. Many staff members are eager to learn isiXhosa to communicate with their colleagues and others. There were two full intakes during the first semester of 2023, both entirely booked by University divisions or departments. Colleagues attended and submitted their work enthusiastically, but also felt that they still needed more time to learn the language.

Staff members attending the Masabelane isiXhosa course hard at work learning isiXhosa

Staff members attending the Masabelane isiXhosa course hard at work learning isiXhosa

Due to work commitments, participating staff members find it difficult to fully commit and attend all lectures, which then results in them missing out on some lecture content. Slides accompanied by audio were provided, but learning isiXhosa face to face is different from online self-study. However, isiXhosa facilitator Stembele Johnson says that even with the challenges, colleagues acquired enough isiXhosa vocabulary and sentences to communicate.

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Teamwork makes the team work: Lecturers’ online partner in multilingualism

Some educational interpreters and lecturers they collaborate with

Success should be celebrated! Recently the Language Centre’s Interpreting Service hosted a collaboration celebration with some of the lecturers who use interpreting during their lectures.

Together we reflected on a semester of working together to create a high-quality multilingual classroom experience for students. It was the first opportunity for some lecturers to meet the interpreters with whom they’ve been working face to face – both an exciting and a strange experience!

Educational interpreting is a free service provided by the SU Language Centre’s Interpreting Service. It is available for modules that qualify according to faculties’ language implementation plans, or where there is a pedagogical need.

Students can benefit immensely from a multilingual teaching and learning space. By bringing different languages into the teaching and learning space, students are given the opportunity to approach learning material from different perspectives and to find the way that resonates best with their learning style. It also allows for more voices to be heard in an authentic way. Therefore, it is critically important for lecturers to understand how educational interpreting on our campus works and how to use it, and to encourage students to make use of it.

Accordingly, interpreting on our campus can be useful and meaningful in many more situations than only where students do not understand the language in which a lecturer presents a lecture. Students sometimes prefer listening to the lectures in Afrikaans for the first few weeks after the commencement of lectures because they may be unsure about the English and the subject terminology.

When they listen to the whole lecture in Afrikaans in real time, it helps them with the transition from school to university. As Dr Christine Steenkamp (Physics) puts it:

In cases where students stop making use of interpreting after a month or two, we don’t see it as meaning that the interpreting was unsuccessful. It might actually mean that it worked, because the transition has taken place and the student can move on confidently.”

Some of the benefits of interpreting for lecturers were also highlighted during the event. Prof Hermann Swart (Psychology) explained that it was invaluable to him to know that he has an online partner who can deal with the Afrikaans so that he can be at his best when he lectures in English. It is a shared goal of lecturer, interpreter and student to include the preferred language of more students in the class, and the fact that he can depend on interpreters to convey the content in Afrikaans to students who understand it better in Afrikaans or simply prefer it in Afrikaans, contributes to his being able to relax more.

Remerta Basson (Financial Accounting) mentioned how impressed she was with the interpreters’ knowledge of subject terminology, and the authentic and natural manner in which they conveyed the content in the interpreted lectures.

Thanks to the innovativeness of the technological team at the Interpreting Service, real-time online interpreting was integrated in the classrooms almost seamlessly. For the students it is as simple as putting on earphones in the classroom there and then!

You are welcome to find out more about educational interpreting by sending an email to juanli@sun.ac.za at the Interpreting Service or visiting our web page.

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Afrikadag 2023: Ons Afrika, ons toekoms

Om die vele fasette en wonder van Afrika te erken, word Meimaand aan Afrika opgedra.

Afrikadag self word op 25 Mei gevier om die stigting van die Organisasie vir Afrika-eenheid (nou bekend as die Afrika-unie), op 25 Mei 1963 te herdenk. Op hierdie dag, 60 jaar gelede, onderteken leiers van 30 van die 32 onafhanklike Afrikastate ʼn stigtingsakte in Addis Abeba, Etiopië. Daar onderneem hulle om nasiebou deur eenheid en vryheid van onderdrukking aan te moedig.

Die Taalsentrum het besluit om vandeesmaand die belangrike rol wat tolke tot dusver op die Afrika-vasteland gespeel het om taalgrense oor te steek, uit te lig – van die professionele taalkundiges en pryssangers van stamgebonde Afrika-samelewings tot hedendaagse tolke wat nasiebou fasiliteer en toegang tot dienste bewerkstellig deur in nasionale parlemente, kongresse, howe en hospitale te tolk. En natuurlik dink ons ook aan die opvoedkundige tolke wat dit moontlik maak dat universiteitslesings in Afrikaans, Engels, Xhosa en Suid-Afrikaanse Gebaretaal aangebied kan word.

Die gebruik om in Afrika van een taal na ʼn ander te tolk, het reeds duisende jare gelede ontstaan, soos dit ook elders die geval is.

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In baie Afrika-samelewings het die professionele taalkundiges of pryssangers tot ʼn lang linie begaafde meertalige oratore behoort wat pryssange op belangrike openbare geleenthede aangehef het om die oorwinnings en roem van die stamhoof en sy voorsate te besing.”

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Die orale kuns van Wes-Afrikaanse griots (sanger-digters) en Suider-Afrikaanse iimbongi (pryssangers) word tot vandag toe nog voortgesit, met die pryssangers wat as hedendaagse politieke kommentators optree.

Die verhore van die Waarheids- en Versoeningskommissie van 1996 tot 1998 was die eerste blootstelling wat menige Suid-Afrikaners aan die wonder van simultane tolking in Suid-Afrika se 11 amptelike tale gehad het. Tolke het tydens die verhore van die Waarheids- en Versoeningskommissie versoening gefasiliteer. Sedertdien het hulle gehelp om Suid-Afrika op te bou by nasionale en provinsiale wetgewers, munisipale raadsvergaderings en kongresse. Ander belangrike werkgewers vir tolke in Afrika sluit in die Afrika-unie, Pan-Afrika-parlement, UNON (die Verenigde Nasies se Kantoor in Nairobi), SADC (die Suider-Afrikaanse Ontwikkelingsgemeenskap) en die Afrika-ontwikkelingsbank.

Gebaretaaltolke is wêreldwyd bekend vir die toegang tot onderwys wat hulle vir Dowe studente fasiliteer, maar wat minder bekend is, is dat gesproketaaltolke dieselfde kan doen vir horende studente. Verskeie Suid-Afrikaanse universiteite maak universiteitslesings op hierdie manier toeganklik vir studente wat nie noodwendig so gemaklik in die taal van onderrig is nie. Aan die US werk ons opvoedkundige tolke in Afrikaans, Engels, Xhosa en Suid-Afrikaanse Gebaretaal.

Ons gee graag erkenning aan die rol wat tolking oor die jare heen gespeel het om Afrika en sy mense met mekaar te help verbind en sodoende vooruitgang te help bewerkstellig. Ons by die Taalsentrum beskou onsself as bevoorreg om deel van hierdie verhaal te wees, en ook om deel van die toekoms van Afrika te wees – ons Afrika.

As jy dalk ʼn tolk is wat in Afrika werk, deel asseblief jou ervaring met ons. E-pos ons by taalsentrum@sun.ac.za.

Bron: Wallmach, K. 2015. Africa. In Pöchhacker, F. (ed.) Encyclopaedia of Interpreting Studies. Londen: Routledge.

Blog deur Dr Kim Wallmach, Direkteur van die Taalsentrum; vertaal deur Susan Lotz

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uSuku lwe Afrika ka2023: IAfrika yethu, ikamva lethu

Inyanga kaCanzibe iqatshelwa njengenyanga yobu-Afrika.

Olona suku lobuAfrika lubhiyozelwa ngomhla wama25 kuCanzibe – kulo nyaka kuza kwenziwa isikhumbuzo seminyaka engama-60 sokusekwa koMbutho woManyano lobuAfrika (Organisation of African Unity) (ngoku owaziwa njengoMbutho wobuAfrika) owasekwa ngomhla wama-25 kuCanzibe ngo-1963. Ngolu suku, iinkokheli zamazwe angama30 kumazwe angama-32 ase-Afrika azimeleyo atyikitya umqulu e-Addis Ababa, eYutopiya, zenza isifungo sokukhuthaza ukwakhiwa kobuzwe ngendlela yomanyano nenkululeko kwingcinezelo.

Kule nyanga, iZiko leeLwimi likhethe ukugqamisa iindima ezibalulekileyo ezithe zadlalwa zitoliki kwilizwekazi i-Afrika ukukhawulelana neengxaki zokungavani ngokweelwimi, ukusuka kubasebenzi-ngeelwimi abaqeqeshiweyo neembongi zeentlanga ngeentlanga zoluntu lwaseAfrika ukuza kwiitoliki zale mihla ezichophela ukwakhiwa kobuzwe zize zibonelele ngofikelelo kwiinkonzo ngokutolika kwiipalamente zezizwe, iinkomfa, iinkundla zamatyala nezibhedlele. Kwaye, neetoliki zezemfundo ezenza kube nokwenzeka ukuba abahlohli abakwiiYunivesithi bavakale ngolwimi lwesiAfrikansi, lwesiNgesi, lwesiXhosa noLwimi lokuthetha ngeZandla loMzantsi Afrika.

Isenzo sokutolika intetho esuka kolunye ulwimi iye kolunye kwilizwekazi iAfrika, njengakuyo nayiphi na enye indawo, isusela kumawaka eminyaka eyadlulayo.

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Kuluntu oluninzi lwase-Afrika, abasebenzi-ngeelwimi abaqeqeshiweyo okanye iimbongi zazikuludwe olude lwezithethi ezinesipho sokuthetha iilwimi ezahlukahlukenyo nezazisenza imibongo kwimisitho yoluntu ebalulekileyo ukubhiyozela izenzo zoloyiso neempawu zobungangamsha kwinkosi nezinyanya zayo.”

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Ubugcisa bomlomo bee-groits (‘iimbongi zesintu’) zaseNtshona Afrika neembongi (‘praise singers’) zaseMazantsi Afrika busaqhubekeka nanamhlanje, nalapho iimbongi zisebenza njengabasasazi kwezopolitiko.

Ukuviwa kwamatyala kwiKomishoni yeNyaniso noXolelaniso (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) ukususela ngo-1996 ukuya ku-1998 kwaba lithuba lokuqala lokuba abemi boMzantsi Afrika abaninzi baqhelane nemimangaliso yokutolikwa kwentetho ngaxesha-linye nokwenziwa kwayo ngeelwimi ezilishumi elinanye ezisemthethweni zoMzantsi Afrika. Iitoliki zazichophela uxolelaniso ngelixa lokuviwa kwamatyala kwiKomishoni yeNyaniso noXolelaniso. Ukususela ngoko, ziye zaqhubekeka ngokuncedisa ekwakhiweni koMzantsi Afrika njengesizwe kuwisomthetho lwesizwe nolwamaphondo, iintlanganiso zamabhunga oomasipala neenkomfa. Abanye abaqeshi abakhulu beetoliki eAfrika baquka uMbutho wobuAfrika (African Union), iPalamente yama-Afrika oMthonyama, i-UNON (iOfisi eseNairobi yeZizwe eziManyeneyo), i-SADC (uPhuhliso loLuntu lwaseMzantsi Afrika) neBhanka yoPhuhliso lweAfrika (African Development Bank).

Kwihlabathi lonke jikelele, iitoliki zolwimi lokuthetha ngezandla zaziwa ngobuchule bokufikelela ngemfundo kubafundi abanokhubazeko lokungeva, kodwa into engaziwa kangako kukuba iitoliki zeelwimi ezithethwa ngomlomo nazo zinakho ukwenza okufanayo ngokujoliswe kubafundi abevayo. IiYunivesithi eziliqela zoMzantsi Afrika zenza ukuba izifundo zaseyunivesithi zifikeleleke kubafundi abangaziva bekhululekile kulwimi ekufundiswa ngalo. ESU, iitoliki zethu zezemfundo zisebenza ngesiAfrikansi, isiNgesi, isiXhosa noLwimi lokuthetha ngeZandla loMzantsi Afrika.

Siyayibhiyozela indima edlalwe ziitoliki kwiminyaka edlulileyo ukunceda iAfrika nabantu bayo ukuba baqhagamshelane futhi baphumelele. SiliZiko leeLwimi sizithatha njengabanenyhweba njengoko siyinxalenye yelo bali.

Ukuba uyitoliki esebenza eAfrika, nceda wabelane ngebali lakho. Sithumele i-imeyili kule dilesi taalsentrum@sun.ac.za.

Umthombo: Wallmach, K. 2015. Africa. In Pöchhacker, F. (ed.) Encyclopaedia of Interpreting Studies. London: Routledge.

NgoGqr Kim Wallmach, uMlawuli weZiko leeLwimi; ulwimi luguqulwe nguSipumeze Mrwetyana noZama Bekeweni

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Africa Day 2023: Our Africa, our future

In recognition of its wonder and multifaceted nature, the month of May is dedicated to Africa.

Africa Day itself is celebrated on 25 May – this year to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (now known as the African Union), founded on 25 May 1963. On this day, leaders of 30 of the 32 independent African states signed a founding charter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and vowed to encourage nation-building through unity and freedom from oppression.

This month, the Language Centre has chosen to highlight the important roles that interpreters have played on the African continent to overcome language barriers – from the professional linguists and praise singers of tribal African societies to the modern-day interpreters who facilitate nation-building and provide access to services by interpreting in national parliaments, conferences, courts and hospitals. And, of course, we also think of the educational interpreters who make it possible for university lectures to be understood in Afrikaans, English, isiXhosa and South African Sign Language.

The practice of interpreting from one language to another on the African continent, as elsewhere, goes back thousands of years.

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In many African societies, the professional linguists or praise singers belonged to a long line of gifted multilingual orators who devised praise songs on important public occasions to celebrate the victories and glorious qualities of the chief and his ancestors.”

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The oral art of West African griots (‘bards’) and Southern African iimbongi (‘praise singers’) continues today, with praise singers acting as modern political commentators.

The hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 1996 to 1998 marked the first opportunity for many South Africans to become acquainted with the marvels of simultaneous interpreting in the eleven official languages of South Africa. Interpreters facilitated reconciliation during the hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Since then, they have continued to help to build South Africa as a nation at national and provincial legislatures, municipal council meetings and conferences. Other major employers of interpreters in Africa include the African Union, Pan-African Parliament, UNON (the United Nations Office in Nairobi), SADC (the Southern African development community) and the African Development Bank.

All around the world, sign language interpreters are known for facilitating access to education for Deaf students, but what is less well known is that spoken language interpreters can do the same for hearing students. This way several South African universities make university lectures accessible to students who are not necessarily so comfortable in the language of teaching. At SU, our educational interpreters work in Afrikaans, English, isiXhosa and South African Sign Language.

We celebrate the role interpreting has played over the years to help Africa and its people connect and prosper. At the Language Centre we consider ourselves privileged to be part of that story, and also to be part of the future of Africa – our Africa.

If you’re an interpreter working in Africa, please share your story with us. E-mail us at taalsentrum@sun.ac.za.

Source:
Wallmach, K. 2015. Africa. In Pöchhacker, F. (ed.) Encyclopaedia of Interpreting Studies. London: Routledge.

Blog by Dr Kim Wallmach, Director of the Language Centre

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So many kinds of freedom

“I never even knew that that kind of personal freedom existed, because I had never experienced it before …”

Liselotte Voets, a Belgian exchange student from KU Leuven  (Catholic University of Leuven) who visited SU last year as part of her studies towards a master’s degree in philosophy, attended the Language Centre’s Afrikaans course for Dutch-speaking students while she was in South Africa.

In celebration of Freedom Day on 27 April, she shares her thoughts about freedom with us, originally in Afrikaans, but translated into English below.

My exchange visit of five and a half months in Stellenbosch kicked off in February 2022. Choosing South Africa was obvious to me: the cultures, the people, the scenery, the history, the mountains and the climate appealed to me. All these aspects naturally made a huge positive impression on me. One result of my visit I had not expected, is the new way in which I now look at the concept of freedom. If I had to explain in an intuitive way how I experienced freedom in South Africa, I would first of all mention the landscape. In my opinion, the vastness of the country represents in a very symbolical way what it means to be free in South Africa. There are still so many open spaces that can be filled. The possibilities seem to be endless. If one compares it with Belgium, where I am from, you have to conclude that most of Belgium has been built up. It really is a challenge to find a piece of open land from where one can see the horizon across an open expanse; where everything is not covered with walls, houses, streets, towns and cities.

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 It feels as if one is being watched – always and everywhere – and as if you can’t escape and commune with nature.”

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Now that I’m back in Belgium, I find it even more difficult to endure, and I miss South Africa so much more. Of course, in Belgium we have more (a feeling of) safety and security. The price we have to pay for it is our personal freedom. However, I never even knew that that kind of personal freedom existed, because I had never experienced it before. Perhaps it is also typical of Europeans to regard the kind of freedom we know as the only kind of freedom and not to leave room for other interpretations. But this is actually a contradiction in terms. I should have known that ‘freedom’ can’t be encapsulated in a single viewpoint. I’ve also noticed this kind of personal freedom in the South Africans I’ve met: they are not being lived (their lives are not being ruled and regulated), but they live on their own accord; they welcome others with open arms and start each day courageously. This great personal freedom in South Africa seems to come at a price, though, and is something that should absolutely not be underestimated: many people are left to their own devices – to fend for themselves. They need to survive on their own. Seen from that perspective, my impression was that some South Africans see the South African landscape more as a kind of emptiness than an open future. I think, and sincerely hope, that this can still change.

Blog by Liselotte Voets; translated by Ingrid Swanepoel

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Resources for advancing a multilingual mindset in SU environments

The Language Centre’s mandate to the University is to promote multilingualism and provide language support. We therefore strive to embody a multilingual mindset and to share this mindset with the rest of the University. At the same time, we acknowledge that the whole of the SU community shares responsibility for creating an inclusive and multilingual environment, and we’d like to inspire both staff and students to find practical ways to implement multilingualism.

This document contains practical information to help you along on the way to a multilingual mindset in your environment at SU – from brochures to links to websites, videos, podcasts and blogs.

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Brochures on a multilingual mindset are available in the three languages used at the University:

A multilingual mindset (English)

A multilingual mindset (Afrikaans)

A multilingual mindset (isiXhosa)

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Visit the Language Centre’s trilingual terminology portal for subject terminology in Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa here.

There are also a multitude of language resources available here, among others, an Afrikaans-English translation equivalents list curated by the Language Centre’s Language Service.

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Quick contacts for assistance with multilingualism

 The Language Centre is here to support you:

For broader discussions about implementing multilingualism in a space or environment, please don’t hesitate to contact us! Dr Kim Wallmach, kimwallmach@sun.ac.za, Susan Lotz, slotz@sun.ac.za or Sanet de Jager, sdejager@sun.ac.za.

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Mother language, heart language

Mother Language Day: A day dedicated to the language in which our very first thoughts were verbalised – that’s a world we can believe in. We’re so different, but this is something that we all share.

Our mother language is regarded as the language we hear most as a baby and toddler, and it’s usually the language of the mother figure who was responsible for us when we were very little. It’s also the language in which we would have said our first words, and the language that has, while we were acquiring it, established the blueprint for all the languages that we may learn later in life. Some people may even have two languages as mother languages, particularly when they come from a multilingual household.

Mother Language Day creates a space for us to reflect on that very foundation of our language repertoire – something that also influences how we interact with the world around us. It’s about a very deep emotional connection with our own language instinct, yes, but it’s also about where language can take us. When we connect with others, we bring our own language repertoire to the table. Our mother language becomes intertwined with the languages we use in other spaces, for instance in the workplace. One could choose not to acknowledge this multidimensionality and suppress parts of oneself – however, recognising the richness of different experiences, ways of expression and points of view makes for much stronger and more agile individuals and teams that can communicate better with each other and with those they serve.

In celebration of this unique strength and sense of possibility within each of us, some Language Centre staff shared something of their connection to their mother language:

The connection with identity

[us_cta title=”” color=”light” btn_label=””]“I like to think of isiXhosa as my identity. I grew up loving my language without even realising it. That reflected in my essay writing or book analysis in high school. I even had a book where I would write isiXhosa poems. I remember my teacher showing off to her colleague about a book I had analysed while I was doing Grade 11. I would say it was all of this that inspired me to want to know and learn more about my language, as I ended up majoring in isiXhosa even at university. And at that time, I didn’t even know that there are several jobs other than teaching that one could do with language, but I continued to study isiXhosa because of my love and passion for the language.”
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The joy of sharing it

[us_cta title=”” btn_label=””]“I am proudly Afrikaans. I grew up with a West Coast father who taught me words like ‘snoek’, ‘bokkoms’ [salted and dried mullet or harder, also known as Cape biltong] and ‘galjoen’ [galleon]. Today I still use his favourite expression, ‘Siesa Skipper!’, when someone has done something well.
I am now a lecturer with the privilege of teaching international students Afrikaans. The enthusiasm with which they learn my mother language astounds me time and again. And everything is ‘LEKKER’ [very enjoyable] to them! Nelson Mandela’s words, ‘If you talk to a man in his language, that goes to his heart’, are so true. I regard it as my calling in life to touch people’s hearts by introducing them to my mother language.”
– Dr Vernita Beukes, Afrikaans lecturer
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A reflection of its speakers

[us_cta title=”” color=”light” btn_label=””]“My mother language is English, and my father language is English too. That makes me different in my home country South Africa, where only around five per cent of the population have English as a first language.

Language has been a passion for me since I was very young. I first started my language journey paying extra attention to convoluted English spelling and pronunciation, and just loved trying to wrap my head around its difficulties. Very soon, though, as I began to learn French, Afrikaans and a bit of isiZulu, English became my guide in mapping out how languages differ from each other.

I slowly began to understand the richness that learning many languages brings; that the Englishness of beating around the bush and being polite had its origins in the French spoken in the royal court in England until a century or so ago, and left its traces in words like ‘courtesy’, ‘liberty’, ‘fraternity’, ‘equality’ and ‘university’, and many more words relating to civilisation, education and the law. I learned that the blunt Celtic earthiness of words like ‘quaff’, ‘drink’ and ‘sit’ were part of English’s Germanic roots and were echoed in the directness of Germanic languages like Afrikaans and German. And, to my surprise, words of isiZulu origin like ‘indaba’ (conference, news) and ‘donga’ (a dry gully formed by the eroding action of running water), ‘babbelas’ (hangover, from the Zulu ibhabhalazi), ‘bonsella’ (surprise gift) were also part of the fabric of my variety of English, spoken at the southern tip of the African continent. My English, learned in my hometown of Johannesburg, also reflects the many immigrant cultures attracted to this mining town, where hustling is still the name of the game. So for me, Yiddish words used in SA English like ‘chutzpah’, ‘schmuck’, ‘kugel’, ‘bagel’, ‘shabbat’, ‘platz’ and ‘meshugge’ add a richness to my vocabulary and are like treasures waiting to be discovered.”
– Dr Kim Wallmach, Director of the Language Centre [/us_cta]

A sense of coming home

[us_cta title=”” btn_label=””]“Afrikaans is something I learnt from my mother. She had a voice like a bell, and she spoke Afrikaans with the unpretentiousness and honesty of the Sutherland Karoo where she grew up – the Afrikaans of NP van Wyk Louw. During a recent family holiday in Swakopmund I was struck by how different it was there and how much I felt at home, all at once. One hears Afrikaans everywhere: in the street, in a conversation between two Herero women clad in traditional garb; from the Ovambo barista in the coffee shop: ‘Is mevrou al gehelp … wat gaan dit vandag wees?’ [‘Have you been served yet … what will it be today?’]. A woman ordering her coffee stands next to me and spontaneously starts chatting. Later she sits next to me and shows me photos of the Spitzkoppe. She says she grew up in Namibia, but lived in the Republic for most of her adult life. She has now returned and would soon start teaching at a school in Windhoek. Her words echo my own experience: ‘It feels like I’ve come home … I can breathe here.’ In my case, this feeling had a lot to do with the fact that I could hear my language everywhere; spoken spontaneously and unselfconsciously: beautiful – mooi – Afrikaans.

While on a cycling tour through the Tsauchab river, I remarked to the Damara tour guide and my family how pretty the tamarisk trees in the riverbed were. In Afrikaans, a riverbed is a ‘rivierloop’, and the word ‘loop’ also means ‘to walk’ or ‘to flow or run’, in the case of a liquid. One of my children replied: ‘Hier is nie water nie, hoekom sê Mamma die rivier loop? [‘There is no water here – why do you say the river is flowing?’] The tour guide stopped everyone and got off his bicycle. He spoke to the children: ‘Your mother speaks Afrikaans beautifully – mooi Afrikaans. That is something you children should never lose.’ When I asked him about his linguistic background, he replied that his family spoke Damara and English, and even a little German. ‘Maar ons praat Afrikaans as ons lus is om Afrikaans te praat, as ons móói wil praat.’ [‘But we speak Afrikaans when we feel like speaking Afrikaans; when we want to speak beautifully.’]

To me, that Damara man was one of the highlights of our holiday. In his company, there was a general relaxed feeling, a sense of friendship, of familiarity and of mutual understanding; and even a sense of happiness. As I watched him cycling energetically ahead of me along the dusty path, I knew this: My beautiful – mooi – language is flourishing, just like the delicate, tough tamarisks in the dry riverbed of the Tsauchab.”
– Dr Carmen Brewis, interpreter and researcher
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The language within

 

We also have a poem to share, and we chose not to translate the poem, but rather share it in its original Afrikaans form. This poem is about language as one’s heritage and how one’s language mentors (parents, teachers) also have a profound influence on what one regards as your own.

My taal, my erfenis

 Afrikaaps is nie my taal nie.
Sommige woorde kan ek nie verstaan nie.
My taal
het ek geleer van kindsbeen af
saam met die klingel en tongklap
van die aksent
wat my streek rojaal kweek.

Daar het ek begin verstaan
en geleer my ma en pa se taal.
Met my Afrikaanse onnie
wat berispend die spelreëls aanhaal,
nie tjent nie, maar kind,
nie tjy nie, maar jy.
Idiome sou ek goed onthou:
Iemand wat hard werk
is ʼn werkesel,
anders was dit die rottang vir jou.

My taal kom uit die boeke wat ek lees.
Tussen die blaaie
kon ek kies om iemand anders te wees.
Daar in die stilte van my drome
sonder die kletterende lawaai
in ʼn omgewing sonder energie belaai,
kry my taal sy lêplek
daar sonder die tjy en tjou,
daar lewe ek.

My komvandaan is eenvoudig,
tog is alles volop rondom en binne my.
Daar teen die Weskus het ek my asem gekry.
Daar is taal in my erfenis gebrei.
Nou kruip en klou
die wortels van my taal
diep en welig
sonder ophef of kabaal
lewe dit uit my pen
koester dit die erfenis wat ek ken.

– Anne-Mari Lackay, Writing Lab consultation coordinator

At the Language Centre we believe that it is language that brings us together, and we will keep on connecting people by improving communication and understanding.

Blog by Susan Lotz and Dr Kim Wallmach; translated by Ingrid Swanepoel

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Moedertaal, hartstaal

Moedertaaldag: ʼn Dag opgedra aan die taal waarin ons heel eerste gedagtes verwoord is – dit is ʼn wêreld waarin ons kan glo. Ons verskil soveel van mekaar, maar dít is een ding wat ons almal in gemeen het.

Ons moedertaal word beskou as die taal wat ons as baba en kleuter die meeste gehoor het, en dit is gewoonlik die taal van die moederfiguur wat vir ons verantwoordelik was toe ons baie klein was. Dit is ook die taal waarin ons ons eerste woorde gesê het, en die taal wat, terwyl ons dit verwerf het, die bloudruk gevestig het vir al die ander tale wat ons later in ons lewe sou leer. Sommige mense kan selfs twee tale as moedertaal hê, veral as hulle uit meertalige huishoudings kom.

Moedertaaldag skep ʼn ruimte vir ons om te besin oor daardie einste grondslag van ons taal-repertoire – iets wat ook ʼn invloed uitoefen op die manier waarop ons omgaan met die wêreld om ons. Ja, dit handel oor ʼn baie diep emosionele verbintenis met ons eie taalinstink, maar dit gaan ook oor daar waarheen taal ons kan neem. Wanneer ons met ander mense omgaan, bring ons ons eie taal-repertoire saam. Ons moedertaal raak vervleg met die tale wat ons op ander plekke, soos ons werkplek, gebruik. ʼn Mens kan kies om hierdie meerdimensionaliteit te ontken en dele van jouself te onderdruk, maar erkenning van die rykheid van verskillende ervarings, uitdrukkingswyses en standpunte lei tot baie sterker en meer behendige individue en spanne wat beter met mekaar en met diegene vir wie hulle werk, kan kommunikeer.

Ter viering van hierdie unieke vermoë en gevoel van moontlikhede in elkeen van ons, het ʼn paar Taalsentrum-personeellede iets van hulle verbintenis met hul moedertaal met ons gedeel:

Die skakel met identiteit

[us_cta title=”” color=”light” btn_label=””]“Ek hou daarvan om aan Xhosa te dink as my identiteit. Ek het my taal reeds in my kinderjare liefgehad, al het ek dit toe nog nie eintlik besef nie. Dis weerspieël in die opstelle wat ek op skool geskryf het en in die boeke wat ek ontleed het. Ek het selfs ʼn boek gehad waarin ek gedigte in Xhosa geskryf het. Ek onthou nog hoe my onderwyseres by ʼn kollega gespog het met ʼn boekontleding wat ek in graad 11 gedoen het. Ek reken dis dit alles wat my geïnspireer het om meer te wil weet en te leer van my taal, aangesien ek later op universiteit selfs Xhosa as een van my hoofvakke gekies het. Ek het dus aangehou om Xhosa te bestudeer danksy my liefde en passie vir dié taal, al was ek op daardie tydstip nie bewus daarvan dat daar heelparty ander werke afgesien van onderwys is wat iemand met ʼn taalkwalifikasie kan doen nie.”
– Asiphe Sogiba, Xhosa-tolk[/us_cta]

Die vreugde om dit te kan deel

[us_cta title=”” btn_label=””]“Ek is trots Afrikaans. Ek het grootgeword met ‘n Weskus-pa wat woorde soos snoek, bokkoms en galjoen aan my bekendgestel het. Ek gebruik nou nog sy gunstelinguitdrukking as iemand iets goeds gedoen het: ‘Siesa Skipper!’

Ek is vandag ‘n dosent wat die voorreg het om vir internasionale studente Afrikaans te leer. Die entoesiasme waarmee hulle my moedertaal leer verstom my elke keer. Alles is vir hulle LEKKER! Dit is waar wat Nelson Mandela gesê het: ‘Praat met iemand in sy moedertaal en jy praat met sy hart.’ Ek beskou dit as my lewenstaak om mense se harte aan te raak deur hulle aan my moedertaal bekend te stel.”
– dr Vernita Beukes, Afrikaansdosent
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ʼn Weerspieëling van die sprekers

[us_cta title=”” color=”light” btn_label=””]“My moedertaal is Engels, en my vadertaal is ook Engels! Dit maak my ‘anders’ in my vaderland, Suid-Afrika, waar Engels die eerste taal is van slegs ongeveer vyf persent van die bevolking.

Ek is reeds van kleins af opgewonde oor en lief vir taal. Ek het my taalreis aanvanklik begin deur ekstra aandag te gee aan die ingewikkelde Engelse spelling en uitspraak, en het dit baie geniet om die kompleksiteit daarvan te probeer uitpluis. Toe ek begin het om Frans, Afrikaans en ʼn bietjie Zoeloe te leer, het Engels egter baie gou die riglyn geword wat ek gebruik het om uit te werk hoe tale van mekaar verskil.

Ek het stadigaan begin besef welke rykdom kennis van baie tale aan ʼn mens kan besorg; dat die Engelse manier om nie dadelik tot die punt te kom nie en om uiters hoflik te wees, sy oorsprong gehad het in die Frans wat tot ʼn eeu of wat gelede aan die Britse koninklike hof gepraat is en waarvan die spore te bespeur is in woorde soos ‘courtesy’ [hoflikheid], ‘liberty’ [vryheid of vrymoedigheid], ‘fraternity’ [broederlikheid, gilde en dies meer], ‘equality’ [gelykheid] en ‘university’ [universiteit], en talle ander woorde wat verband hou met beskawing, onderwys en die reg. Ek het geleer dat die op-die-man-af Keltiese aardsheid van woorde soos ‘quaff’ [met groot slukke drink], ‘drink’ en ‘sit’ deel uitmaak van Engels se Germaanse oorsprong en weerspieël word in die direktheid van Germaanse tale soos Afrikaans en Duits. Ook, tot my verbasing, het woorde van Zoeloe-oorsprong, soos ‘indaba’ [konferensie] en ‘donga’ [ʼn droë sloot wat deur gronderosie veroorsaak is], ‘babbelas’ [van die Zulu ibhabhalazi] en ‘bonsella’ [onverwagte geskenk] deel uitgemaak van die onderbou van my variëteit van Engels wat op die suidelike punt van die Afrika-vasteland gepraat word. My Engels wat ek in my geboorteplek, Johannesburg, geleer het, weerspieël ook die talle immigrantekulture wat destyds in hierdie myndorp kom nesskop het, waar om bó uit te kom, nog altyd baie belangrik is. Dus verryk Jiddisje woorde wat in Suid-Afrikaanse Engels gebruik word, soos ‘chutzpah’ [besonder baie selfvertroue], ‘schmuck’ [dom of veragtelike persoon], ‘kugel’ [ʼn welgestelde jong vrou wat nogal materialisties is], ‘bagel’ [ʼn soort ringvormige broodjie], ‘shabbat’ [Joodse sabbat], ‘platz’ [om oorstelp te wees deur emosie] en ‘meshugge’ [stapelgek] my woordeskat sommer baie, en hulle is soos skatte wat wag om ontdek te word.”
– dr Kim Wallmach, Direkteur van die Taalsentrum [/us_cta]

ʼn Gevoel van tuiskoms

[us_cta title=”” btn_label=””]“Afrikaans het ek by my ma geleer. Sy het ʼn stem soos ʼn klok gehad en sy het Afrikaans gepraat met die aardsheid en eerlikheid van die Sutherland-Karoo waar sy grootgeword het – NP van Wyk Louw-Afrikaans. Op ʼn onlangse gesinsvakansie in Swakopmund is ek getref deur ʼn andersheid en terselfdertyd ʼn gevoel van tuiskoms. Oral hoor jy Afrikaans: op straat, in ʼn gesprek tussen twee Herero-vroue in tradisionele drag; in die koffiewinkel by die Ovambo-barista: ‘Is mevrou al gehelp … wat gaan dit vandag wees?’ ʼn Vrou wat langs my staan en haar koffie bestel, begin spontaan gesels. Later sit sy langs my en wys foto’s van die Spitzkoppe. Sy vertel dat sy in Namibië grootgeword het, maar die grootste deel van haar volwasse lewe in die Republiek gewoon het. Sy het nou teruggekom en sou binnekort in Windhoek begin skoolgee. In haar woorde vind my eie ervaring weerklank. ‘Dit voel asof ek huis toe gekom het … ek kan hier asemhaal.’ Hierdie gewaarwording het vir my baie te doen gehad daarmee dat ek my taal oral kon hoor; spontaan en met vrymoedigheid gepraat, móói Afrikaans.

Op ʼn fietstoer deur die Tsauchab-rivier merk ek teenoor die Damara-toergids en my familie op hoe mooi die tamariskbome in die rivierloop is, waarop een van my kinders antwoord: ‘Hier is nie water nie, hoekom sê Mamma die rivier loop?’ Die toergids stop almal en klim van sy fiets af. Hy praat met die kinders: ‘Julle ma praat mooi Afrikaans. Dit is iets wat julle kinders nie moet verloor nie.’ Op my vraag oor sy taalagtergrond verduidelik hy dat daar in sy familie Damara en Engels en selfs ʼn bietjie Duits gepraat word. ‘Maar ons praat Afrikaans as ons lus is om Afrikaans te praat, as ons móói wil praat.’

Hierdie Damara-man was vir my een van die hoogtepunte van ons vakansie. Tussen ons was daar ʼn ontspannenheid, ʼn gevoel van vriendskap, van gemeensaamheid; van begrip en selfs van geluk. Terwyl ek dopgehou het hoe hy sy fiets lustig voor my in die stofpaadjie trap, het ek geweet: My mooi taal floreer, net soos die delikate, taai tamariske in die dorre rivierbedding van die Tsauchab.”
– dr Carmen Brewis, tolk en navorser
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Die binne-taal

 

Ons het ook ʼn Afrikaanse gedig om te deel. Dit handel oor taal as ʼn mens se erfenis en hoe ʼn mens se taalmentors soos ouers en onderwysers ook ʼn diepgaande invloed uitoefen op dit wat jy as jou eie beskou.

My taal, my erfenis

 Afrikaaps is nie my taal nie.
Sommige woorde kan ek nie verstaan nie.
My taal
het ek geleer van kindsbeen af
saam met die klingel en tongklap
van die aksent
wat my streek rojaal kweek.

Daar het ek begin verstaan
en geleer my ma en pa se taal.
Met my Afrikaanse onnie
wat berispend die spelreëls aanhaal,
nie tjent nie, maar kind,
nie tjy nie, maar jy.
Idiome sou ek goed onthou:
Iemand wat hard werk
is ʼn werkesel,
anders was dit die rottang vir jou.

My taal kom uit die boeke wat ek lees.
Tussen die blaaie
kon ek kies om iemand anders te wees.
Daar in die stilte van my drome
sonder die kletterende lawaai
in ʼn omgewing sonder energie belaai,
kry my taal sy lêplek
daar sonder die tjy en tjou,
daar lewe ek.

My kom-vandaan is eenvoudig,
tog is alles volop rondom en binne my.
Daar teen die Weskus het ek my asem gekry.
Daar is taal in my erfenis gebrei.
Nou kruip en klou
die wortels van my taal
diep en welig
sonder ophef of kabaal
lewe dit uit my pen
koester dit die erfenis wat ek ken.

– Anne-Mari Lackay, skryflabkonsultasiekoördineerder

By die Taalsentrum glo ons dat dit taal is wat ons saambring, en ons sal aanhou om verbintenisse tussen mense te bewerkstellig deur kommunikasie en begrip te verbeter.

Blog deur Susan Lotz en dr Dr Kim Wallmach; vertaal deur Ingrid Swanepoel

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Guide for lecturers: Introduction to real-time online interpreting

Calling all lecturers!

Does your faculty’s language implementation plan call for interpreting in your module? Would you like to use interpreting to meet a pedagogical need, or to create a space for multilingual teaching and learning?

The short video below explains how you can easily make use of real-time online interpreting. Follow this step-by-step guide with clips showing the MS Teams set-up and what it looks like on the extended learning spaces (ELS) system in the classroom to get set up in under seven minutes.

Why is multilingualism important in teaching, learning and assessment?

Teaching and learning in different languages, for example in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa, as opposed to choosing only one language of teaching and learning, give students the opportunity to approach learning material from different perspectives and to find the way that resonates best with their learning style. It also allows for more voices to be heard authentically and is a critical enabler for students to co-create knowledge in the teaching and learning space.

For more information or to find out whether your module qualifies for interpreting, please contact Juanli Theron or Christine Joubert.

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