Dr Schalk van der Merwe, extraordinary senior lecturer at Stellenbosch University (SU), has been a regular guest lecturer for several years at the SU Language Centre’s Afrikaans language and culture course for Dutch-speaking students, where he shares and discusses key events from South African history with students in a narrative style. “When it comes to the history and origins of Afrikaans, it is essential to reflect the language’s diversity, and also how it has served as a vehicle for social change,” says Dr Van der Merwe. As part of the course’s 10-year celebrations, we asked him a few questions.
Feel at home in South Africa. Learn the language. Live the culture.
Each semester, the SU Language Centre partners with the International Office’s Global Education Programme to offer three flagship language courses to visiting international students. During the first semester of 2025,…
Ten years of Afrikaans language and culture for Dutch speaking exchange students: An interview with Sen Joostens
Sen Joostens completed our Afrikaans language and culture course for Dutch-speaking students in 2020 while he was an exchange student at SU from Belgium. Today, he facilitates Afrikaans language learning…
Let’s talk language freedom in celebration of Freedom Day
On 27 April, South Africa commemorates Freedom Day, marking both the anniversary of the first democratic elections in 1994 and the introduction of the new (interim) Constitution, which guaranteed equal…
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