Language services blog

Language Day 2025

About Language Day   Language Day is hosted every two years at Stellenbosch University (SU). It is an opportunity for SU staff and students to learn from each other and to…

Q and A with Dr Schalk van der Merwe in celebration of 10 years of Afrikaans language and culture for Dutch-speaking exchange students

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.

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