Stellenbosch University Language Centre

Tag: learn isiXhosa

Languages Week 2025 at SU, with something for all students and staff

It’s time for the EUTOPIA-SU Languages Week again – this year from 3 to 7 March. Coordinated by the SU Language Centre, Languages Week at SU promises to be an exceptional week. Join the celebration of languages, culture and diversity along with like-minded people across the world!   

Aimed at students and staff, Languages Week at SU will be celebrated by three in-person and four online events, all free of charge. The in-person events include an interactive Language Café evening, a multilingual Karaoke lunch-hour session and an Afrikaans Poetry Showcase evening hosted by the student association VER[r]AS. The online events include three lunch-hour language-learning opportunities to get the feel of a language you might like to explore: an IsiXhosa Taster course, a South African Sign Language Taster course, and an Afrikaans Taster course. In addition, there is also an online interactive session exploring the interconnections between SU’s concept of a multilingual mindset and intercultural competence, entitled Exploring and Developing a Multilingual Mindset. Bookings for the SU events are managed through Eventbrite – here you will find more information on all the events as well as links to register.  

More events are available online through the EUTOPIA Alliance – have a look at what’s on offer here. Institutions across the world participate in EUTOPIA Languages Week every year, creating an opportunity for staff and students from all EUTOPIA partners to attend online events all over the world during that week, and to interact with each other. SU is one of six global partner universities EUTOPIA associates with beyond its core alliance of 10 universities in Europe to create an international gateway for exchanging knowledge and culture. 

Register soon to secure your spot. Venue information and links to join online will be sent after registration. If you change your mind after having registered, do let the organisers know so that they can open that spot to someone else, and so that they don’t prepare for you unnecessarily.   

For enquiries or cancellations, email languagesweek@sun.ac.za. 

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First-ever Languages Week at SU, with something for all staff and students

 This year, for the first time, Stellenbosch University (SU) joins the EUTOPIA Alliance Languages Week from 4 to 8 March 2024 to celebrate languages, culture and diversity.

The EUTOPIA Alliance is an international gateway for exchanging knowledge and culture, and SU is one of six global partner universities EUTOPIA associates with beyond its core alliance of 10 universities in Europe. 

Institutions across the world are participating in EUTOPIA Languages Week, creating an opportunity for staff and students from all EUTOPIA partners to attend online events all over the world during that week, and to interact with each other.  

At SU, Languages Week takes place in person, online and in hybrid format, with a rich variety of activities across many SU departments. Events belong to one of four categories: Films, Flex, Language Learning and Talks. Films include film evenings showcasing films in Afrikaans and Mandarin, while Flex represents interactive and fun events where you get to put your multilingual abilities to work in a social setting, such as the Language Café and Multilingual Karaoke events.  Language Learning does what it says: here you can get the feel of a language you might like to explore a bit, from isiXhosa to South African Sign Language. Talks give you access to experts sharing gripping phenomena in language, culture, literature, translation, multilingualism and even in the international language policy arena. Scroll through our programme to read more! 

All events are free to attend to SU staff and students and to all EUTOPIA Alliance partners. Registration links are available in the programme. Please register to secure your spot, and venue info and links to join online will be sent after registration. If you change your mind after having registered, do let us know so that we can open that spot to someone else, or to avoid us preparing for you unnecessarily.  

Coordinated by the SU Language Centre, Languages week at SU promises to be an exceptional event. Join the celebration of languages, culture and diversity along with like-minded people across the world!  

View the full SU programme here and book your spot via links available in the programme. The EUTOPIA Languages Week page offering all events by all global partners is available here, and you can book your spot for global events there.  

Enquiries or cancellations: taalsentrum@sun.ac.za 

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IsiXhosa courses for SU staff now free

There is some good news for staff members who would like to start learning isiXhosa this year or build on what they’ve learnt already. IsiXhosa staff courses will be subsidised during 2024, which means that staff will be able to attend the lunch-hour Masabelane A1 and A2 courses offered by the Language Centre free of charge. Registrations close on 1 February for the first offering starting on 7 February.  

Stembele Johnson, isiXhosa lecturer at the Language Centre, is excited to teach colleagues more about the isiXhosa language and culture. “Learning isiXhosa also enables you to communicate easily with speakers of other Nguni languages: IsiZulu, IsiSwati, and IsiNdebele,” Stembele explains. 

“Learning isiXhosa can be the gateway to speaking four South African Languages.”  She loves helping her students become part of a broader isiXhosa culture in an encouraging learning and teaching environment. 

If you’re an absolute beginner, Stembele recommends starting with the Masabelane (Beginner) A1 short course.  By doing this course you will be actively cultivating a multilingual mindset in the office and in class, and you will be able to start having basic conversations in isiXhosa. You’re bound to learn a song or two as well! 

 Beginner A1 course dates (register here):

  • 7 February – 8 March (NB: register by 1 February) 
  • 7 April – 26 June 
  • 15 July – 4 September 
  • 16 September – 6 November 

Masabelane A2 (Elementary) is a short course aimed at staff members with a beginner’s knowledge of isiXhosa. It is the ideal follow-up course if you have completed the original Masabelane A1 course and would like to further your knowledge of the language. If you haven’t attended Masabelane A1 but you already know a bit of isiXhosa, you’re also welcome here. This is a fun-filled course offering you a linguistic and cultural taste of isiXhosa as a language in a wider cultural context. By the end of the course you should be able to speak social isiXhosa with confidence and identify the gist of social conversations. You will also have knowledge of basic isiXhosa grammar, vocabulary and idiomatic expressions.  

Elementary A2 course dates (register here): 

  • 7 April – 24 July (Register by 22 March) 
  • 20 August – 6 November 

You could also email Stembele at ssjohnson@sun.ac.za if you’d like to find out more about the courses. 

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