foriegn exchange question? South Africa?
I know people in South Africa generally understand english, but for being an exchange student there i would have to learn and be able to understand afrikaans, right?
South Africa - 6 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
No! Not at all... Everyone here speaks English. Afrikaans is something I hardly hear in public, besides which, the Afrikaans speaking people will speak English with you anyway. If you're an exchange student, you will probably not take Afrikaans classes anyway.
2 :
No, what gave you that idea? We do not 'generally' understand English! That is an understatement. We speak and write in English. Everything in South Africa...the schools, universities, labels on food, shops, the business environment, television, radio etc are all predominantly English! You will not need to learn a different language unless you choose to. (Smile)
3 :
Lol, on the whole you can get away with English only,that is the main language used in the everyday world, although you will hear Afrikaans spoken. But in my lifetime I have probably met three or four Afrikaans people who did not speak English, so you'll be ok. Many South Africans do not speak any Afrikaans. Are you in high school or university? In university you would not have to touch Afrikaans. In high school students have to do English and one other official language (there are nine of them, two being English and Afrikaans, others include Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, etc). Way back when I was in high school our exchange students were excused from Afrikaans classes, probably still the case.
4 :
Wrong The biggest mother tough speakers in SA are : Zulu 25%, Xhosa 20%, Tswana 15% and the rest( 8 language groups) share the remaining 40% But 70% of the population has English as their secound language. That means 70% of the people will understand you.
5 :
Depends where you live and go to school. Cape Town, Durban and Joburg are predominantly English. Bloemfontein, Pretoria and most rural communties are Afrikaans. That being said, Afrikaners will speak English to you.
6 :
yes ayiza is right statistically, but the majority of the zulu and xhose speakers live in rural areas. all the major cities are completely english speaking. you cant survive without it.
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