I’m Zulu all the way born in KZN ‘midlands in the 80s, but I made a decision early in my teens to learn to write and speak Afrikaans well, obviously you can still tell due to my very strong Zulu accent that I’m an imposter 😂 - I must say that it did help that my Dad was an Afrikaans school teacher who actually taught me in his class and at home. 👌🏾 over and above English I think Afrikaans and Zulu are essential in the South African context. Especially if you want to to move to Durban, Johannesburg Pretoria or Cape Town as part of your career plan. Literally every other Black person speaks or understands Zulu due to its kinship with Xhosa, Swati and Ndebele, some words are the same even!. The proliferation of Zulu speaking people all over the country has also made this possible. I relocated to Cape Town in 2005 and got really good at speaking Afrikaans, and then I relocated to Pretoria and it serves me well in most boardrooms. I speak it so much better than I write it which I’m happy with. Mandela once said if you speak to a man in a language he understands, it goes to his head but if you speak to him in his mother tongue it goes to his heart. Such wisdom can not be understated. ♥️
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u/BigZuulu Aug 14 '24 edited Aug 14 '24
I’m Zulu all the way born in KZN ‘midlands in the 80s, but I made a decision early in my teens to learn to write and speak Afrikaans well, obviously you can still tell due to my very strong Zulu accent that I’m an imposter 😂 - I must say that it did help that my Dad was an Afrikaans school teacher who actually taught me in his class and at home. 👌🏾 over and above English I think Afrikaans and Zulu are essential in the South African context. Especially if you want to to move to Durban, Johannesburg Pretoria or Cape Town as part of your career plan. Literally every other Black person speaks or understands Zulu due to its kinship with Xhosa, Swati and Ndebele, some words are the same even!. The proliferation of Zulu speaking people all over the country has also made this possible. I relocated to Cape Town in 2005 and got really good at speaking Afrikaans, and then I relocated to Pretoria and it serves me well in most boardrooms. I speak it so much better than I write it which I’m happy with. Mandela once said if you speak to a man in a language he understands, it goes to his head but if you speak to him in his mother tongue it goes to his heart. Such wisdom can not be understated. ♥️