What language should I learn?

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MeerKatje

You will (unfortunately) not get far (if anywhere!) with French in South Africa since it is not widely spoken. It is considered a foreign language, but may be useful if you plan to play a role in tourism or language teaching. French is used in some other African countries, but definitely not in SA. English on the other hand is ONE of the official languages and widely used, so you will be fine. You would want to learn one of the following three indigenous official languages, or all:

isiXhosa, isiZulu or Afrikaans

It does depend entirely on which area you will be living and working. The ruling government uses isiXhosa extensively, but the other indigenous languages are also protected by our Constitution. isiXhosa and Afrikaans would be my preference if you plan to be in Cape Town - in that order. The reverse if you aim for Kimberley. Sesotho, Afrikaans and isiXhosa if you go into Johannesburg/Pretoria. :)

Night Shadow

I wouldn't worry about that till you get here. Then you can make an informed decision on where you stay to which language is best suited for you to learn. As you might start to learn a languge, get here and realise no-one in your area speaks it. We are multicultural and alot of us know how to speak english. We have 13 Official Languges including English and Afrikaans.
Hope this Helped.
Best Wishes.

1. Hindi
2, Hindi
3. Hindi
4. Chinese
5. Chinese

You combine India and China and you've one third of the world together. This is the area that is going through exponetial growth, economy is getting stronger and is going to be the most powerful region in earth due to the natural intelligence of their inhabitants.

so the answer is obvious

cheers,
VJ

http://whereisvijay.blogspot.com/

asma a

your mother toungue and eng.

wanderklutz

Definitely French or Portuguese if you are going to be traveling around in Africa.

dkny

Afrikaans, IsiZulu, IsiXhosa, Sepedi, Setswana, Sesotho, Xitsonga, Swazi, Tshivenda, IsiNdebele

Vanessa

French

roxi_biloxi

Afrikaans

bond007snaki

First find out where in SA you will be relocating to.... our languages are regional. The Languages in cape town, for example are predominantly Afrikaans, IsiXhosa, and English (not in that order, and Zulu wont help you much there, despite what my fellow countryman, Diesel, says.) In KwaZulu Natal its English and IsiZulu... Joburg is Zulu and Setswana and the rest of the languages are scattered around the country... It will be a very rare occasion that you will really need to speak a third language as most South Africans, regardless of their cultural background can converse quite successfully in English, Afrikaans and their traditional home language.
But, it would be a great treat if you did manage to wrap your tongue around all the clicks and tongue-twisters... hell, im still struggling to get it right!

Angelus

If you going to be going to other parts of Africa then yes French will help.

But if you just coming to South Africa, french is not going to help you at all, seriously, please dont listen to the people who are telling your french and portugese.

If you coming to Cape Town, I think you should learn Afrikaans and Xhosa. The majority if this city speak either one of those languages.

But if you just know English you will be fine.

arinpaul

The local language of that place.

tiuverb

french

miztenorti

isiZULU coz most of us speak isiZULU and i don mind to teach you a word or two

X Marks the Spot

Afrikaans, IsiZulu, IsiXhosa, Sepedi, Setswana, Sesotho, Xitsonga, Swazi, Tshivenda, IsiNdebele

iheartchocolate18

what ever they speak in south africa......

Listener

NOBODY in South Africa speaks French!!!

English is fine and the official langauge.

jeremy d

afrikaans

Johnny Blaze

French, 100% french

Kim

You will not need to know French here in South Africa. Hardly anybody speaks French. The 3 most popular languages in South Africa is English, Afrikaans and Zulu. It is best to know Afrikaans or Zulu (besides for English) more than any other language!

http://www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/demographics/language.htm

Take a look at that link for more information! It is quite interesting!

jelly_jam_maplesyrup

FRENCH...almost everyone speaks it...easy to learn b/c its a lot like english...afrikaans is good to know

mystina777

Well, according to the 2001census the most common language in South Africa is IsiZulu but the country has 11 official languages. If you are going to be in an urban area then you will be okay just speaking English. If you are going to be in a rural area then you should pick up IsiZulu.

Diezel

It maybe nice to know French but for an answer to your question French is not going to help you in South Africa. IsiZulu is definately the most common language in South Africa. English is the second most common because every South African can communicate in it. Sotho, Xhosa and Afrikaans are less common. Sotho is the sexiest language in South Africa lol. Afrikaans is very helpful to South Africans who travel to Europe. I once found myself in Amsterdam and it was easy to understand their language (Dutch has got similarities with Afrikaans).
Alright I've talked too much, but the bottom line is Zulu is the most common language in SA, so learn Zulu.

the_bat_freak

french. although theres nothing special with french people who naturally speak french and nothing else, an english speaker who knows french can command respect and admiration in any place be it in once french-colonized territories like some parts of africa or the rest of the world.

mossie

Hi,

You can Learn Afrikaans or Xhosa.
Afrikaans are my home language

FridayNighter

It all dpends on where in S.A. you're going, but I'd say that learning Sotho would be the best because a lot of the South Africans can speak it and understand it if they can't speak it. But also, Afrikaans would be the best too! Have fun

little_v

French will be pretty much useless to you here.
It definately depends on where you are moving to. If Joburg, learn Zulu. But you don't really need any language other than English, it's not essential to speak one of the other languages to survive.

sandra a

the official language in south africa is english and u're gonna face no problem.

lolita

zolo!!

what about sign language? there is always deaf people anywhere you go. ASL(american Sign Language) is very fun to learn and if you are good you can make huge cash doing this as an interprator. you choose your hr and you only work max 6hrs a day

thornzi

French. I think its the most sexy language of them all!!!

etienne

You already know english! Another languge is Afrikaans wich is also widely spoken, we have 11 official languages in South-Africa the most popular local languages are : Zulu, Xhosa, Swahili, Chingaan, Sohto (Prenounced Soetoe) Your Choice!
More Info Contact me and ill let you know!

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