Achievement & Equality Team
Information on South Africa and the Afrikaans language
God bless Africa
Lift her horn on high
Hear our prayers.
God bless us
Who are Your people
God save our nation
End wars and strife
South Africa
National Anthem of South Africa
SOUTH AFRICA AT A GLANCE
Location – Southern extremity of Africa
Neighbours – Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho
Size – 470,693 square miles
Population–48,687,300 (24th)
Life Expectancy – Male / Female 50/53
Capital city – Pretoria
Potted History
Modern humans have lived here for more than 100,000 years. The arrival of the Dutch East India Company in the 17th century began European domination. British control was solidified with victory in the Boer War. Radical segregation (apartheid) became firmly entrenched when the National Party government came to power in 1948. The first free elections brought Nelson Mandela to power in 1994
Political pressure points
The African National Congress has dominated politics since the end of apartheid. But the party has split following the removal of former president Thabu Mbeke from office in a power struggle with the ANC’s present leader, Jacob Zuma who went on to win the election to become president.
Population mix
Africans (black) 79%, Europeans (whites) 9.6%, Other 11.5%
Religious makeup
Christian 79.8%, Muslim 1.5%, Hindu 1.2%, other 1%, unspecified 1.4%, none 15.1%
Main languages
Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Sepedi, English, Setswana, and Sesotho
National icons
Desmond Tutu (archbishop), Nelson Mandela (politician), Charlize Theron (actor), John M Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer (authors), Ernie Els (golfer), Benni McCarthy, Steven Pienaar (footballers)
Website
The Nottinghamshire Context
Education in South Africa
South Africa's new system of education is a single national system, organised and managed on the basis of nine provincial sub-systems.
Schools can be divided into two categories, namely public schools and independent (private) schools. There is also provision for special school education. The levels of school education are pre-primary, primary and secondary.
Pre-primary caters for children from the age of three years to school-going age and is not compulsory.
Primary education consists of two phases - junior primary which includes grades 0,1, 2 and 3, and senior primary which includes grades 4, 5,6 and 7
Secondary education also consists of two phases - junior (grades 8, 9) and senior (grades 10, 11, 12). Education is compulsory for learners between the ages of seven and 15 years of age, or learners reaching the ninth grade, whichever occurs first. A child enters grade 1 at the beginning of the year in which he turns 7 years of age. The school year in South Africa is from January to December.
Basic learning activities during junior primary involve learning to read, write and calculate, and the development of language proficiency. During the senior primary phase, learning activities centre on reading and oral proficiency in the mother tongue and second language, mathematics, history, geography, general science and a skill such as needlework, woodwork or art. In the junior secondary phase most subjects are compulsory, while pupils have to choose two subjects in addition to those already offered.
At the end of the senior secondary phase (grade 12), pupils write a public examination in a minimum of six subjects. The examination in each subject is conducted at three levels: higher, standard and lower grade. It is this public examination which determines whether a pupil is eligible to enter a higher education institution.
Information about the Afrikaans Language
The Afrikaans language is a descendent of Dutch which is spoken mainly in South Africa and Namibia by about 6 million people. There are also speakers of Afrikaans in Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Canada, Germany, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, the USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Afrikaans retains some features of 18th century Dutch, together with vocabulary from various Bantu and Khoisan languages and also from Portuguese and Malay. Speakers of Afrikaans can understand Dutch, though Dutch speakers tend to need a while to tune into Afrikaans.
From about 1815 Afrikaans started to replace Malay as the language of instruction in Muslim schools in South Africa. At that time it was written using the Arabic alphabet. Afrikaans, written using the Latin alphabet, started to appear in newspapers and political and religious works in about 1850. Then in 1875 a group of Afrikaans speakers from the Cape formed the Genootskap vir Regte Afrikaanders (Society for Real Afrikaners), and published a number of books in Afrikaans, including grammars, dictionaries, religious material and histories. They also published a journal called the Patriot.
During the early years of the 20th century there was a blossoming of academic interest in Afrikaans. In 1925 Afrikaans was recognised by the government as a real language, instead of a slang version of Dutch. Afrikaans has changed little since then.
Words and Phrases
English / AfrikaansWelcome / Welkom
Hello / Haai, Hallo, Goeie dag
How are you?
/ Hoe gaan dit met jou? (informal) Hoe gaan dit met u? (formal)
I'm fine, thanks. And you? / Goed, dankie, en met jou/u? Baie goed dankie, en self?
What's your name? / Wat is jou/u naam?
My name is ... / My naam is ...
How old are you? / Hoe oud is jy?
I am…years old / Ek is..jaar oud
Where are you from? / Waarvandaan kom jy? (inf) Waarvandaan kom U? (frm)
I'm from ... / Ek kom van ... af
Pleased to meet you / Bly te kenne / Aangename kennis (frm) Lekker om jou te ontmoet (inf)
Good morning / Goeiemôre, Môre
Good afternoon / Goeie middag
Good evening / Goeienaand
Good night / Goeienag, Nag
Goodbye / Totsiens
Good luck / Sterkte! Geluk!
Cheers/Good health! / Gesondheid!
Have a nice day / Lekker dag!
Bon appetit (Enjoy your meal) / Smaaklike ete! Lekker eet!
Bon voyage / Veilige reis! Voorspoedige reis!
I don't understand / Ek verstaan nie
Please speak more slowly / Praat stadiger asseblief
Please write it down / Skryf dit af asseblief!
Do you speak Afrikaans?
/ Praat jy Afrikaans? (sg/inf) Praat julle Afrikaans? (pl/inf)
Praat u Afrikaans? (frm/sg/pl)
Yes, a little / Ja, 'n bietjie
Excuse me / Verskoon my! Jammer!
How much is this? / Hoeveel kos dit?
Sorry / Jammer!
Thank you / dankie baie dankie
Response (You're welcome) / nie te danke / dis 'n plesier
Will you dance with me? / Sal jy met my dans, asseblief?
Get well soon / Word gou gesond!
How do you say ... in Afrikaans? / Hoe se jy ... in Afrikaans?
Leave me alone! / Laat my met rus! Los my uit asseblief!
Head teacher / Skoolmaster
Teacher / Onderweiser
School / Skool
Class / Klass
Write / Skruif
Read / Leer
Listen / Luister
Pen / Pen
Pencil / Pencil
Books / Booke
Breaktime / Breektyd
How are you feeling today? / Hoe voel jy vandaag?
Please feel free to talk to me at any time? / Ek is hier as jy will met my praat
Help! / Help!
Happy Birthday / Gelukkige Verjaarsdag
yes / ja
no / nee
one / een
two / twee
three / drie
four / vier
five / vyf
six / ses
seven / sewe
eight / agt
nine / nege
ten / tien
Sample text in Afrikaans
Alle menslike wesens word vry, met gelyke waardigheid en regte, gebore. Hulle het rede en gewete en behoort in die gees van broederskap teenoor mekaar op te tree.
Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Useful guidance is available from:
New Arrivals Excellence Programme Guidance
(2007) Ref 00650 – 2007BKT- EN
This resource is for primary and secondary schools and contains guidance on admission and developing classroom practice
A language in common: assessing English as an additional language
QCA (2000) (QCA/00/584).
This document sets out steps used in assessment of EAL, linked to English National Curriculum levels. It provides guidance and exemplifications.
Aiming High: guidance on supporting the education of asylum seeking and refugee children (DfES 0287 – 2004)
This guidance helps explain the value of an inclusive ethos and curriculum to all pupils.
Aiming High: meeting the needs of newly arrived learners of EAL
(DfES 1381 -2005)
Information on working with newly arrived isolated EAL pupils in settings that have little or no access to EAL support.
Excellence and enjoyment: learning and teaching for bilingual children in the primary years (DfES 0013 – 2006PCK- EN)
Key Stage 3 National Strategy: Access and engagement in English:teaching pupils for whom English is an additional language (DfES 0609 – 2002)
Publications/Catalogues are available from:
MUNDI Tel: 0115 8546418
Mundi
Global Education Centre
Foxhall Lodge
Foxhall Road
Nottingham
NG7 6LH
(under construction/Aug 2010)
Mundi loan resources to schools in Nottinghamshire free for up to half a term
e-mail:
GRANT AND CUTLERTel: 0207734 2012
55-57 Great Marlborough Street,
London'
England
W1F 7AY
Web:
A one-stop shop for foreign language resources including language-learning material, reference books, technical dictionaries, literature, history, politics etc.
MILET PUBLISHING Tel: 0207603 5477
6 North End Parade
London W14 0SJ
England
Web:
Milet publishers a wide range of bilingual picture dictionaries, including board books for use in early years settings.
TRENTHAM BOOKS LTD Tel: 01782 745567
Westview House,734 London Road,
Stoke on Trent,
UKST4 5NP Web:
Trentham publishes 'a wide range of titles plus seven professional journals, mainly in the field of education and social policy.
MANTRA LINGUA Tel: 0208 44 55 123
Global House
303 Ballards Lane
London
N12 8NP
UK
Web:
Mantra Lingua creative learning resources Audio CDs, Big Books, e-books, fun tales, folk tales, friezes, games, language learning, packs posters, story props, toys videos and so on.
Classroom Resources are available from:
Interactive video clips showing children teaching their home languages
The following website translates words, phrases and short paragraphs from English to Afrikaans available at;
DLTK's Crafts for Kids features a variety images that can be used for creating pupils own subject-specific dictionaries.
Activities for ESL Students can be adapted for EAL pupils in primary and secondary schools. Has bilingual quizzes in large number of languages, available at;
Omniglot writing systems and languages of the world available at
EMA Online resource base for teachers has been developed by Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester LAs with funding from the DfES, available at
Racist bullying, Advice designed for schools to dip in and out as appropriate for them and offers discussion topics and activities to stimulate debate and spark activity involving everyone in the school community, available at;
Teachernet states that a successful home–school relationship can be a key element in making a school stronger and more effective. In particular, it can make a real difference to groups of underachieving pupils and their families, available at;
Nottinghamshire Achievement & Equality Team