Language

There are 11 official languages in South Africa. The local people here in Limpopo province are called Tsonga and they speak Shangaan. I am beginning to learn a few things and I hope to keep building my vocabulary. Avuxeni [ah-vu- SHEN-ee] means good morning, and that is about as far as I have gotten. I expect the fieldworkers will have more respect for me if I am showing effort at communicating in their language. They all read, write and speak English, and many of them speak several additional languages. My unilingualism is tres gauche.

Afrikaans is the language spoken by the Afrikaners and most Coloureds. How quickly a little post about language becomes heavy with the history of apartheid. Coloureds are mixed race people who, as I understand it, did not qualify as "white" under South African law but had more privileges than blacks. From what I've been told, the white minority government's attempt to force all schools to become Afrikaans-only in 1976 led to the Soweto protests, which led to this photo and to the world learning how brutal the white SA regime really was, and eventually the end of apartheid.

The photographer is named Sam Nzimi and he lives within the Agincourt study area. I will be here on 16 June this year for National Youth Day so I'll be interested to see what happens. There is a lot to learn about the history of this place, and it is fascinating. Learn more about the history of the Tsonga here.