What are the top 3 languages spoken in South Africa?
IsiZulu is South Africa’s biggest language, spoken by almost a quarter (23%) of the population. Our other official languages are isiXhosa (spoken by 16%), Afrikaans (13.5%), English (10%), Sesotho sa Leboa (9%), Setswana and Sesotho (both 8%), Xitsonga (4.5%), siSwati and Tshivenda (both 2.5%), and isiNdebele (2%).
What language do people speak in South Africa?
Generally considered to be among the most multilingual countries in the world and among the most multiethnic in Africa, post-apartheid South Africa has 11 official languages recognized in its democratic constitution: English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Ndebele, Zulu, Tswana, Swati, Sotho, Southern Sotho, Venda and Tsonga.
What language do black South African speak?
Home languages of black South Africans
A total of 11.5-million black South Africans speak isiZulu as a first language, or about three in 10 (28.5%) black people. Next up is isiXhosa, the first language of 8.1-million black South Africans, spoken at home by two in every 10 (20.1%) black people.
What is the most difficult language in South Africa?
Taa, the last vital language of the Tuu language family and formerly called ʻSouthern Khoisan’, it is believed to be the world’s most difficult language. Part of the Khoisan language group and is spoken in the Kalahari Desert of Southern Africa, it is also known as !
How do u say hello in South Africa?
South Africa
- Zulu: Sawubona (Hello)
- Xhosa: Molo (Hello)
- Afrikaans: Hallo (Hello)
- English: Hello.
26.11.2019
Is Afrikaans a dying language in South Africa?
The Afrikaans language is one of South Africa’s official languages and a large proportion of the local population uses it as their first or second language. It is still taught in schools. … Some believe that Afrikaans is a dying language, however, it remains spoken all over the country and respected for its origins.
What is First Language in South Africa?
The most common language spoken as a first language by South Africans is Zulu (23 percent), followed by Xhosa (16 percent), and Afrikaans (14 percent). English is the fourth most common first language in the country (9.6%), but is understood in most urban areas and is the dominant language in government and the media.
Who speaks Afrikaans?
| Afrikaans | |
|---|---|
| Native to | South Africa, Namibia |
| Ethnicity | Afrikaners Basters Cape Coloureds Cape Malay Griqua |
| Native speakers | 7.2 million (2016) 10.3 million L2 speakers in South Africa (2002) |
| Language family | Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Weser-Rhine Germanic Low Franconian Dutch (Hollandic dialect) Afrikaans |
Why do Coloureds speak Afrikaans?
Historically, it has been acknowledged that coloured people were integral to the creation of creole language that mixed Dutch, Malay languages and African languages which came to be known as Afrikaans. … The ancestors of coloured people were amongst the first to create the new language, Afrikaans.
What is the youngest language in the world?
Rich in idiom and emotion, Afrikaans was born 340 years ago in the homes of South Africa’s white Dutch, German and French settlers. Not only is it the world’s youngest national language, it is one of the smallest, with just 13 million speakers.
Do all Afrikaners speak English?
Most Afrikaners can speak English or some other Language to a considerable degree. Also keep in mind that it is compulsory in South Africa to learn a second language, so anyone who went to school would be able to speak more than one language. … In fact, there are many “non-Afrikaners” that only speak Afrikaans.
What is Afrikaans a mix of?
Afrikaans is a creole language that evolved during the 19th century under colonialism in southern Africa. This simplified, creolised language had its roots mainly in Dutch, mixed with seafarer variants of Malay, Portuguese, Indonesian and the indigenous Khoekhoe and San languages.
What is the hardest language to learn?
The Hardest Languages In The World To Learn
- Mandarin. Right at the top is the most spoken language in the world: Mandarin. …
- Arabic. Number two, Arabic, challenges English speakers because most letters are written in 4 different forms depending on where they’re placed in a word. …
- Japanese. …
- Hungarian. …
- Korean. …
- Finnish. …
- Basque. …
- Navajo.
6.12.2016
What is South Africa known for?
South Africa, the southernmost country on the African continent, renowned for its varied topography, great natural beauty, and cultural diversity, all of which have made the country a favoured destination for travelers since the legal ending of apartheid (Afrikaans: “apartness,” or racial separation) in 1994.