Learned: isiZulu Language

Good Morning
Good Afternoon : Sawubona
Good Evening

How are you? : Kunjani?
I am fine and how are you? : Ngisaphila wena unjani?

Also, listen for different ways to answer “how are you?” such as: “I am a little bit fine,” or “I’m in a bad mood.”

The Zulu people form part of the Nguni group consisting of the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi. Although the speakers of these languages understand each other when they speak, the written languages are somewhat different.

The Zulu people are found mainly in KwaZulu Natal. Zulu people have a Zulu King (presently King Goodwill Zwelithini). The Zulu nation is popular with its rhythmic music and Zulu dance (indlamu). IsiZulu is a very idiomatic language and proverbs are often dominant in language usage. An example is the proverb Ubone mina nje, bayoze bakubone nawe abanamehlo summarised as Amabona bonane (You see me, those with eyes will also see you.) Gcugcwa, a well known thief who had stolen even the untouchable King Shaka’s cattle, said these words to King Shaka before he was murdered on King Shaka’s instructions. The proverb in generally regarded as Gcugcwa’s prediction that King Shaka would also eventually be murdered.

from “South Africa ‘Phrased’: A Quick Reference Guide to South Africa’s Eleven Official Languages”

Lesotho Shebeen

Lesotho: Le-su-tu (meaning country of mountains, an independent country inside the country of South Africa); Basotho: Ba-su-tu (the term used to refer to the people who live in Lesotho, the word actually means high); Sesotho: Se-su-tu (the language spoken by the Basotho people)

We ducked through the low door of the hut and nestled our way into the cramped and dark inner circle lined with benches. The Basotho elders inched toward the front of the hut to make room for us, moving closer to the bucket of brew for which we’d come. A shebeen is a traditional African pub, and this beer had been brewed by hand. The five or six people who sat around the brew all had the look of having passed beyond the counting of years and marking of age. Their faces were deeply lined, their teeth were few, and their smiles wide. They wore the traditional hats and blankets customary in Lesotho and welcomed us by immediately filling a large plastic cup with brown, grainy liquid. As we passed the cup around the circle each of us took a sip. Grains of maize clung to the sides of the white plastic as the liquid sloshed around the cup, and felt as though they’d get stuck in my teeth as I swallowed the lumpy mix. The beer was musky, smelling of corn and fermented fruit, and warm. The cup was passed around twice, as the rolling, quick-paced consonants of Sesotho pushed against the thatched roof and walls of the little hut.

Learned: Sesotho Language

Thank you very much: Ke leboha haholo

Sesotho is amongst the first African languages to be written and has an extensive and growing literature which covers a wide field of human experience. Throughout the years the language has undergone a constant uniform writing method called disjunctive writing. The writing convention in Lesotho differs from that of South Africa although the language is the same.

Sesotho is the only language in the Sotho group which, unlike Setswana and Sepedi, borrows click sounds from the Nguni languages. Sesotho is intelligible to the Batswana and Bapedi. Therefore it may be spoken over a large area in South Africa.

from “South Africa ‘Phrased’: A Quick Reference Guide to South Africa’s Eleven Official Languages

Heard: “It’s a choice.”

He struggled a bit to load his bags onto the bus, four small black ones and one large, square, maroon pack, piling them high onto the seats. He then balanced his bicycle, with its handlebars folded over and peddles tucked in, into a free corner of space in the passenger van, and, finally, sat down next to the window. He spoke with a lisp and an accent, and when the driver asked him in his own soft South African twang to write down the place he was going, he looked at him curiously, the corner of his mouth slightly upturned.

Daniel, a Frenchman from close to Poitiers, was biking his way around the world. By the time he had reached Swaziland, he’d been on the road for nine months and had spent time in Spain, Portugal, Morocco, and Senegal, among other places. While we sat talking that night, not far from the canopy of trees and bonfire that served as the backpack’s dining room, he explained his plan to visit every continent by the time he ended his trip; when the end would come exactly, he had no idea. He had no plans. Every morning he woke without knowing where he would sleep that night. Sometimes he pitched his tent on the side of the road he’d been biking and cooked a small dinner over his stove before going to sleep. He told me he stays as long as he likes in each place he visits, and moves on when he stops enjoying himself there.

His face was tanned and creased, his eyes small, and his smile full of small white teeth, spaced apart and crooked, with one or two jutting over his bottom lip, adding to his lisp. His forearms were also browned, and he spoke of the joy of bicycling. He liked that it brought him close to nature in the countryside and close to people in the cities. It functioned as a conversation piece, the quickest mode of transportation from point A to B, or access to all those places a car just can’t go. But, he grinned, he “never practiced bicycling in France.” He had never done a bike trip like this one before, had certainly never trained for the Tour de France; he just packed his bags one day and started peddling.

We spoke in English, though we stumbled. He said he never minded the challenges he encountered because of language; yes, if his English was better he could “get his way” more easily, but, he said, that would also mean that he would get his way and then, be on his way. Struggling through the conversation also meant spending more time interacting with people. He grinned again and said it usually meant more time laughing with people. I told him I thought what he was doing was amazing. “Amazing?” “Amazing, like, so wonderful.” “Amazing…” he turned the new vocabulary over in his mind.

“I wish I could do what you’re doing,” I said. “It’s a choice,” he countered. “Anyone can. You can. It’s a choice.”

Check out Daniel’s blog; if you need help understanding French, try using a website translator.

Learned: Xitsonga Language (Shangan)

Good Morning: Avuxeni

How are you?: Ku njhani?
I’m fine: Ndzi kona

Good Afternoon: I nhlikanhi
Good Evening: Ri perile

Goodbye (Stay Well): Sala kahle
Go Well (Have a safe journey): Famba kahle

water: mati
meat: nyama

Xitsonga is spoken by people that inhabit the eastern littoral belt of Southern Africa, from Kosi Bay northwards to Sofala in Mozambique. As a result of the Difaqane war some groups moved westwards and settled in an area immediately south of Venda which was known as Gazankulu. The people who speak the language are more correctly known as Vatsonga and the language they speak is referred to as Xitsonga.

from “South Africa ‘Phrased’: A Quick Reference Guide to South Africa’s Eleven Official Languages”