1. Post below the most remarkable piece of the BBC story that you wrote in your notes; it could easily take the form of a comment or a question.
2. Is there any intersection between a piece of this story and your own research on dying/extinct languages (similarities or differences)?
1. I thought it was interesting how language was described as "political" in South Africa. People could easily and comfortably speak their own language at home, but as soon as they go in public it is expected that they speak English. Even though a democracy has evolved in this country, it is amazing to learn that their are still restrictions to some languages.
ReplyDelete2. It is similar to my research because of the fact that there is more than one official language in both countries. Also, both countries seem to be putting forth efforts to preserving the many languages that exist in the country despite some pressures to make english more dominant.
This story discusses how people feel pressure to learn English in order to be competitive in South Africa and around the world. Can a respect for African languages be maintained with this attitude, or is it always undercutting the African language a bit?
ReplyDeleteOne thing I found interesting is that there are eleven official language in South Africa. And years before there were only two official language which were English and Africaan. Also, I learned that in classroom the students mainly speak English. When they are chatting they use a conbination of both english/africaan and their local language.
ReplyDeleteI found that the African government is trying to preserve their various of local language by setting them official. There are some local language that has over 10 million users.
1. One thing I found very interesting is that many multi lingual Africans speak combined languages to communicate with each other, because there are common combined words and shared words in different languages. It is very interesting to hear people speak out different languages in one sentence.
ReplyDelete2. It is different from my research because in Africa, everyone emphasizes that no language is more important than others, and there is no need to be ashamed of your language. However, for my extinct language, after the persecution, people are afraid of speaking coptic and let it diminish ultimately. Therefore, people's attitude toward their languages are different from my research language and the official languages in South Africa.
1. People tend to speak English in public places, even though there are 10 other official languages in the South African. They still regard English as the most proper language. Setting 11 official languages do not solve the problem of language inequality.
ReplyDelete2. I am wondering what is the best way to prevent a language from dying out, since sometimes even setting up laws will not work as what is expected.
1. I found it interesting that the languages spoken are official, yet they are only spoken by a relatively small number of people in a relatively small area. I think of an official language as one that everyone in the country speaks. It should be the first language of all native people of the country. I lived in South Africa, and I would not be able to even name all 11 languages, yet alone be conversational.
ReplyDelete2. This is similar to my research because the country has 11 official languages, two of which are the most widely spoken. The language of Cornish is regional to Cornwall, like how some of those languages are only spoken in small regions. Also all people are expected to speak the main language/s of the country. Cornish people would not be able to live normally if they weren't fluent in English. Also, speakers of small languages have to be able to speak English or Afrikaans to be competent in all areas in South Africa.
1) like Nicki I found it interesting that it was expected that you speak English outside your home. I kind of understand the principle, not everyone speaks your language and there are so many different languages in South Africa, but I feel that maybe the most common languages should be more common in business and just generally around the country.
ReplyDelete2) I found this very relevant to my research because, like Welsh, most South African languages are not used commonly in business. It is different because its not actively discouraged in public, but. It's definitely not used commonly anywhere else besides local businesses and conversation.
1. The most remarkable part of this piece was the idea of a large amount of languages in regular use, but not in social use. I felt that in a new democracy of South Africa, citizens should feel they have the right to speak their language where they want too.
ReplyDelete2. I feel that there is a similiarity. Many South Africans feel that they can't speak their language in fear that they will be judged or harmed for it. Many Jewish people in the early 1900's felt they would be killed if they spoke their language and many of them intact were killed.