Comments on: All languages equal but English (and Afrikaans?) more equal?

By: South Africa: All languages equal but English (and Afrikaans?) more equal? - SocioLingo Africa » SocioLingo Africa

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 17:17:41 +0000

[...] http://constitutionallyspeaking.co.za/?p=530 [...]

By: bryan

bryan — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 12:42:33 +0000

I think Prof. is right what is said in the constitution is not in line with what is happening in practice. and with all the circumstances one can tell that in theory all languages are equal but in practice their are not come what may nothing will change it as far as any suggestion one makes has its own conflicts say for example multilingualism 3/11 is equivalent to fail languages are not equal and thats it moreover constitution construdict itsself the freedom that its talking about makes it impossible to perfom equity in terms of languages in that if every person is free to stay/work in the place of his/her choice it means every african must know all the 11 official languages

By: lils

lils — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:01:18 +0000

silly

no logic at all

By: lils

lils — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:00:42 +0000

silly

no help at all

By: Anonymouse

Anonymouse — Mon, 05 May 2008 10:27:29 +0000

In the absence of a translation of what Khosi has stated above, allow me to paraphrase for those who do not understand (and, Khosi, please correct me if I am wrong):
“All those above,
In my opinion (view) we may (should) not (never) allow one language to be treated above (preferential to) the others.”
Khosi, this time around, I, for one, agree with you; and, I’m sure Prof De Vos and all the others above will also agree with that sentiment of yours. That does however not solve the problems that we ecounter in practice today (and it does not seem as if they will be solved in the foreseeable future unless suitable interpreters are employed) – see my above comments and that of Clara’s. Any suggestions?

By: Clara

Clara — Sun, 04 May 2008 16:17:31 +0000

Sorry, Michael, I don’t quite get what you’re saying there. Is it at all possible for you to express yourself a little more simply?

By: Michael Osborne

Michael Osborne — Sun, 04 May 2008 03:26:54 +0000

Sorry, for “anyone” read “no-one.”

By: Michael Osborne

Michael Osborne — Sun, 04 May 2008 03:22:51 +0000

Anyone who fails to understand what Khosi has said (and I include myself), has standing to argue for the use of indigenous languages in official SA discourse.

By: Clara

Clara — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:30:41 +0000

I agree entirely with what you say, Anonymouse. The only solution seems to be to bring on the interpretors. In the meantime, children whose mother-tongue is not a universal language such as English should be taught it from a relatively early age, say 10 years. Black South African parents are generally only too keen for their children to learn English at the earliest opportunity, and with good reason. But this is discouraged by the authorities, possibly because of a cultural/political bias.

The other day, someone argued on the Cape Times’s Letters page that as an employer he favoured workers from Malawi “because they can communicate efficiently in a universal language”. He could not employ “those who come from my home town, East London, once recognised as the cradle of multilingualism in South Africa, as these days, sadly, most cannot communicate in anything but their own limited vernacular”, and that “whoever argues against this reality is entirely lacking in pragmatism”. Quite.

By: khosi

khosi — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:19:42 +0000

Nina bangasethla,

Mina ngokubona kwami kumele singavume
li ukuthi kube khona ulimi olukhonya ngendlela eyenza ezinye izilimi zifidibale.