The apartheid era is over and we are — regardless of skin colour, race or tribe — all equal in the eyes of the law. This is generally considered to be a good thing.
But regardless of laws, or lack of them, humans seem to prefer associating with other humans who are like themselves — people who speak the same language and have the same customs and background as they do.
We may have colleagues or business associates from other ethnic backgrounds but, at the end of the day, most of us retire to the comfortable cocoons of our own homes where everybody speaks the same language and enjoys the same traditions.
This is not exclusive to the human race. Leopards do not share their caves with lions; dassies do not sleep with owls. That’s nature’s way.
In South Africa, language plays a major role in dividing us into separate groups. In shopping malls, English speakers, Indians, Greeks and amaXhosa stand chatting and nobody has a clue what the others are saying to each other.
I was fortunate enough to grow up in the Eastern Cape where I learnt to speak basic isiXhosa as a child. This has opened many doors to me.
Bank tellers, shop assistants, petrol attendants and nurses react with delight when they hear someone speaking their language. It creates an instant bond. I often think it a great pity that “white” schools do not make more of an effort to teach their learners basic, everyday conversational isiXhosa.
All we need to break the barrier is a selection of friendly phrases — “Hello. How are you?
Please. Thank you. How much is this? Have a nice day. Where do you come from? Where is the toilet? Can you help me?”
I was sent to a fancy boarding school where they spent thousands of classroom hours trying to teach me Latin. In all the 65 years since writing matric, I have never spoken a single word of Latin to anyone, although it might have helped me to solve a few crossword puzzle clues.
At school I never heard any Latin spoken. It was all written stuff. If I had happened to meet a Roman, I wouldn’t even have been able to wish him a pleasant day. I don’t know whether schools teach Latin today, but I hope English- and Afrikaans-speaking kids are being given a few lessons in conversational isiXhosa.
With all the unemployment in our province today, it should surely be possible to find somebody willing to give extra Xhosa lessons.
They needn’t even have any academic qualifications. It could make a significant difference to many lives.
Last Laugh
A golfer was thrashing about in the bushes, searching for a lost ball, without success.
Eventually, after half an hour of frustrated hacking, he swore loudly and decided to give up.
A little old lady sitting on a park bench on the other side of the fence looked up from her knitting and asked: “Would it be against the rules if I told you where your ball was?”
* "Tavern of the Seas" is a column written in the Cape Argus by David Biggs. Biggs can be contacted at [email protected]
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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