University has hopes to score in Xhosa

Stellenbosch University is taking steps to promote and embrace Xhosa, along with other African languages, via sports terminology booklets. ...read more

Tongue-tied on language policy

How is it that the language in education policy in a country with one of the most progressive constitutions in the world still fails the majority of its learners from their earliest school years? ...read more

Words, pictures tell story

"I cannot tell my story without recalling a long way back." - Hermann Hesse. ...read more

Education helps build relationships

More than 10,000 South Africans are learning Chinese in universities and secondary and primary schools around the country thanks to efforts by the Chinese government to enhance Chinese language education in South Africa. ...read more

The Iliad goes local

Homer’s Iliad, the well-known Greek poem set in the Trojan War, has been translated into English versions and virtually every language in the world for many centuries, but now a South African professor in classic literature has published the first South African English translation of the epic tale. ...read more

Language teaching ‘not just a political statement’

Teachers and lecturers from as far afield as China, Ethiopia and Germany congregated at Rhodes University recently to share their experiences of teaching second or additional languages. ...read more

Tribute to multilingualism proponent

Dean of Humanities Prof Fred Hendricks presented a deeply personal tribute to the multi-linguist, Prof Neville Alexander at the opening of a colloquium on second language teaching recently. ...read more

Navigate SA’s linguistic minefield with tolerance

Separate conversations on recent flights have underlined for me the important role that language will play in our search for cross-cultural unity and harmony. ...read more

Does the medium affect the message for students?

Most South African students in higher education are not being educated in their first language. English dominates the higher educational context, including learning material and the circulation and distribution of new knowledge. ...read more

Learning new languages pays

The expressions "ni hoa", "al salaam a'alaykum" and "namaste" might not mean much to most South Africans, but as the new world economies develop rapidly, the value of being able to greet people in Mandarin, Arabic and Hindi is rising. ...read more

Slow development of African languages at South African universities a concern

The South African Department of Higher Education and Training says it remains concerned at the slow development of African languages in the country's universities and has set up a Ministerial Advisory Panel to look into the issue. ...read more

African languages need to be developed - Blade Nzimande

Minister says both wealthy and poor black children lose out from a lack of mother tongue education. ...read more

Tribute to multilingualism proponent

Dean of Humanities Prof Fred Hendricks presented a deeply personal tribute to the multi-linguist, Prof Neville Alexander at the opening of a colloquium on second language teaching recently. ...read more

Stop the death of isiXhosa

Middle class not proud of their heritage. As South Africans celebrate Heritage Day on Monday, academics and African languages' specialists warned of the death of isiXhosa — the cornerstone and one-time proud heritage of the Xhosa speaking people. ...read more

Speaking in mother tongues

Academics, politicians and experts in the Eastern Cape are calling for the use of indigenous languages in education and all government documents. ...read more

Vital that whites learn to speak African languages

Bheki Sele. Tabo Ma-beki. Senzo Msunu. Kagalima Mokla-Ante. This is just an example of how African names are remorselessly butchered by people who clearly have no intention of learning a thing about African languages. So, Cele becomes “Sele” – dangerously close to “isela”, a thief in isiXhosa. ...read more

Chinese centre boost for Rhodes

RHODES University’s decision to offer Chinese studies four years ago is helping to turn what many perceived as a colonial establishment into something with more universal appeal. ...read more

Language has to be on national agenda

Multilingualism in higher education faces challenges SOUTH Africa's democracy was at a crossroads and language, at the heart of real transition and liberation, was not even on the national agenda, political analyst and commentator Professor Somadoda Fikeni warned. ...read more

Somadoda Fikeni gives an inaugural Multilingualism Awareness Lecture

Political analyst and social commentator, Professor Somadoda Fikeni, will give a public lecture on the challenges of multilingualism in higher education tomorrow (15 May). ...read more

Guanxi with Rhodes leads to Chinese book donation

It was a rainy evening in early March when journalism alumni Wang Guoqin noticed the sign to the Confucius Institute while revisiting his alma mater with family and friends. His curiosity led him to Chinese Studies Professor Ma Yue, who still happened to be in his office. ...read more

Reverend fills in Xhosa language gaps

Amid a sea of young university students who will graduate from Rhodes University next weekend, 79-year-old reverend JC "Koos" Oosthuysen prepares to receive his doctorate in African Languages. ...read more