Languages

South Africa is a very diverse country. In fact, there are 11 official languages in South Africa. These are Afrikaans, English, IsiNedebele, IsiXhosa, IsuZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, SiSwati, Tshivenda, and Xitsonga.

For more information about the distribution of languages in South Africa click here for a great website.

As you can see, English is the native language of only 8.2% of the country's residents. However, there is a difference between South Africa English and the English typically spoken in the U.S.

Here are a few examples of words or phrases that I need to plan to add to my vocabulary before my trip. For more examples, click here.

bagel (bay-gell) - An overly groomed materialistic young man, and the male version of a kegel.

bakgat (buck-ghut) - Well done, cool, awesome

boet (like book, with a t) - A term of affection, from the Afrikaans for brother

china - To most people China is the country with the largest population in the world, but to a South African it can mean something entirely different. China means good friend, as in "This oke's my china". It's one of the few Cockney rhyming slang words to survive in the country, coming from "china plate" = "mate"

kif - Cool, neat, great or wonderful. From the Arabic kayf, meaning enjoyment or wellbeing

nca - Fine, beautiful. Pronounced with a downward click of the tongue

robots - Traffic lights

scale, scaly - To scale something means to steal it. A scaly person is not to be trusted

takkies - Running shoes or sneakers. Fat takkies are extra-wide tyres

voetsek (foot-sak) - Go away, buzz off