Far left: Torbjørn Kristoffersen of Norway interacts with Die Taal.
Left: So maak mens. Roman Eul from Germany. (Photos: André-Pierre du
Plessis)
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International students enjoy learning Afrikaans
Earlier this year, Sir Richard Branson and Al Gore announced the
largest global science and technology prize. The aim of this prize is
to fight the harmful effects of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The
individual with the best idea will win $25 million – not to be scorned,
especially if you are a student.
Eight international students at Stellenbosch University were asked to
submit their individual ideas – but with a small difference or two. The
submission had to be in Afrikaans and the prize for the best proposal
was not $25 million, but a packet of biscuits.
Marisca Coetzee is one of five lecturers at the Unit for Afrikaans, one
of the units of the University’s Language Centre. This unit was
established to counter the inability of both non-mother-tongue speakers
and mother-tongue speakers to face academic challenges in Afrikaans in
the context of the university.
Marisca coordinates a course presented by the unit in cooperation with
the University’s International Office. Titled "Afrikaans for
Beginners”, the course assists international students to flirt with
Afrikaans.
"There currently are two courses, Afrikaans for Beginners (Level I) and
Afrikaans for Beginners (Level II). Level I is primarily for
international students who will study at Stellenbosch for only one
semester, while Level II helps to equip students who will be at
Stellenbosch for a full degree programme to counter the challenge of
main lectures in Afrikaans.”
Afrikaans for Beginners is one of the many options that international
students can choose when they come to study at SU. Most of the students
who follow this course are from Namibia, Zimbabwe, America, Norway and
particularly from Germany. There currently are close on 100 students in
the respective courses.
"We try to at least teach them what other people say about them on
campus or in pubs. It is based primarily on listening and speaking
skills and we teach them how to be strategically equipped to answer
someone in Afrikaans,” says Marisca.
Level I consists of two sessions of two and a half hours per week.
Students who complete Level I may continue with Level II, which is
equivalent to a year course that further improves the students’
language skills.
Those who follow Level II have to do an oral examination today. Each
had to think up their "brightest plan” for Sir Richard’s $25 million.
Although neither Sir Branson nor Gore attended the class, the purpose
of the exercise was to develop the students’ vocabulary, and
(obviously) to entertain one another.
Torbjørn Kristoffersen from Norway is up first. "My presentation is a bit short,” he says in Afrikaans before he begins.
Marisca tells the class that she will first put up Torbjørn’s poster on
the board with wondergom (Prestik). "Wonder gum?” asks one of the
students. "Does that have something to do with a tree?” "No, this is
wondergom,” and she pulls pieces apart to stick the poster on the board.
On the left-hand side of Torbjørn’s poster is his illustration of
pollution. A car (a German make) spews exhaust fumes into the
atmosphere. His solution? A filter that collects the carbon dioxide at
the exhaust into a tank. This tank will be emptied at fillings stations
(indicated with a picture of Caltex). On the right-hand side of
Torbjørn’s poster are the new words that he has learned while preparing
for this oral: Vulstasie = Gas station. Omgewing = Environment.
Aanbieding = Presentation.
As part of the oral, other students are encouraged to ask Torbjørn a
few questions. "Het jy die prys vir die project gedienk?” asks one. "In
die toekoms sal dit gudkop wies,” answers Torbjørn.
This oral is the result of a full semester course of forty hours. The
focus is primarily on the development of speaking and listening skills.
Elements such as posters are not necessarily used to develop writing
skills, but are rather used as an aid to make speakers more comfortable
with Afrikaans.
"Yes, the classes help,” says Max Dinkelmann from Germany, "but at
Stellenbosch it is easy to switch to English if someone does not
understand you. These classes help us to follow a conversation, even
though we cannot always answer back.”
The nightlife at Maties is now more accessible to students who
previously could not understand Afrikaans at all. As one of them puts
it: "It’s easier to understand Bohemia Afrikaans than 7de Laan
Afrikaans. People who are drunk speak more slowly.”
The students who are already busy with Level II have a developed reference framework of Afrikaans culture.
By using current issues such as air pollution, Marisca helps these
students to study the topic in newspapers. They look at how the word
order changes after certain conjunctions and how the verbs that they
learn through these exercises are inflected in newspaper articles.
One of the most enjoyable things that Roman Eul from Germany can do
with his knowledge of Afrikaans is to talk to bergies. "Hulle dink ek
is wel mal of popdrank.”
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