One of the most intriguing things about South Africa, in my opinion, is the incredible ethnic, cultural, and especially linguistic diversity of this country. I don't know why, but ever since I was young I have been fascinated by different languages. South Africa has ELEVEN officially recognized national languages, including English, Afrikaans (an Indo-European language, derived from Dutch), and nine other African dialects. As you'll notice in the table below, Zulu is spoken in more homes than any other language.
The 2001 census recorded the following home language speakers:
Two years ago, I set some goals for my life, and at the time one of my five-year goals was to become fluent in another language. I've decided to give Zulu a shot, which means that I have only three years to meet my goal (that might be a little unrealistic, but I'll try my best!). My language studies to this point in my life have included Spanish, Mandarin, Koine Greek, short stints of German and French in middle school, and bits and pieces of Hindi, Bengali, and more recently, Afrikaans. Zulu is significantly different from all of these other languages. In fact, I have found all African dialects to be unique from any other language that I have studied before. Until now, I've mostly been picking up words and phrases here and there from my interaction with Zulus, but I recently purchased a beginner's level Zulu book which I plan to study for an hour or so each day. The Zulu language contains "click" sounds (a la the bushmen from The Gods Must Be Crazy) which add to the difficulty of learning the language for a white boy like me. Still, I'm always up for a challenge!
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