Just Another South African Language
August 20th, 2009
10 comments
Straight to it then – I do not care for Afrikaans. Let me preface that by saying my closest friend is Afrikaans. Very Afrikaans. My family, too, speak the language. Fluently. Many of them speak it with the frequency of a first language. So do not mistake my not caring for Afrikaans the language as my not caring for Afrikaans-speaking people… two very different things.
Excuse the direct – bordering on rude – approach to writing this piece. I’ve spent the better part of six weeks trying to unpack how I really feel about the language. This self-inflicted anxiety was because, truth be told, I don’t feel anything for the language. It neither angers me nor inspires me. It neither alienates nor invites me. I’m numb to it.
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