Learning South African
Without having to learn Afrikaans I have realized that I need to learn a new language to communicate with my South African husband. From accents to phrases to words and messages, he does things differently. I am unsure if he mumbles or he speaks in a different language, but clearly there are things he does that I have not quite learned yet. So to make everyone else's life easier, we have come up with a list with the most commonly used South African phrases.
Robot- That thing that people stop at that turns red, yellow and green. apparently it looks like a robot.
sweets- CANDY!
ja no definitely- they need three different words to politely say yes.
Can I phone?- Can I call you?
lekker- pronounced "lack-er"- when I cook the best meal and he eats it he will say lekker, meaning nice/delicious.
shame- (frequently repeated) It is like the Southerns version of "bless her heart."
pavement- sidewalk
pad kos- road food/travel food
braai- A BBQ would be a South African children's edition of a braai. A braai involves better food and greater rewards.
now now - very soon but not actually now
These differences in culture have made our relationship into a fun learning experience, we learn more about each other every day. I still have not learned the full South African vocabulary, but I am excited.
It is so interesting that even if two people both speak English they may not completely understand each other. I would have never thought of calling a stop light a robot but there are definitely terms that I use growing up in Southern California that someone from the East Coast may not understand. This is especially interesting to me because I have an aunt and uncle that are originally from California that have lived in Johannesburg for the past couple of years. I wonder if they have come across any of these terms. Congrats on getting married!
ReplyDeleteWow! So cool, I think we often forget the wide variety of culture that exist even within a language! I met an South African family a few months ago, it was interesting to listen to all the cultural differences that existed between us and SA. Thanks for sharing!
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