South Africa has 11 official languages. Why the fuss over learning Mandarin?
Fifteen-year-old Boitshepo already knows the word for “rabbit” in four languages.
There’s the English, of course, and then there’s konyn (Afrikaans), unogwaja (Zulu), and mmutla (Sesotho).
And now, on a bright autumn afternoon in a sun-drenched classroom in South Africa’s capital, she is coaxing her brain to make room for a fifth version of rabbit too.
“Tùzǐ,” she repeats, trying to mimic the rise and fall of the tones her Mandarin teacher has just pronounced. Tù - zǐ.
Like many people growing up in South Africa, which has 11 official languages, Boitshepo sees learning a new one in practical terms.
“When you meet people from a
