South African has 11 official languages: English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Swazi, Venda, Tsonga, Tswana, Nbedele, and Northern Sotho. When I arrived here, I was surprised to find how many people here don't actually speak English. In fact, I'm teaching English as a second language to kids in a township called Khayelitsha.
Also, the South African "accent" is different depending on whether the person's background is British, Afrikaans, or one of the 9 tribal languages. There isn't a language barrier here, but there are many phrases that aren't used in the same way that they are at home. I've made a list of all the things that might confuse people, and I'll be adding to it throughout the semester.
hectic: crazy, intense, chaotic. used all the time.
lekker: cool, nice
to stay somewhere: to live somewhere
varsity: university
college: high school
colored: mixed race
matric: senior year of high school
chilled: chill
cheers: bye
hire: rent (ex: I hired the dvd means I rented the dvd)
robot: traffic light
stay: live (where do you stay? means where do you live?)
by: with (ex: I stayed by Bridget last year means I lived with Bridget last year)
ja (pronounced ya): yeah
shame: what a shame/that's too bad, but used much more frequently here.
howzit: greeting
izit?: really?
now: later or soon (that's a really confusing one)
brekkies: breakfast
braai: barbeque
eish: ugh
vac: break, vacation
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