When you hit the big time of Grade 3 in South Africa, the real education begins. For this is when the curriculum expands to include a local African language. Despite living smack bang in the centre of Zululand, the 'local' language Grantleigh has chosen to teach is Afrikaans. In my ignorance, I thought Afrikaans was a language that was all but dead, but on arrival here, it quickly dawned on me that despite being in the minority, it is a language that is well and truly kept alive.
To some of the kids, for whom Afrikaans is their first language, Grade 3 must come as a welcome relief. To the rest, who are still struggling to get their head around English, starting out on another language altogether must come as quite a challenge.
For William, it is not so much a welcome relief, but more a source of great excitement. He seems to love his Afrikaans lessons, and particularly delights in knowing something that neither of his parents do! Happy days!
For the most part, I no longer get involved in helping William with his daily homework - it just leads to arguments. He tells me he's done it, and I sign his homework book. Done. When it comes to Afrikaans, it's more that I CAN'T get involved in helping, as I'm really not too sure about any of it!
See if you can get your lips around this page out of his reader:
Now here's William's rendition:
And so…
…we're pretty sure that the Afrikaans language will not feature hugely in our lives once we leave here. For now though, it's fantastic to watch William embrace something so different, and enjoy it.
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