3. Don’t rush in
till you know how to escape!
We ask students
to not engage with Xhosa speakers until they have learnt how to enter the
conversation, introduce themselves, but then also how to respectfully exit the
conversation. This entails knowing the good‐byes, but more importantly, it is
about knowing how to explain in the Xhosa that one is still learning to speak
Xhosa, that one only speaks a little and one can’t say anymore. Xhosa people love it when you can say these
things properly but they also get that your Xhosa is limited, which helps avoid uncomfortable situations.
4. Then rush in
whenever you can!
This knowledge in
turn gives you as a learner increased confidence to enter into conversations in
the first place, something you need to do a lot of to improve in any language.
So once you know the basics, and can ‘escape’ respectfully, you need to go for
it. One of the great things about learning Xhosa is that it is appreciated by
so many Xhosa speakers. One of my ‘mamas’ says that when someone trys to speak
Xhosa to her, she wants to hug them cos it makes her feel like all is right in
the world. This is an attitude shared by many Xhosa people, as told by her, as
experienced by myself personally, shared by many students, and confessed to by
Xhosa people I have asked. However, not everyone is like this and if Xhosa
people feel or suspect, and have been subjected to people speaking their
language in a way that is obviously just to manipulate or exploit, they do not
react warmly at all. What people respond to is respect, effort, authenticity,
humility!
