Willmore Adventures: For the Love of Language… Sawubona, Bonjour, Hello!

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Sawubona Everyone! Or, ‘Hello’, to the non-Zulu speakers amongst us (at least me). With 11 official languages, and Zulu being the most widely spoken, South Africa is a babel of sounds and clicks. Most people here can understand at least 2 of the languages, like Laurence; and if you’re like our gardener, Shephard, you can speak 6 of them! As with all languages, they are regional, and they come with their own cultures and traditions. It’s amazing to hear them all being spoken, but thankfully for me, in the big cities, most people speak English.

Despite the convenience of being an anglophone and everyone using English for my benefit, I’ve enjoyed hearing people’s conversations switch with ease from one language to another, and it has made me want to join the multilingual party. So, shortly after we arrived in 2018, I set out on my journey to learn a new language. It would seem logical that I would choose one of the 11, given the opportunity to speak them, but instead of starting afresh, I stayed firmly within my ‘secondary school second language’ comfort zone and started learning French. After 3 years of Duolingo, podcasts, online courses, Netflix, and French conversation classes, my grasp of French has finally expanded beyond that of, ‘Du Pain, Du Vin et Du Boursin’, and ‘La vache qui rit’. I have also infiltrated the French speaking expat community who have very graciously allowed an anglophone to join their ranks.

It is with a French group, that I have started volunteering at Creche Gabrielle, a French funded community space in the semi-rural area of Vlakfontein, south of Johannesburg (Vlakfontein meaning shallow spring in Afrikaans). The local language is Sotho and the children who range in ages from 1 to 6, have very little English, so communication is quite hard. On site there are offices and preschool classrooms in shipping containers, a kitchen, and a big veggie patch. The facility has been invaluable during Covid, providing children of all ages with food when schools have been closed. We have arrived at the gates this year to see queues of children with a bowl and spoon waiting for a meal; needless to say, the area is very poor. At the creche, we are set to work by Sylvie, and spend our morning with the pre-schoolers. If there is a pretend tea party to be had, or an English song to be sung, then my talents at both drinking tea and speaking English come to the fore and are used to the full! The children are incredibly well behaved, and we try our best to have some fun with them. As well as conversation being difficult, so too is simply remembering the children’s names. They can be incredibly long and have sounds next to one another that seem impossible to say; Tsholofelo, Kgalalelo and Kgothatso to name a few… In the past, under Apartheid, black South Africans were required to have an English name. To my surprise, our gardener Shephard and cleaner Margaret go by different names when they return to their homelands with their families in the holidays. The law thankfully no longer exists, and therefore it is extra important to remember people’s names. So, if I’m found singing Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ on a Wednesday morning, it’s because I’m wanting to speak to little Kgalalelo! Whilst enjoying my time with the children at the creche and the challenge that that brings, I also enjoy the car journeys there and back as I get to speak French with my fellow volunteers, and the challenge that that brings too.

Creche Gabrielle, Vlakfontein

Shipping container kitchen and wriggly tin building

The kitchen

Me with one of the little ones

Toddlers and photo organisation, like trying to herd cats...

Hard at work

Speaking French has in fact become such a big part of our lives that, in September, we decided to move the children to the International French School in Johannesburg – a perk of living in a big city! It is the first time that Joel has been in a formal school setting, and it has taken a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (and medication), to get to this point, so we are thrilled! And after 3 months, he can often be heard correcting our French pronunciation around the house. The culture, we are learning, is as important as the language, and we have thrown ourselves headfirst in to both. Amelie currently has mountain bike lessons in her timetable, with Monday mornings being a ‘Tour de Johannesburg’, and Elowen is excited by ping pong at school. It’s been a great first term and an interesting francophone experience so far.

The French International School,
with the French and the South African Flag

For the midterm break in October, we flew down to Cape Town to spend some time at the beach with Laurence’s sisters Ash and Gina, and brother-in-law Phil. As always, it was incredible. We hung out with the penguins, swam near where ‘My Octopus Teacher’ was filmed, caught up with friends, and even managed to do a bit of ‘trick or treating’ in the sun, followed by a Halloween braai. The perfect way to start the summer in this topsy turvy part of the world.

At Llandudno Beach

Joel the Clifton Beach Mermaid

Boulders Beach with the Penguins

Boulders Beach

More penguins...

Always a sand castle

With Ash, Phil and Gina

The girls playing in the water at Blouburgstrand,
with Table Mountain in the background

Trick or Treating in Harfield Village

We met the invisible man...

Followed by a braai with the Cloetes.

So, it’s been a fun few months in our new French community, at the school and at the creche; and it was an awesome break at the coast in Cape Town too. Having just recovered from Covid, and now watching it surge around the world again, I hope everyone stays safe over Christmas and is able to celebrate with friends and family.

Sala kahle, Au revoir, Goodbye. (Stay safe, Until we see each other again, Goodbye).

Lots of love, Jess x

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