Two South African languages earned spots on a global list spotlighting the coolest languages to learn in the world!
Global (30 June, 2023) — Two South African languages were spotlighted on a list sharing the coolest languages to learn in the world. Considering that there are believed to be over 7000 known, living languages, we think the spotlighting speaks for itself.
According to Babbel Magazine, a publication based on the language learning platform isiXhosa and Afrikaans made the top 10 cut. We’re sure the ‘44 people’ who still speak Afrikaans according to Charlize Theron, will be happy to know.
All jokes aside, the language nod is an important one for SA given just how unique we are as a country tied together with so many linguistic threads. isiXhosa also dubbed the ‘language of the Eastern Cape’ is one of the most spoken languages in our country with an estimate of over 8 million speakers while Afrikaans in fact, does not have only 44 speakers, but almost 7 million.
Why were the languages flagged as so cool? While there’s no subjective definition of language coolness, some categories were considered to compile the list. These included their fascinating features and place in pop culture.
Other languages from around the world that soared in on the list were German, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, French and Korean.
While most of us have encountered die trappe van vergelyking in one way or another, isiXhosa will also become more accessible for more people soon on platforms like Duolingo.
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