Teaching Languages

Afrikaans is a rich language made up from other languages with Dutch as the main language. It developed from 1652 when Jan van Riebeeck came here from the Netherlands to open a supply station for the East Indian Company and the VCO.

The first language to influence the birth of a new language was the Khoisan language of the indigenous Khoi-khoi and San people of South Africa.

Indian and Malaysian Portuguese people came to work on the government farms and also contributed to forming Afrikaans. French Hugenotes and German Settlers as well as British Settlers also had an influence in this new language. Nine Indigenous African Languages also lend to and borrowed words from Afrikaans.

Afrikaans is one of the 11 Official Languages of South Africa.