You're quite right Anton. Whether we like it or not, English is the dominant language and it's necessary for trading with the rest of the world. Now people are learning Manderin because China has become a global trade partner of many nations. The country which dominates world markets, gets to have its language spoken widely across the globe. The South African government tried to include KiSwahili as a third language in schools but it really makes no sense and hasn't taken off. People rather learn the languages of their neighbours whom they know and deal with on a daily basis than KiSwahili which we won't use in South Africa. Even Manderin is kicking off faster than KiSwahili because of trade. I'm not hating on KiSwahili, it's a beautiful language but it's not practical here in the South where already the average child has to study a minimum of 2 languages just to finish school. There are other pressing things we need for development, not just language.
I agree. In the southern part of Africa, you all are already multilingual, and there are other pressing matters at hand. As you said, Kiswahili is a beautiful language, but right now, I don't see how practical it would be for the entire continent to learn it.
In Ghana there are over 50 different ethnic languges based on tribes, so English is the official national language. Twi is widely spoken and would be helpful if one is communicating with those who have not had any formal education .
I greatly appreciated your video about why you left Rwanda. I had the same information about the prominence of English there. It gives me time to prepare in advance of travel to Rwanda. It was a coincidence you went from there to Namibia, which is another country high on my list for retirement (as well as South Africa and Tanzania currently). I’ve been studying Swahili in order to open up several more countries for possible relocation. I’m well traveled but have only been to The Continent twice (northeast nations) but feel that my “safe space” will be in one of those 54 nations….and I’m gravitating to those south and southeast nations. So I’m really enjoying your videos. 👍🏾
Thanks for sharing! I appreciate that, Wayne. I am currently in South Africa, and I'm loving it here. A lot more to see and do than Namibia. Furthermore, I think it's great you're learning Swahili. Like you said, that will open up more countries for you.
one thing about African languages is that they are quite similar, example Oshiwambo and Swahili are quite similar, it will not be difficult for bantu people to learn Swahili..
@@AntonsClass actually only Arabs and Somalis, and Tutsis and Ethiopians/Eritreans, and Fulanis, Masai, etc don't understand Bantu.. rest have Bantu so can easily pick up each other languages if interested. That said, Swahili is very easy to learn since mixture of Arabic, Bantu, and some hindu words. It's like English among european languages.
@@africanglobalnomad That's not true. West African language families are not Bantu. They fit into a larger, Niger-Congo major language family, but even that is somewhat controversial. Wolof (related to Fulani), Twi, Bambara and many other languages aren't very similar to Bantu languages. Tutsi? Tutsi speak Kinyarwanda, which is in fact a Bantu language, actually.
@@AntonsClass Tusti are nilotes not Bantu. The language is though. Not going to debate about west africans being bantus since I have quite frankly never even visited that part of Afrika. Thanks.
#Kiswahili has now become an official language for Afrika per the African Union. Not sure what took so long though. If Afrikans didn't speak English, I don't understand where we would be since we rely so much on the UK and Canada and the US. Let's not get carried away. Even Russia, Israel, Japan, India, and China trade with Afrika via English. Facts 💯. Great topic. Thanks!
The reality is that English will continue to be dominant. As a South African, we have so many languages already and each country is going to prioritize their local languages. It's another thing which is going to be on paper but in practice, we are very far.
As an African child the first language that you have to learn is your traditional language then you can learn English because when you start working and you have to travel who in that country will be speaking your traditional language like if your in a meeting with white people or Latinos no one in that room will understand you if you have to speak oshiwambo or Damara because they all have a primary Language that we all have to speak and that is English.. Africa is a developing continent and there is really no harm in learning English
True English is dominant ,the country's wich is speaking English in Africa are more than those who speak other languages, And ure right even the African summits are done in English facts guys
Between my wife and I, the only common language is English. If one of us didn't speak it, I would not have ever married her. Hence my children have spoken English since day 1.
Rwanda is not yet an english speaking country nor a french speaking country. The transitioning made it hard to know the True identity of Rwanda language wise but the progress made is promising and i hope the coming generation will speak a better english as a person Who witnessed the transitioning i am quite confident
It is good manners to learn greetings in a language of the people that live around you and it makes life a lot easier. English will get you by but, be also be open to someone that says they cannot speak English but they can speak multiple other languages. I spoke more Afrikaans in Namibia to black people than I did English, it was a weird thing. In South Africa, your location determines your language, staying inland is a quick way to learn at least 5 languages at a go, the coast is not as linguistically diverse. The Swahili thing as the universal African language is just not going to happen if we are being honest because it threatens to put other languages into extinction and, we have seen that happen to a few languages over the years.
You're totally right, but the story that will always go around is that swahili was supposed to be the African language, will it ever be only time will tell but I'm with you 🤌
Honestly pls don't come to Africa with Tha America mentality because you not willing to learn african languages... In Europe most countries speak their languages even if it's an international event... We know English very well but that's not our mother tongue and don't expect us to speak English because u don't know your original language
