It is astonishing that Mary Metcalfe, whose educational legacy in Gauteng was characterised by one foolish, abandoned experiment after the other, should pontificate on the issue of Afrikaans schools (“War talk won’t end language row”, June 5). The … Read the rest
Tag: English
Ilana Mercer: Alas, Donald Trump is no cultural Marxist
Trump Walking The Culturally Conservative Talk
By Ilana mercer
WHEN IN THE US, SPEAK ENGLISH. Donald Trump’s retort to Jeb Bush’s rattling off in Spanish on the campaign trail conjures an old joke told in Israel of my youth. It … Read the rest
Letter: By what right may government decide what language I should use?
I write in English to accomodate readers who aren’t bright enough to speak more than one language; those who do not understand Afrikaans.
I write anonymously as I am not pursuing a career in politics or in media. Further I … Read the rest
US now has more Spanish speakers than Spain
The United States is now the world’s second largest Spanish-speaking country after Mexico, according to a new study published by the prestigious Instituto Cervantes.
The report says there are 41 million native Spanish speakers in the US plus a further … Read the rest
Afrikaans schools win first round against forced anglicization
Disgruntled parents of single-medium Afrikaans schools dragged Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi to court and won the first round.
Fedsas said Lesufi’s decision to make parents apply for admission electronically was merely an effort to take control of the placement … Read the rest
The Killer language takes Cannes
This year’s Cannes Film Festival was greeted with consternation when a commonality was noticed across many of the festival’s in-competition selections: the Killer language, English.
… Read the restThough there are only two American filmmakers in competition for Cannes’ Palme d’Or and no
UCT discovers that English is a barrier to black students
The University of Cape Town’s College of Accounting, concerned by high drop-out rates, has developed English, Xhosa, and Zulu videos to teach financial and accounting concepts to second-language black students.
Adding up numbers, it seems, is much easier in your … Read the rest
The 3 codes of political correctness
South Africa has arguably become the most politically correct country in the world where even the most innocuous statement may invoke hysterical denunciations, complaints to the South African Human Rights Commission or terminate an academic career.
For example, saying that … Read the rest
Excerpt from ‘Raiders of the lost Empire’ by Dan Roodt
From Vanuatu ‘our’ flag and penchant for imitation
South Africa, especially these days, is trying to decide whether we should emulate Idi Amin’s Uganda or some cargo cult on the island of Vanuatu. You could call the system here a … Read the rest
From Vanuatu ‘our’ flag and penchant for imitation
South Africa, especially these days, is trying to decide whether we should emulate Idi Amin’s Uganda or some cargo cult on the island of Vanuatu. You could call the system here a … Read the rest
Of English moral hysteria and student pranks
South Africa is apparently experiencing another tedious outburst of moral outrage about an innocuous case of “blackface” put on by two women students at the University of Pretoria for a 21st-birthday party.
I try to keep the mass media at … Read the rest
On the prejudices of ‘progressives’
by Dan Roodt
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My first question upon reading this sorry little ego trip from a Daily Maverick columnist who obviously thinks she deserves the Nobel prize for literature in a … Read the rest
Six Americans among Nairobi mall attackers
Al-Shabab has released the names of the attackers in the weekend mall siege in Nairobi, Kenya, and they include at least six Americans, two from Minnesota, one from Kansas City, as well as one each from … Read the rest
Blacks impose English on coloured children of N. Cape
Mr. Zolile Prusente is the curriculum specialist with the regional education department in Upington. Recently, he sent a complaint to the South African Human Rights Commission regarding a problematic shift in language policy in the past year.
He alleges that … Read the rest
The Left wouldn’t mind seeing South Africa destroyed
by Dan Roodt
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In my last column, I went to the trouble of explaining what happened on 16 June 1976 and that none of the six rioting Soweto high