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Off topic: What's the official language of South Africa?
Thread poster: Robbie Jia
Robbie Jia
Robbie Jia  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 00:40
Member (2009)
Chinese to English
+ ...
Nov 9, 2012

I am dealing with a project for multi-languages.

The client needs to the language pair of Chinese to South Africa language.

what's the official language of South Africa (excluding English)?

what's the very popular language of South Africa ?

thanks...
 
Katinka Krukow
Katinka Krukow
Germany
Local time: 17:40
Member (2011)
English to German
Well,.... :-) Nov 9, 2012

Well, as far as I know, South Africa has 11 official languages! But besides English, Afrikaans is the most popular language down there.

Have a look here as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_South_Africa

: )
 
Paul Dixon
Paul Dixon  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 13:40
Portuguese to English
+ ...
In memoriam
Eleven official languages Nov 9, 2012

I found this on the Internet at http://srufaculty.sru.edu/james.hathaway/rainbow/11_official_languages.htm:[

South Africa's 11 Official Languages

Afrikaans 5,811,547
Setswana 3,301,774
English 3,457,467
SiSwati 1,013,193
IsiNdebele 586,961
Tshivenda 876,409
IsiXhosa 7,196,118
Xitsonga 1... See more
I found this on the Internet at http://srufaculty.sru.edu/james.hathaway/rainbow/11_official_languages.htm:[

South Africa's 11 Official Languages

Afrikaans 5,811,547
Setswana 3,301,774
English 3,457,467
SiSwati 1,013,193
IsiNdebele 586,961
Tshivenda 876,409
IsiXhosa 7,196,118
Xitsonga 1,756,105
IsiZulu 9,200,144
Other 228,275
Sepedi 3,695,846
Sesotho 3,104,197
Unspecified 355,538

Total 40,583,574

Source: SA Census (1996)

So if you want the official language with most speakers, then it's IsiZulu (more speakers than Afrikaans). ▲ Collapse
 
Robbie Jia
Robbie Jia  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 00:40
Member (2009)
Chinese to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks so much for your help. Nov 9, 2012

Katinka24 wrote:

Well, as far as I know, South Africa has 11 official languages! But besides English, Afrikaans is the most popular language down there.

Have a look here as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_South_Africa

: )


 
Robbie Jia
Robbie Jia  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 00:40
Member (2009)
Chinese to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks so much for your help. Nov 9, 2012

Paul Dixon wrote:

I found this on the Internet at http://srufaculty.sru.edu/james.hathaway/rainbow/11_official_languages.htm:[

South Africa's 11 Official Languages

Afrikaans 5,811,547
Setswana 3,301,774
English 3,457,467
SiSwati 1,013,193
IsiNdebele 586,961
Tshivenda 876,409
IsiXhosa 7,196,118
Xitsonga 1,756,105
IsiZulu 9,200,144
Other 228,275
Sepedi 3,695,846
Sesotho 3,104,197
Unspecified 355,538

Total 40,583,574

Source: SA Census (1996)

So if you want the official language with most speakers, then it's IsiZulu (more speakers than Afrikaans).


 
Usch Pilz
Usch Pilz
Local time: 17:40
English to German
+ ...
@ Paul Nov 10, 2012

As Paul says - Zulu is a pretty safe bet. Especially since modern Zulu and modern Ndebele have many similarites - so that covers another big group.
In addition to that, most people in Southern Africa will speak and understand at least some Zulu.
 
Allison Wright (X)
Allison Wright (X)  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 16:40
South Africa also has translators and translation agencies Nov 10, 2012

Your client would be best advised to contact one of the leading South African localisation companies to give them advice.

I have no commercial interest in this suggestion. It is common sense to go to those who know best, don't you think?

Contact me privately if you cannot find what you need on Google.
 
Madeleine Chevassus
Madeleine Chevassus  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 17:40
Member (2010)
English to French
SITE LOCALIZER
conference on radio (RFI) about South African languages (in French) Nov 10, 2012

If some of you speak French and are interested on the subject,

you can replay a conference on Radio France Internationale RFI (in French) on the subject (30 minutes).

http://www.rfi.fr/emission/20121107-connaissez-vous-langues-clic-le-sud-afrique

follow Ecouter la danse des mots

Enjoy!
 


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What's the official language of South Africa?







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