Tyrone
What did you study? Pietermaritzburg and Durban are very English as you would know (Maritzburg is often called the last outpost of the British Empire), but Afrikaans is strong in Cape Town. In Bloem where I live, Afrikaans dominates English.
Your thread is going nicely Andre....
If an Afrikaans-speaking person marries an English-speaking person, which will be the first language of the family? Are there a lot a linguistically mixed couples?
Does the native English-speaking population speak Afrikaans as well? Are all Afikaans bilingual in English?
Which is the most important prestige language in South Africa?
Jordi
Some choose Afrikaans, some English, some use both. There are quite a few linguistically mixed couples, but by and large most marry in their own language group. My uncle (married to my mother's sister) is English, but they speak Afrikaans at home.
Afrikaans people are usually bilingual. Some older English speakers still struggle with Afrikaans, but younger generations are bilingual
That is a huge political issue at the moment. The government is pushing for English, but Afrikaans still plays a major part (and is understood by a greater percentage of the total population that English)
Given that so many people from SAf prefer a language other than English, a fair indication of non-British origin, why play Rugby Union, and why rejoin the Commonwealth?
Are the many South Africans who have migrated to Australia in the last decade or two exclusively from the British side of things, or are those of Dutch ancestry also heavily represented?
Very nicely Sander really surprised by the interest
Don't be scared its only a once in a lifetime thing Andre...
Georgina
Rugby Union was introduced to SA by the British, but soon became popular with the Afrikaners. (The Anglo-Boer War was stopped for a day, so that the two sides could play rugby against each other) Cricket only really became popular with Afrikaners in the last half of the 20th century. 105 years of British rule have also influenced the Afrikaans lifestyle. We do have strong historical ties with Britian. As for rejoining the Commonwealth, it had certain political and economic advantages.
I'd say the mix of emigrants from SA more or less reflects the (white) population
Why are white South Africans migrating to Australia and New Zealand? Do they usually come back after a few years or do they settle there? Are there South African who migrate to Great Britain or the Netherlands (or Belgium)?
=>or the Netherlands (or Belgium)? <=
There are practically no SA migrating to the Netherlands nor to belgium....do get a lot of SA tourists though.
Jordi
Mostly because of the crime. Many do come back, many settle there. The most popular destinations are New Zealand and Australia (lifestyle is very similar). Not many emigrate to Europe, although many young people go to the UK for a year or two and then come back
I never knew how low populated Australia was...20 million.
Yeh much of the country is desert everyone lives on the coast (well, almost everyone) have to admit they've achieved a lot for such a small nation
=>small nation <=
Small?! Its HUGE!
I've met quite a few South Africans who decided to come here, to Canada. I'd say most of them were English-speaking.
Andre, is it only the crime that gets these people to emigrate, or is it also the economic situation? The South African per capita GDP seems to hover just under $ 3, 000 US/year, which, obviously, can hardly compare to Australia's or Canada's $ 30, 000.
Incidentally, I also noticed that South Africans require visas to travel to most Western nations these days. I hope it changes.
Anyway, I hope South Africa can find a way to keep its relative prosperity (and increase it), and also that it keeps the enormous advantage of its industry and excellent infrastructure, as well as its democracy.
By the way, what's with this (not even tacit any longer) support of Mugabe?