South Africa has 11 official languages! Fortunately for us, one of those languages is English. While we didn't have to learn a new language to start the ministry, there are a lot of differences! I thought it might be fun for you to see just a few of them.
Bakkie (pronounced bucky) - pickup truck
Boot - trunk of car
Bonnet - hood of car
Hooter - horn
Robot - stoplight
Trolley - grocery cart
Serviette - Napkin
Brinjal - Eggplant
Marrow - Zucchini
Mince - Ground Beef
Spanspek (pronounced spawnspek) - Cantaloupe
Cot - baby crib
Dummy - pacifier
Nappy - diaper
Doo Doo - nap
Camp Cot - Pack 'n Play
Pram - Stroller
Stroller - Umbrella Stroller
Pronunciation and spelling are also often very different! Here are a couple of examples:
When saying "path" the a would be pronounced like the a in wigwam;
but when saying "wigwam", the a would be pronounced like we say the a in path!
Due to other languages, street and suburb names can get quite interesting! We lived in Weltevreden Park (veltefreeden). Yet now we live in Wilro Park, and it's pronounced like it's written. Another suburb is Helderkruin (helderkrane). W's can be "v", V's can be "f", ui says long a....
Here are a couple of the spelling differences: colour, practise.
Dates are written as day/month/year. For example, today is 31/10/2010, or 31 Oct 2010.
Time is frequently referred to as military time. It is currently 22h52.
aww....made me want to experience that all now! I still say rubbish all the time, or tomato sauce, and people are like....your not in SA anymore. And I just tell them, "I will be soon!" Cannot wait. ;)
ReplyDelete