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The Essence of Basic Xhosa Lessons

Have you read the poem, “To Learn How to Speak,” by Jeremy Cronin? This Grade 11 prescribed poem captures the very essence of learning a new language by exploring how difficult it is to learn a new language. Are you passionate about learning IsiXhosa? If you are, this is where we tell you that learning to speak IsiXhosa is as difficult as learning any other foreign language, however, learning a new language is not impossible.

If you are enthusiastic about learning to speak IsiXhosa, you should never let the fear of it being a difficult language stop you from trying to learn the language. In his famous poem, Cronin explores the fact that to fully understand a language, one also needs to understand the people who will speak the language.

In actuality, by learning an African language like Xhosa we can become accepting of the fact that all the people in South Africa have different cultural backgrounds and we start to embrace society and groups who choose to call South Africa home. Imagine approaching the country that you live in with a whole new perspective.

Learning a new language like IsiXhosa can make you open-minded and it may also allow you to connect better with people from other social groups. "Speak a new language so that the world will be a new world," Rumi. Since 16% of the South African population speaks Xhosa, you are bound to benefit highly from learning to speak the language too.

Xhosa Classes

It is wrong to assume that Xhosa is not spoken as much in Mthatha. There are many Xhosa native speakers and Xhosa second-language speakers in the area. Quite a few souls in Mthatha teach IsiXhosa as well. So if you are looking to take Xhosa classes in the Mthatha area, here is what you need to consider.

Each African language spoken in South Africa is unique and when learning Xhosa, you ought to remember that the language is not anything like the English language. When you start your Xhosa language learning journey, think of the language as being unique and embrace the uniqueness of this Nguni language.

Remember learning one of the 11 official languages that have been listed in the Constitution of South Africa is a way to show your commitment to your country and to the people who call the land of South Africa home. If you are proud about learning the language and you admire your courage for taking the plunge and learning the language, you will surely excel in the language. It is inevitably your passion, motivation, and pride in everything that you do that allows you to succeed. Looking at Cronin's poem certain phrases and sentences can be used to describe what you can expect in Xhosa classes.

“To learn to speak,” you must be willing to embrace your creative side and accept the Xhosa pronunciation and phonetics. You must also be keen to learn and approach the learning process with focus.

"To parse the speech," To adequately grasp the Xhosa language you must be able to divide a Xhosa sentence into its grammatical parts. You need to be able not only to speak the Xhosa language but to fully understand what you are communicating.

“To catch in the inarticulate grunt,” remember that learning a language will result in you sounding words that are incorrect or even strangely pronounced. Your Xhosa tutor will step in to catch and make sense of what you are trying to articulate and help you by correcting you. If you are saying something with an incorrect tone, you will be corrected.

"Tongue's-knot," yes learning a new language means you will become tongue-tied and not know how to reply or communicate at some point or the other. While this is expected, try to engage in conversations with native Xhosa speakers only once you are confident that you can speak the language well. You want to hold up high spirits for the entire course and not drop out due to being laughed at for your inability to articulate proper Xhosa sentences. Your tutor will be the best person to practise with while you are gaining confidence in your ability to speak the language.

"Babble," remember at first a beginner Xhosa class will allow you to babble before you can speak properly. It is the same for babies learning their mother tongue. Babbling is a necessary first step towards proficiency in the language.

The Role of the Xhosa Tutor

A qualified language instructor can step in and ensure that you remained focused on the task at hand -language learning. The tutor can play a role in teaching you how to learn. This will make you more creative as a learner and make it easier for you to learn. Your tutor can foster a sense of confidence in you by probing you to answer questions in IsiXhosa. By conversing with you in the language, your tutor will make you more proficient at speaking the language.

A Xhosa tutor will use a teaching methodology that will suit your learning style.  Remember the tutor would have experience tutoring many IsiXhosa beginners so he or she will know exactly how to go about teaching the language. The tutor will know that starting with nouns instead of verbs is not the way to go about tutoring this particular language.

The Xhosa tutor will know which teaching strategies work, as well as how to improve on these teaching strategies having taught this way over the years. The "unbreakable resolve," that the poet, Jeremy Cronin spoke about, is what you can expect to have if you learn to speak IsiXhosa with a tutor. The tutor will motivate you to continue learning and keep you enjoying the learning.

The Role of Superprof Tutors

Through the Superprof online platform, you will be able to find hundreds of tutors who are ready to give you online IsiXhosa courses. 10 IsiXhosa tutors are offering Xhosa lessons in the Mthatha area. There are tutors on the Superprof site who are students majoring in the Xhosa language at a university level.

An added benefit is that these tutors offer online and face-to-face tutorials at affordable rates. You are bound to pay anything between R50-R250 for tutorials in the Xhosa language offered in Mthatha.  Our tutors will teach you everything from how to master the language, to IsiXhosa clicks, vocabulary, and grammar. You must note that most of our Xhosa tutors offer the first lesson for free which is a great way to see if their teaching styles suit your learning style.