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Namibia: Experiences of Bi-, Multi-Lingual Speakers

Chief Ankama

30 April 2008

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interview

Windhoek — What follows here is the transcript of my interview with a Namibian personality here referred to as PK (I am represented by "C" which stands for Chief) on issues related to speaking more than one language.

C. Hi, tell me please who you are, where you grew up and the language or languages you speak.

PK. My name is PK and I speak about three to five languages, maybe more than that.I speak my mother tongue, English as an official language in my country, Otjiherero an ethnic group language in my country, and I speak Afrikaans. I am able to understand one of the South African languages, which is Xhosa.

I grew up in a community where people speak different languages. There was a time when I went to live with my aunt in Windhoek, a cosmopolitan city where people speak many languages. Having listened to people, I was able to start understanding some words and also speak though my conversation language is not very perfect.

So, that's how I came to know different languages because of having associated with people who speak different languages. And I also went to South Africa where I studied for four years and I picked up how to speak a new language.

C. As a child did you learn to know these languages or did you get to know them as an adult?

PK. Unlike Otjiherero, Afrikaans and Nama/Damara I came to know them while I was a teenager because I lived with these people as neighbours and when they spoke, I just picked up the languages.

C. What is your mother tongue by the way?

PK. My mother tongue is Oshiwambo. To be specific I speak Oshikwanyama.

C. Are you able to tell how you learned your mother tongue? Is it because of your parents, or is it because it is spoken at home? How did you learn about it?

PK. My mother tongue - l learnt it as people speak to me in the house at home. It's more like when the people communicated to me in the house, and I picked up the language.

C. So all people who were in the house were your mother tongue speakers?

PK. Yes!

C. Did the neighbourhood speak other languages then?

PK. When I stayed in Windhoek, the neighbourhood was a mixture of people who spoke other languages and those who spoke my mother language. It is like in front of the house people speak my mother language and people on the left side of my house speak Otjiherero, and on the right, they speak Damara/Nama. I also remembered that behind it were Otjiherero speakers. So I have to grow up picking up all these languages because of my neighbourhood.

C. When did you really learn to speak all these languages?

PK. I used them especially when we were playing, because for me to be able to communicate with the neighbours when we played, I had to speak their languages so that they could understand me.

C. Was it a prestige for you to speak their languages or was it automatic?

PK. No, it was also like if you know their language you are counted as one of them. They were a little bit proud that we had to learn their language instead of them learning my language. So if you know their language, they feel you are part of them.

C. And they never felt they are part of your language?

PK. Not really, not really!

C. Are these languages used outside around the city or beyond their communities?

PK. Like in the open markets, people use these languages, so if you were to go sell stuff like koekies, it would be safer if you knew these languages than just speaking your mother language because many people were able to understand those languages around the city. So it was a way of communication.

C. Can you probably tell more how you acquired other languages then, for example Afrikaans?

PK. Afrikaans is also a language that people speak very much in the street. So it was a mixture of Otjiherero and Afrikaans that one needed to know so that you can communicate with people around. And also when you go to shops one needed Afrikaans in order to communicate to people who sell in shops so that they can understand you better, or when you go to the city markets for clothing or food, you needed to know Afrikaans. That was in the 1970s. But, later on we switched over to English and I learned English from school. People did not want to speak Afrikaans anymore, it was associated with colonialism and they realized English is an international language. People speak English in many countries. So, when my country switched over to English, I had to learn English especially in high school.

C. What about the language that you said you learned beyond your country's borders?

PK. I learned Xhosa, which I learned at a late age. I was over 20 years when I started learning it. I mainly started to understand it as people speak all the time, more so because there were some similarities to my language. I could decipher what some words in Xhosa mean in my mother language. So, I was able to guess what the words may mean and I just found myself speaking it. Maybe because I have been listening to people of my age, I then found myself being able to construct two, three words and the people were able to understand what I meant. So, I learnt just by observing or hearing what people say by listening to them and I started communicating.

C. Can you read in all of these languages?

PK. No, I can't in all, because some are difficult, for instance Damara/Nama and Xhosa have syllables like cliques and I do not know how to differentiate them, or identify which goes up or down. So I haven't learned how to read them. I just learned how people speak. For Otjiherero I have learned how to write it a bit, because I used to see the Hymn books in the church. I know how to read it little bit but I cannot claim really that I know how to write it completely. I can only write something which if a person could guess, may concepualize what I'm trying to say. So speaking and writing is really different. I have these three languages that I am able to understand but cannot write. English and Afrikaans I can write well and speak, but there are other languages that I can write but nor speak.

C. Many people who speak more than one language usually say, "I speak them at different levels", what about you?

PK. Correct, I do speak them at different levels, it seems I understand a lot of words from Damara/Nama but I can't say anything back to respond. And then it is the weakest of all languages I know. I also have Xhosa that I can understand and respond but still it isn't perfect. It is better than my Damara/Nama, it is at a different level not necessarily where I want to be. I also know Afrikaans and English, but there were days I have mixed them. But now my English is getting better and better and it is even getting at the same level as my mother language, or I do not know what to say in terms of balance because I seem to know a lot of things in English which I have to find out what they are in my mother language. Of course they are also at different levels.

C. In terms of the official language, the language that is used for official communication as related to other languages, what would you say is the situation in your Namibia? Do many people use the official language or other languages more?

PK. Mhmmm, that is a tricky question. They do speak the official language but not many are doing well. It could be that perhaps half of the population knows how to speak the official language but the other half not, or even more than half do not speak English at all. People will probably get better and better with English as new generations come, because children who started English at the lower level of education will not be equated to those of us who started English at high school.

C. Does it mean that your Namibia is multilingual?

PK. Yes, it is multilingual because we speak many other languages other than our mother tongues only.

C. What do you regard yourself, a bilingual or multilingual?

PK. I am multilingual; I have more than two languages. I have my mother tongue, Afrikaans and other ethnic group languages, plus a language I know, which is beyond our borders, so, I am multilingual.

C. How do you define multilingualism? Are these people who speak more languages at the same level or as long as they understand other languages?

PK. I would say they may not be speaking all languages at equal level or at the same level. For me if you speak a number of languages, no matter how the level, then you are multilingual. It does not necessarily mean that you have to have the knowledge or acquire each language at the same level. But I am multilingual because I am able to go into other languages and understand them and speak them too, though not at the same level as the first language speakers.

C. How do you view people's interaction, especially those from different regions in Namibia, which languages do they use?

PK. It depends, sometimes in English but sometimes in their mother languages if the situation allows it or other regional languages when necessary.

C. Do ordinary people also interact in English?

PK. No! It depends really on where one is. If you are in a village, then interaction takes place in the language of the villagers. But at official functions, if one has to converse with the people in English, maybe with the help of an interpreter at times.

C. If your child has to learn a new language, what would you want him or her to learn? Do you want him/her to be bilingual, multilingual or monolingual? Why?

PK. With monolingual nowadays people cannot really survive. I 'd rather have my child be minimum bilingual but better multilingual so that the child can communicate without difficulty with people from diverse languages. So I support multilingualism and I also know children these days are growing up as bilinguals, they speak my language and they know English and sometimes at certain levels for example, at school, they learn Afrikaans. I am sure they will learn to know more than two languages at the end of the day.

C. What would you say about the situation where a country with multilingual speakers declares a monolingual language policy?

PK. Well, it is a matter of principle, but it would be more accommodating if people (communities) are allowed to also have their languages be co-official languages. However, it may cause some problems when people go to public places like at the post office in cities and towns, what language would they speak because the people over-the-counter would expect them to speak the official language and not just their mother tongues? I think for the sake of smooth communication there must be an official language declared to facilitate that. On the other hand, people must be allowed to use and practise their languages as much as they can wherever and whenever possible without infringing on the rights of others.

C. In terms of the multilingualism your country portrays, do you think currently education accommodates all the other ethnic languages in the country?

PK. No ... well, English is not accommodating ethnic groups, it's there for itself but, I think there is a provision for people to use their mother tongues when they want to. English in Namibia is particularly contributing to unity but the people are able to communicate among themselves in their own languages as well.

C. How do people in your country generally learn own languages, I mean their mother tongues? Apart from their families and communities, do they learn the mother tongues in school as well?

PK. Languages are learnt much better through natural acquisition and when teaching takes place it is simply to refine the rules of what are already there. For me language is better naturally acquired, and classroom teaching is just a supplement to the learning. And to answer your question, yes, some local languages are taught in school and as such children can improve upon their mother tongues while in school. Languages are either taught as subjects or used as mediums of instruction especially at primary school.

C. What are your personal conclusive remarks about bilingualism and multilingualism?

PK. It is difficult to imagine how people who know only one language survive in life but I admire people who speak more languages and I hope they survive better in life. I think it is better if it is recommended that people in the world should speak more languages, because if one goes places, one would never have a problem to find your way, so bilingualism or multilingualism is the way as the world becomes a global village.

C. Thank you PK for sharing your valuable experiences on languages. You are indeed a true Namibian, speaking so many languages of our country, even beyond the borders. Mm, I wish I were you.

PK. My pleasure.

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