South Africa has 11 official languages, each with equal legal status.  But English is the country’s lingua franca, used as a means of communication between different groups.  English is spoken in cosmopolitan areas like urban centers and national parks.  South African English is somewhat distinct in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary.

Before the end of Apartheid, the white Afrikaner-dominated government had sought to elevate their own language, Afrikaans, above English.  As a result Afrikaans is widely used for official purposes, such as on government documents.  It is also widely used on public signs, such as traffic signs.

Afrikaans is basically a dialect of Dutch.  It developed from the vernacular South Holland dialect used by Dutch seamen in the 17th century.  Afrikaans was influenced by other European languages (English, French and German), as well as by Malay and by African languages.  Although the Afrikaans language is popularly associated with white Afrikaners, the majority of the people who speak the language are, in fact, Coloureds- people of mixed ancestry.  The Afrikaans language is widely spoken in South Africa, particularly in the Cape.  The language is actually understood by more South Africans then English.

Because it is a Germanic language, and possibly because of English influences as well, many Afrikaans words and phrases are eerily similar to English.  Some common Afrikaans signs, for example, might be droe vrugte (“dry fruit”), danke (“thank you”), mans (“men”), eerste (“first”), and stasie (“station”).

South Africa’s official African languages fall into four main linguistic divisions: Nguni, Sotho-Tswana or Sotho, Venda and Tsonga.  Of these, Nguni and Sotho languages or dialects are the most widely spoken.

The most widely spoken black language in South Africa is Zulu or isiZulu.  Zulu is so prevalent that some believe that it may eventually come to rival English as a lingua franca.  Zulu is spoken as a first language in KwaZulu-Natal, the eastern part of Free State, and in southern Mpumalanga and Gauteng.

Two of the other Nguni languages, siSwati (or Swazi) and Ndebele, are almost identical to Zulu.  Zulu, Ndebele and Swazi are considered different languages because of pre-colonial political divisions between these groups.  Swazi or siSwati is also the official language of the neighboring country of Swaziland.

Xhosa is another Nguni language.  Xhosa is more different from Zulu then Swazi and Ndebele are.  The name ‘Xhosa’ begins with a click sound, making it hard for many speakers of non-click languages to pronounce.  Most English-speaking South Africans simply avoid trying to approximate click sounds and instead alter African words to make them easier to pronounce in English.
Xhosa and other Nguni languages adopted the use of click sounds from the speakers of Khoisan languages who once inhabited South Africa.  Although Khoisan languages are officially recognized in South Africa’s constitution, they are no longer widely spoken, since most speakers were absorbed by other language groups by the 18th or 19th century.

Sotho languages are divided into three languages: Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho and Tswana.  Northern Sotho contains a number of different dialects spoken in the areas around Kruger National Park, and from the Botswana border to Pretoria.  Southern Sotho is spoken in the Free State, parts of Guateng and parts of the Eastern Cape.  Southern Sotho is the national language of the country of Lesotho, which is entirely surrounded by South Africa.

Tswana has a number of diverse dialects.  It is the official and main language spoken in the country of Botswana, which is north of South Africa.  In South Africa Tswana dialects are spoken across the Northern Cape, the Free State and in the North West provinces.  Just like the Nguni language, linguistic distinctions within the Sotho group have as much to do with history, politics and geography, as they have to do with intelligibility or lack thereof.

For a visitor to South Africa, the most useful language would probably be English.  An understanding of Afrikaans may also be helpful, particularly when it comes to reading signs in public places.  People who only speak African languages are more likely to be found in rural communities that are rarely visited by tourists.  But learning a few basic words in African languages may be appreciated by local people.

Some basic words in widely spoken South African languages:

“Thank you”:
Afrikaans: Dankie
Northern Sotho: Ke a leboga
Sesotho (Southern Sotho): Ke a leboha
Tswana: Ke a leboga
Xhosa: Enkosi
Zulu: Ngiyabonga

“Good morning”:
Afrikaans: Goiemore
Northern Sotho: Thobela/dumela
Sesotho (Southern Sotho): Dumela (ng)
Tswana: Dumela
Xhosa: Molo/bhota
Zulu: Sawubona

“How are you?”
Afrikaans: Hoe gaan dit?
Northern Sotho: Le kae?
Sesotho (Southern Sotho): O/le sa phela?
Tswana: O tsogile jang?
Xhosa: Kunjani?
Zulu: Ninjani?