Episode Synopsis "Turning Six | Ses Word"

I believe we are celebrating Africa Month – so I heard, when the International Office of the Durban University of Technology where I work, invited me to share a poem in my mothertongue, Afrikaans. I’m going to use a poem that I wrote first in English sixteen years ago – for my daughter – it is called Turning Six.  This year I tried my hand at translating it into Afrikaans -- and I like the way it turned out.  Before I do the poem, just a little bit about Afrikaans – It is one of South Africa’s eleven official languages, and was shaped in a melting pot at the Southern-most tip of Africa -- it is considered a creole language. Its strongest roots are Dutch, but also from Western Europe, the likes of Portuguese, French and English. Arabic is one of its lesser-known influences. And of course, local Nguni languages, and the clicks of the Khoi-San also dance in the cadences of Afrikaans. Here is the poem – I will do it in English first so you can get the meaning, and thereafter in Afrikaans.

Listen "Turning Six | Ses Word"

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