Overview

We offer a bachelor degree in Afrikaans and Netherlandic Studies at the Rhodes University. This course is intended for students who have no prior knowledge of isiXhosa. Students who have matriculated with isiXhosa as an additional language can, at the discretion of the Head of the Section, enrol at second year level.

Its primary aim is to provide students with proficiency in isiXhosa, as well as culture and literature of the language. Proficiency is developed around themes that students should be able to use in everyday conversation.

Key facts

Afrikaans, one of the most widely spoken languages in South Africa, is the mother tongue of almost six million people. Currently, fifteen million South Africans can express themselves in Afrikaans, which has roots in Europe, the East and Africa. Afrikaans has an international dimension in that Dutch, an official language in Suriname, the Netherlands and in Belgium and one of the 11 languages of the European parliament, is accessible to speakers of Afrikaans. Afrikaans and Netherlandic studies at Rhodes aims to introduce students to the South African as well as the international literary discourse via topical contemporary literary texts.  Post-graduate courses can be followed at Honours, Masters and PhD levels.