Comments on: Mothertongue versus English for African Poets? http://badilishapoetry.com/en/mothertongue-versus-english-for-african-poets-2/ Just another WordPress weblog Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:56:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 By: 210047860@cput.ac.za http://badilishapoetry.com/en/mothertongue-versus-english-for-african-poets-2/comment-page-1/#comment-34 210047860@cput.ac.za Sun, 13 Mar 2011 19:55:39 +0000 http://badilishapoetry.com/en/site/mothertongue-versus-english-for-african-poets-2/#comment-34 i want to become a best poet of my home language isixhosa i want to become a best poet of my home language isixhosa

]]> By: www.freeriddim.co.za http://badilishapoetry.com/en/mothertongue-versus-english-for-african-poets-2/comment-page-1/#comment-22 www.freeriddim.co.za Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:52:15 +0000 http://badilishapoetry.com/en/site/mothertongue-versus-english-for-african-poets-2/#comment-22 Interestingly enough, by virtue of this being written in English (a non-African language) and this reply following suit, we help push our own mother tongues into the good night. Having said that, I believe that even though we use this particular dialect as the main tool for communicating with each other, it remains as the instrument and we are the musicians that make the music. We must never lose sight of the messages we ought to pass on. It's a hard place we find ourselves in. We must keep keeping on. Interestingly enough, by virtue of this being written in English (a non-African language) and this reply following suit, we help push our own mother tongues into the good night. Having said that, I believe that even though we use this particular dialect as the main tool for communicating with each other, it remains as the instrument and we are the musicians that make the music.
We must never lose sight of the messages we ought to pass on.

It’s a hard place we find ourselves in. We must keep keeping on.

]]> By: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=60726985052 http://badilishapoetry.com/en/mothertongue-versus-english-for-african-poets-2/comment-page-1/#comment-15 http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=60726985052 Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:27:04 +0000 http://badilishapoetry.com/en/site/mothertongue-versus-english-for-african-poets-2/#comment-15 Recently when I was looking for O.K. Matsepe's Sepedi collection, is when I realized that indigenous languages are rapidly fading out and no matter what is said in golden speeches, our government is not doing enough to save them. Small bookshops which tried their best to treasure this cultural wealth are shutting down. I currently had to buy as many books as possible from the only bookshop that sells non-school syllabus Sepedi literature in Polokwane (or Perhaps the entire Limpopo Province) hence soon it might also face closure. Though National Library of South Africa is reprinting SOME of these literary classics in indigenous languages, how can an ordinary man access them? What is done to help and encourage current and future indigenous writers hence English is uplifted by its wide readership and commercial advantage. What are bodies such as PanSALB doing on the ground level? I admit; developing all eleven languages might require serious funds but can't something be done to ensure that they are at least preserved hence within them; our culture and identity are embedded. In varsities departments based on indigenous languages studies are also shutting down. Taban lo Liyong once said: "If we don't rescue our own languages, we shall become orphans to our own languages and not even be accepted by the English language that we are using. It is we, the writers, who will have to keep our languages alive." Sixteen years after democracy, what is it which is done to stop this deterioration? How hopeless is the situation in such a way that folding of arms can be the only option? Where do we start saving our indigenous languages? Recently when I was looking for O.K. Matsepe’s Sepedi collection, is when I realized that indigenous languages are rapidly fading out and no matter what is said in golden speeches, our government is not doing enough to save them. Small bookshops which tried their best to treasure this cultural wealth are shutting down. I currently had to buy as many books as possible from the only bookshop that sells non-school syllabus Sepedi literature in Polokwane (or Perhaps the entire Limpopo Province) hence soon it might also face closure. Though National Library of South Africa is reprinting SOME of these literary classics in indigenous languages, how can an ordinary man access them? What is done to help and encourage current and future indigenous writers hence English is uplifted by its wide readership and commercial advantage. What are bodies such as PanSALB doing on the ground level? I admit; developing all eleven languages might require serious funds but can’t something be done to ensure that they are at least preserved hence within them; our culture and identity are embedded. In varsities departments based on indigenous languages studies are also shutting down. Taban lo Liyong once said: “If we don’t rescue our own languages, we shall become orphans to our own languages and not even be accepted by the English language that we are using. It is we, the writers, who will have to keep our languages alive.” Sixteen years after democracy, what is it which is done to stop this deterioration? How hopeless is the situation in such a way that folding of arms can be the only option? Where do we start saving our indigenous languages?

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