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23 March 2021 | Story Mbali Moiketsi
International Mother Language Day

The Office for International Affairs recently celebrated International Language Day.  This year, we invited all faculties to submit the names of people who would be willing to contribute video clips to educate us about their mother tongue.  The videos submitted were from diverse academic staff members and postdoctoral fellows currently based in different parts of the world.  Extensive research has created this edutainment video, featuring famous language quotes, indigenous languages across the African continent, and business languages used across the African continent. Some of the indigenous languages on the African continent are fading away, caused by colonial influence.

Fun facts:
From 1994 to 2013, South Africa was in the Guinness Book of World Records for most official languages.  These are Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Sepedi, Sesotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu.

Since the adoption of the 2013 Constitution, Zimbabwe now holds this title with 16 official languages, namely Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, Sign Language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda, and Xhosa. Zimbabwe therefore now holds the Guinness World Record for the country with the largest number of official languages.  

Albeit the main languages in Zimbabwe are English, Shona and Ndebele, the minor languages are Chewa, Chibarwe, Kalanga, Koisan, Kunda, Lozi, Manyika, Nambya, Ndau, Nsenga, Tsonga-Shangani, Sotho, Tjwao, Tonga, Tswa, Tswana, Venda, and Xhosa.

WATCH: International Mother Language video


News Archive

Senior leadership approves CSRC appeal
2012-05-14

The senior leadership of the UFS has approved the appeal lodged by the Central Student Representative Council (CSRC) to allow students deregistered on 30 April 2012 for not meeting their financial obligations, to write the May/June 2012 exams.
 
As from 14 May 2012, a relatively small number of 428 deregistered students will automatically have their registration reinstated and they will be granted the opportunity to write exams, provided that they have obtained a 40% predicate mark for each module.
 
A name list of the deregistered students will be sent to the heads of departments where they were enrolled. Only students who have obtained a 40% semester mark will be permitted to write exams.
 
Today the Executive Committee of Senate approved a recommendation that those students who only become aware of this arrangement after one of their scheduled modules has already been examined, may apply for permission to the Academic Timetables and Venues Office, Room 166, George du Toit Administration Building on the Bloemfontein Campus, to write a special examination. On the Qwaqwa Campus students may apply for permission to the Examination Section, Room 137 in the Administration Building.
 
This will, however, be a once-off opportunity and students will not be afforded another opportunity to write exams if they miss the first examination opportunity as well as the special examination. A student who writes only the special examination and fails will not be given a further opportunity. A student who writes the main examination and does poorly, but qualifies for a supplementary examination, may write the supplementary examination in the additional examination period.
 

This arrangement applies to all UFS campuses.
 

Media Release
14 May 2012
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: +27(0)51 401 2584
Cell: +27(0)83 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

 

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