Xhosa and Ndebele People

I identify myself as a Xhosa child although my father is Ndebele and my mother is Xhosa born in the Eastern Cape. The reason I identify myself as Xhosa and not Ndebele it is because I was raised within the Xhosa culture and language. At an early age, I was taught to speak my home language and my father instilled in us to speak our language , he tried as much as possible not to speak any other language at home. I also attended a Xhosa school.

As I grew I learned to speak other languages such as Sesotho and a bit of Setswana. Those two African languages are mostly spoken in the Free State which I where I reside. Now I speak 40% of Xhosa and it is due to the reason that I have been exposed to other languages. I was exposed to English in grade 4. My linguistic identity will not change for reason that I am able to speak different languages.

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As mentioned by Nunberg, Geoffrey. 1996. "Snowblind." Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 14: p. 205-213. If the new language is very different from your own, it may give you some insight into another culture and another way of life.

I speak IsiXhosa whenever I can at home and when I come across someone who speaks the language and they do not understand any other language. I do not shy away from speaking my mother tongue, this only makes it easier for me to relate to situations and to each other. It is amazing how easily people connect when they speak the same language and this assists in avoiding a lot of conflict.

I also practice my cultural values and beliefs even in this modern world.

Speaking other languages shows that a person can be diverse and accept other cultures. The willingness to learn other languages and cultures reflect that I am not an ignorant person. I embrace my language and of others. My most dominant language of thinking is English. It has become the global language. 'Roughly 500 million people in the world are native English speakers. Another 510 million people speak English as a second language, which means that there are more people who speak English along with their native language than there are native English speakers' according to Nordquist, Richard. (2020, February 11). English as a Global Language.

The fact that I speak different languages does not change or affect my identity and does not affect my cultural beliefs , as I have mentioned we need to adapt in order to be able to be with other people and make life easer and connect.