The Importance Of African Culture In South Africa

Improved Essays
(1) WHAT ARE MY RACIAL, ETHNIC, NATIONAL ORIGINS?

I am a proud citizen of South Africa. I grew up in Gauteng in Johannesburg. I am Afrikaans speaking and English as my second language. But Afrikaans is my native language. Afrikaans is a West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. It progressed from the Dutch vernacular of South Holland spoken by the mainly Dutch settlers of what is now South Africa, where it progressively began to develop unique characteristics in the course of the 18th century. My surname Pretorius, which means leader, is referred back to Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus 1798-1853. Afrikaner soldier and politician who led the defeat of the Zulus (1838) and negotiated the independence of the Transvaal
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TOPICS YOU FREQUENTLY FIND YOURSELF TALKING ABOUT
Topics that I regularly talk to people about me are things like the latest tendencies in music, dress, love, attitude, family and friends. It's all part of the modern century in which we live. Things that happen every day in our lives. But in a formal situation it is appropriate talking about things relevant to the situation.

USE OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
Always look a person in the eye when talking to them or if you are being talked too. When greeted man should have a firm handshake and not a sloppy handshake. Women greet each other with a hug and a kiss. Personal contact when interacting with one another is very important. But when with friends and family one do not normally greet with a handshake but with physical contact such as a
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Zulus are the largest black group inside South Africa. Cattle have always been the primary form of subsistence for this group. Though many Zulus live in urban areas, there is a steadfast movement to embrace traditional culture. In the zulu culture it is advisable not to look adults or elderly people in the eye when they are talking to you. Where in our culture it is self-evident to look people directly in the eyes when they are communicating with you, this reflects only good manners and respect. The Zulu tribe speaks their language which is known as IsiZulu, a widely spoken language in South Africa. It mostly features respect terms; for example there are words used while addressing elderly people. Using first names on an elderly person is normally frowned upon by the tribe and instead they use terms such as Baba for father and Mama for mother even when the senior individuals are not the parents of the person addressing them. Where in our culture you refer to elderly people as Mr. or Ms. “meneer of mevrou”. The Zulu people have always strongly believed in ancestral spirits referred to amadlozi or abaphansi. They are simply spirits of the dead. The tribe also believes in the existence of a higher being who they refer to as UMveliqangi meaning “one who came first”. Where in our culture we don’t believe in any kind of spirits, we strongy believe in God who protects us from any sort of

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