GERMAN blogger and UCT student Noah Baier has been in Cape Town for several months, and yet, he’s mastered the art of speaking one of South Africa’s official 11 languages - isiXhosa.
Hailing from Frankfurt, Baier explained in a now-viral YouTube video that besides learning English, he has taken language classes in isiXhosa.
“I’ve noticed that Xhosa people are extremely happy when they see you speak to them in their language, especially as a foreigner,” he said.
In the video, Baier took to the streets of Cape Town and spoke to some people in their mother tongue.
In one scene, he speaks to a security guard, and she is blown away when he changes his dialect from English to isiXhosa.
“How can you? You came from Germany, and then you already speak isiXhosa?” she asked, clearly taken aback.
In many instances, people were surprised as his fluent grasp of the language and wanted to know how he managed to learn so fast, to which he responded, the University of Cape Town.
Once news of the German student’s gift made it to Twitter, tweeps couldn’t stop talking about it.
A video of a white man who moved from Germany to SA 6 months ago popped up on my YouTube. Enrolled for isiXhosa classes at YouSeeTee and he is speaking fluent isiXhosa with the locals. Even the clicks are perfect.
— ESIHLE. (@Mntwanelanga) October 22, 2022
Some made some valid arguments while commending Baier on immersing himself in our cultures.
“Because if and when one moves to Germany or anywhere in Europe (for the most parts), learning the language and culture is one of the prerequisites,” said one tweep.
“I once had a white pastor who always asked to be forgiven for not being able to pronounce African names. Two years and you still can't pronounce Mahlatsi. I left that church,” explained another.
Another brought up the fact that eight in 10 South Africans can’t even speak any other language besides English: “It simply means if a person wants to, they will. Which says a lot about our fellow South Africans.”