SAWUBONA! is no longer a typically KwaZulu-Natal greeting, it’s being heard more frequently around the world as the global appeal of the isiZulu language continues to click on at a rapid rate.
The isiZulu language, the proud heritage of the Zulu people, is also spoken and revered in places like the US, and in parts of Europe and Asia.
US-based academic Audrey Mbeje, currently in Durban and guiding a group of students from various US universities through the nuances of Zulu culture and language, said there were at least 10 American universities offering isiZulu language studies.
The 14 students under Mbeje’s tutelage have visited various parts of the country, including cultural and historical sites and campuses, as part of their current two-month-long US government-backed Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad in South Africa for Language Immersion programme.
They’ve experienced traditional Zulu ceremonies like umemulo (a coming of age ritual for women), umshado (marriage) and sampled traditional meals, courtesy of local families hosting them.
In June, a group of 14 educators and professors were in the country for a month-long isiZulu curriculum development programme.
Mbeje, who is the director of the African languages programme in the linguistics department at the University of Pennsylvania, heads both programmes that are annual events, driven by the US Department of Education.
She went to the US as a student in 1993 and obtained a Master’s degree in linguistics and teaching English as a second language, and a PhD in English from Ball State University, and was then offered a teaching position at the University of Pennsylvania.
Since 2005 she has headed the projects to South Africa.
Seven universities were represented on the current trip.
“The interest level has been growing all the time and students take full advantage of the opportunity.
“Students who are interested in South Africa predominantly went for Zulu and Xhosa,” she said.
In the US, Mbeje said, they maintained that the best way to access foreign countries was through language and they have shaped their education system accordingly.
“Language is seen as important in opening opportunities to understand world cultures and countries.
“The study of foreign languages is highly emphasised there, to produce globally competent students,” she said.
Isaiah Richardson from Southern Georgia, a University of Georgia student majoring in cultural anthropology and sociology, said learning isiZulu and being in South Africa “is living the dream”.
“My plan is to move into international business and I want to unpack my business plans here in South Africa. After I graduate in August 2025, I want to study international business either at the University of KwaZulu-Natal or Wits.
“Ever since I was 8, South Africa was the place I wanted to be.”
Richardson, who turned 21 on Monday, said he wanted to experience Xhosa because of “Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela”.
“The Xhosa language intrigued me and I also understand the clicks.
“When I ventured into the isiZulu language, I had never heard anything like that. It was very interesting and sparked my interest that led to my present-day academia and future plans.”
While conversing with local isiZulu speakers, there were moments where “I get a bit thrown but not completely lost”.
Richardson said the first isiZulu word he learnt was isinkwa (bread).
“Sawubona” was Joshua Roberts from California’s first isiZulu utterance. He’s a linguistics and African languages student at Boston University.
He said his Zulu and Swahili studies were “going swimmingly”.
In South Africa he converses in isiZulu as often as he can “at restaurants and at church in uMlazi”.
“The entire service is conducted in isiZulu.”
But he’s mindful of when to exclaim “Amen and hallelujah” or else he would “look a bit foolish”.
“Languages have always been a part of my life.”
Roberts learnt Spanish in Grade 7.
After finding a book on the Ketubah language, spoken in Brazzaville, Congo, he knew languages was his thing.
“That sparked my interest in the Bantu languages specifically.
“I love the structure and noun classing system of the languages. It's beautiful and so understudied,” he said.
Njabulo Manyoni, a language practitioner at the UKZN’s Language Planning and Development Office, said they were aware of a number of South Africans teaching IsiZulu abroad.
About its allure, he said: "It is mostly emanating from the rich history of the Zulu nation.”
Manyoni said their office was committed to becoming a centre of excellence in the promotion, development and the science of indigenous languages, with specific reference to isiZulu.