Today I read a post of a lady struggling at a school because her children could speak Afrikaans but not write it.
This child grew up in Arabia. This made me think of two children that were adopted by Afrikaans speaking people but they came from the Congo.
These children could speak French but that was all.
The new parents really wanted these children to learn Afrikaans and they put them into our school.
This did cause some problems in the beginning, but if you have good teachers it is something that can easily be overcome.
The real problem was that no one understood them, and I got two children who were very bright, to make friends with them.
To me this was the first way of teaching them to speak Afrikaans.
Then the teacher had taken an hour a day to spend with these two children, and they very quickly learnt the language.
We all realised that it would not be easy in the beginning, but what was very smart was that these other kids started learning French and this made things a lot easier for all.
After about 2 months of intensive teaching these kids were able to help themselves in Afrikaans.
The parents were very happy; as they spoke Afrikaans to them all the time. What is so wonderful about children is how easily they learn how to speak a new language.
I am sure it takes a grownup a lot longer to learn a new language. These adopted parents wanted the children that they adopted to feel like part of the family, and that was why it was so important for them to learn to speak Afrikaans.
I am sure if I used another teacher than the one that I did things might have been more difficult as all teachers do not have the ability or the will to help children like this.
At the end of that year they were fluent in Afrikaans and they were very happy children. So if you get children like that in your school, make sure you use the teacher who really care and help her and the children.
Things will be so much easier for all.
These children grew up as the most wonderful children as they had good parents.
Adopted parents can be very good to children and they felt safe and secure. Hope you enjoyed my true story.
Have a wonderful day from the Wild Coast.