Although American travelers to South Africa will find English spoken widely, it is only one of South Africa's eleven official languages. For those planning to explore and communicate in languages other than English, resources are available in the UNC libraries. Print dictionaries, for example, are usually more comprehensive and authoritative than internet translators:
Concise Multilingual Dictionary.
(English, Xhosa, Zulu, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Tswana, and Afrikaans)
Johannesburg : Ad Donker, 1995.
Davis Library PF862 .C65 1995
New Xhosa Phrase Book and Vocabulary .
(English, Xhosa)
Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik, 1996.
Davis Library PL8795.4 .T73 1996
Also keep in mind that South African English evolved separately from American English and contains many unique phrases and expressions. Here are two related resources that may be of interest to students heading to South Africa for the first time:
Online glossary, "South African English is Lekker!"
Dictionary of South African English.
Cape Town: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Davis Library and Davis Reference Stacks PE3451 .B7
Diversity in Ethnicity
In addition to the multitude of South African languages is an even greater number of ethnic groups with their own unique cultures. Getting to know all of them may be beyond the scope of a semester or year abroad in South Africa. However, these books can help paint an introductory portrait of the "Rainbow Nation."
SA Tribes: Who We Are, How We Live and What We Want From Life in the New South Africa.
Steven M. Burgess. Claremont, South Africa: David Philip, 2002.
Davis Library DT1754 .B87 2002
Social Identities in the New South Africa.
ed. Abebe Zegeye. Colorado Springs, CO: International Academic Publishers, 2001.
Davis Library, Stone Center Library DT1974 .S635 2001
Vanishing Cultures of South Africa: Changing Customs in a Changing World.
Peter Magubane. New York : Rizzoli, 1998.
Davis Library Folio GN656 .M34 1998
We are the Poors: Community Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa.
Ashwin Desai. New York : Monthly Review Press, 2002.
Stone Center Library, Undergraduate Library Reserves HC905 .D38 2002