I knew there might be problems as soon as I arrived at Juba International airport - and was asked to fill in my own visa form, as the immigration officer could not write English.
The colourful banners and billboards hung out to celebrate South Sudan's independence back in July, and still adorning the streets now, are all in English. As are the names of the new hotels, shops and restaurants.
After decades of Arabisation and Islamisation by the Khartoum government, the predominantly Christian and African south has opted for English as its official language.
(...)
The general had grown up speaking his tribal tongue Bor and Juba Arabic, a colloquial form of Arabic, but can now speak remarkably good English.
When I asked him how he had learned it, he told me: "By picking up books in the bush when I was fighting. I read some things about that man Shakespeare."
"What about Dickens or Jane Austen?" I asked. He scratched his head and said: "I don't know them." Full story...
Don't miss:
The colourful banners and billboards hung out to celebrate South Sudan's independence back in July, and still adorning the streets now, are all in English. As are the names of the new hotels, shops and restaurants.
After decades of Arabisation and Islamisation by the Khartoum government, the predominantly Christian and African south has opted for English as its official language.
(...)
The general had grown up speaking his tribal tongue Bor and Juba Arabic, a colloquial form of Arabic, but can now speak remarkably good English.
When I asked him how he had learned it, he told me: "By picking up books in the bush when I was fighting. I read some things about that man Shakespeare."
"What about Dickens or Jane Austen?" I asked. He scratched his head and said: "I don't know them." Full story...
Don't miss:
- Oil-rich South Sudan becomes world's newest independant nation...
- Four girls yearn to become South Sudan's first female motor mechanics!
- Culture shock: when Sudanese refugees go to America...
- "I am English teach"
- Proficiency in English around the world. Scandinavian countries are tops...
- When Miss Indonesia speaks in English...
- French is booming in English-speaking Africa...
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