So I’ve recently moved from Cape Town to Mpumalanga, to work as a field guide/game ranger. I’ve found that the main language spoken in my area is Shangaan.
I only speak Afrikaans and English and for my job I’ve had to learn some words and phrases in Shangaan, for when we speak over the radio. But it’s mostly just animal names and the words for easy things like road or tree.
I don’t really need more than that for the job, but I would like to learn how to speak the language at least conversationally. It would be nice to speak to some of my colleagues/coworkers in their home language and I’ve always wanted to speak at least one African language.
So basically my question is… what resources can you guys recommend for learning Shangaan. Obviously I try to learn from my coworkers as much as I can, but I’d like to learn on my own as well. I have looked but only found some YouTube videos for Xitsonga which I believe is basically the same/very similar to Shangaan. Since they’re quite close could I learn by using lessons on Xitsonga? Are there any specific videos/creators I should look at and what other methods of learning can you recommend?
Thanks