Xhosa Resources

UPDATE:
I’ve created a resource to learn the basic phonemes of the South African Xhosa Accent. There is a pdf file that you can download, and print if you like.

South African Xhosa Features (pdf)

This document accompanies the audio file I have prepared that takes you through all the vowels and consonants of the accent, and gives you practice words and phrases for each phoneme.

Audio File (mp3)

SAMPLES

I’ve gathered a bunch of resources for the Xhosa speaking characters in the play, Sam and Willie. These are all from YouTube, so you have to listen to them online. I will eventually be creating audio resources which you can download and put on your personal audio device (iPod, iPhone, etc.), including the audio of at least some of these videos, but at this point, you can begin listening with these videos. Often people find that the visual is somewhat distracting and that they can’t be as “zoned in” on the way that words are being said when the visual is going. So all you do is either turn off your display (if you’re at a desktop computer) or you hide the application behind something else while the audio is playing.
Things to listen for:

where in the speaker’s mouth is the overall “placement” of this sound?
what is the music of the speaker’s speech? flat? lots of up and down? similar to your own speech?
what is the rhythm like? steady? choppy? hesitant? flowing? bouncy?
is there an overall quality to their speech that you can copy?
are there any noises (like “um, uh, erm”) the speaker uses as “fillers” that you might want to explore?
are there any distinctive consonant sounds, like trilled /r/?
are there any new vowel sounds that seem unusual to you?
does the speaker have any physical gestures that seem to accentuate their language usage i.e. body language?

Master Harold... and the Boys

Accent Resources by Eric Armstrong

Xhosa Resources

SAMPLES

Steve Biko - speaks on The Black Consciousness Movement

Thabo Mbeki

Archibishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu

Brenda Fassie

Walter Sisulu

John Kani

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