COVID-19 has taught Durban University of Technology’s (DUT’s) Language Practice alumna, Gloria Thandekile Mngadi to think of more innovative and impactful ways to teach children the importance of preserving their language as Africans.
Mngadi (30) from Ndwedwe recently started a WhatsApp group titled: Ingosi Yabantwana (Children’s Session) where she teaches little children how to read and write IsiZulu and English.
Seeing that most people moved to online learning during lockdown, she also came up with the idea of WhatsApp classes which she says are lot cheaper and accessible to the disadvantage communities. This is a service that she is running through her language services company, GTNAQM PTY Ltd.
“Ingosi yabantwana is a story telling group. It’s where I am educating children through story telling. I am educating them about preserving language and to also know the languages, IsiZulu and English. At school, in the English class you don’t get a chance to interpret in your own language. My plan is to teach them at an early age as language is the core of life and can open lots of opportunities. We use language in our daily lives. We also host face to face tutorial and monthly reading sessions,” she said.
Mngadi who obtained her National Diploma in Language Practice at DUT in 2015 said she began offering the language services while she was still a student at DUT. She was selected to be an IsiZulu tutor, where she taught and encouraged fellow students to love and preserve their mother tongue.
Speaking about her journey at DUT, Mngadi said: “My journey at DUT was a success and a blessing. I learnt a lot from DUT, especially being a Language Practice student. My highlight was attending the Friday Poetry sessions at Steve Biko campus. I used that platform to sharpen my poetry and writing skills. One of my achievements was being chosen to be a language tutor for IsiZulu, teaching students IsiZulu.”
Also at DUT, it is where she wrote her first children’s book titled: uMimi noZuzu Esikoleni which was published in 2015. Last year, 2020, she also released a poetry Anthology book.
Being laughed at and called names for not knowing her home language IsiZulu while she was a little girl lead her to learn this language and want to excel in it. She said she was born in Ballito and began her primary school years in English schools until her family was forced to move back to their village at Ndwedwe.
“My relatives from Ndwedwe used to call me cows because I would return home empty handed if I came across cows on my way to the shop. I would run back home and tell them I was afraid of cows. They also played a huge role in teaching me IsiZulu. Another motivation was that at school I repeated a grade after failing IsiZulu, that is where I told myself that I need to learn IsiZulu to move to the next grade. I was focused growing up and I loved writing my own quotes which later developed to poetry, when I was in high school at Sacred Heart,” said Mngadi.
In 2009 she won a literacy competition which was run by Ukhozi FM and was selected to represent KwaZulu-Natal at the International Children’s Day event held at Gold Reef City in Johannesburg. This is where she realised that writing was her talent.
Through her foundation, the Gloria Thandekile Mngadi Foundation, she is also providing sanitary aids to her neighbouring communities during this difficult time of COVID-19. In both her company and foundation, Mngadi said her main challenge is obtaining funding. She wishes to have a studio.
Those wishing to access her language services can reach her on: gloriandonenhle@gmail.com.
Pictured: Gloria Thandekile Mngadi
Simangele Zuma
