OUR DESTINATIONS
Let us help you find your perfect holiday by phoning us on
We offer holidays to the four corners of the globe. If you want specialist advise please phone our travel team and we will be happy to help.
Alternatively, check out some of our holiday offers below.
- Destinations
- Africa
- South Africa
- Cape Winelands
- Afrikaanse Taalmonument (Afrikaans Language Monument) and
Museum
Afrikaanse Taalmonument (Afrikaans Language Monument) and
Museum
The Afrikaans Language Museum pays tribute to a unique language
that is only 300 years old, created from the melting pot of
nationalities and languages in the Cape. The Dutch settlers, French
Huguenots, slaves from Malaysia, Indonesia, Madagascar and West
Africa and the local Khoi people all needed to communicate, and so
was born the language that could be used by all. The struggle to
gain recognition of Afrikaans as an official language was carried
out from Paarl, and the museum commemorates the people that played
an important role in the process, as well as exploring the language
in its diversity and learning about the people who speak it today.
Conspicuously absent from the material is the integral role
Afrikaans played as the language of the Apartheid oppressors. The
Language Monument on Paarl Mountain was erected in 1975 to honour
the Afrikaans language and is the only language monument in the
world. The supposed contribution to Afrikaans from the Western
world, as well as from Africa, are represented by the three linked
columns and three rounded shapes respectively, while the 187-foot
(57m) pillar symbolises the growth of the language.
Information & Facts
Address
Museum: Gideon Malherbe House, 11 Pastorie Avenue, Paarl.
Monument: Paarl Mountain
Admission
R12 (adults), R5 (children)
Language
South Africa has 11 official languages, including
Afrikaans, English, Xhosa, Zulu and Sotho. English is widely
spoken.
Money
South Africa's currency is the Rand (ZAR), which is divided into
100 cents. Money can be exchanged at banks, bureaux de change and
the larger hotels. ATMs are widely available (there is a daily
limit for cash withdrawals) and major international credit cards
are widely accepted, except in petrol stations where cash is
required. Visitors should be vigilant when drawing cash from ATMs,
as con artists are known to operate there. Travellers cheques and
some foreign currencies are accepted at larger hotels and shops,
but commission is charged, otherwise all commercial banks will
exchange them.
Opening Times
Museum: Monday to Friday 9am-4pm, closed weekends.
Monument: Daily 8am-5pm April to September, 8am-8pm October to
March.
Time