AFRIKAANS LANGUAGE CLASS AT NORKEM PARK HIGH SCHOOL: PLEASE NOTICE THE ENTHUSIASM!

Enthusiasm for the subject matter being taught is something that every good teacher must possess. Visit Phillix Phaho's classroom at Norkem Park High School and you'll witness just that. The learners like him and in turn, Mr. Phaho attempts to draw them to a language that is not indigenous to their culture. Phaho is from Limpopo Province, where he learned to speak Afrikaans as a youngster. He did well in Afrikaans at the high school level and went on to study the language at the college level. The language came easy for him and he decided to become a teacher of Afrikaans at the high school level. It's not an easy job...trying to convince kids that Afrikaans is worth mastering, but he does his best and his boundless enthusiasm wins out as the deciding factor for some of charges to work harder in his classes. Most of his learners will be speaking three languages by the time they graduate from high school--not too bad considering most American kids are lucky to have mastered two languages by the same time.