Valentines Day is a day to express your love, and to celebrate the spirit of love. So, why not learn to say ‘‘I LOVE YOU’’ in our 11 official languages!

How many of us can list all of our official languages?

Our country’s Constitution guarantees equal status to our 11 official languages, this caters for our country’s diverse people and their cultures. South Africa’s linguistic diversity means all 11 languages have had a profound effect on each other. South African English, for example, is littered with words and phrases from Afrikaans, isiZulu, Nama and other African languages. And African-language speakers often pepper their speech with English and Afrikaans!

So, embrace our 11 official languages and whisper them to the ones you love!

English ............ I love you

Afrikaans ......... Ek is lief vir jou

IsiNdebele ......... Niyakutanda

IsiXhosa ......... Ndiyakuthanda

IsiZulu ............ Ngiyakuthanda

Sepedi ........................ Ke a go rata

Sesotho ......... Ke a go rata

Setswana ................ Ke a go rata

SiSwati ............ ngiyakutsandza

Tshivenda ....................... ngiyakutsandza

Xitsonga ................. Ndzakurhandza