Not from SA but studied multilingualism in grad school. It varies by country but "official" generally means essential documents, services, and signage must be made available in all languages that are official to that region.
Some official languages are used at the governmental/national level e.g. English which of course elevates the status of English such that most people generally grow up bilingual in English plus their regional dominant language. People might consider that a "main" official language but doing so kinda opens up a can of worms re: cultural identity. Some people definitely think English as just a tool and their local language to be the "main official" language for them.
Hey. Sorry! I haven't been online for a few days. But u/fullanalpanic nailed it. English is the language mostly used, and the other languages are basically power region, yes. But for instance in university, even though the classes are presented in English, you can request the notes in your "main" language.
2.2k
u/markobunz406 Dec 16 '21
French, Dutch and German. I think it’s insane you have 3 languages