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Trilingual soccer booklet out for SA fans

Stellenbosch University, in collaboration with a number of coaches and researchers, has released a new soccer terminology booklet, just in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The booklet is the result of months of research into football culture, formal soccer terms and the current colloquial lingo used by players and their fans.
(L-R) Prof Julian Smith, Vice-Rector Community Interaction & Personnel, Stellenbosch University; Dr Lambert Rogers, Principal of Cloetesville High School (who received free books for this school) and Prof Magda Fourie, Vice-Rector Teaching, Stellenbosch University<p>Credit: SSFA/Anton Jordaan
(L-R) Prof Julian Smith, Vice-Rector Community Interaction & Personnel, Stellenbosch University; Dr Lambert Rogers, Principal of Cloetesville High School (who received free books for this school) and Prof Magda Fourie, Vice-Rector Teaching, Stellenbosch University

Credit: SSFA/Anton Jordaan

Published in English, Xhosa and Afrikaans and compiled by the university's Language Centre, it aims to provide a definitive list of all the soccer terminology fans might need when watching their favourite team in action.

"We see the booklet giving supporters, players and our international visitors the opportunity to speak a shared language. It also forms part of our joint Stellenbosch 2010 initiative with the local municipality, which seeks to promote soccer within the Stellenbosch community at large. The soccer terminology booklet promotes multilingualism, one of the university's strategic objectives, and we see it as part of a lasting legacy linked to the World Cup," says Professor Julian Smith, Vice-Rector: Community Interaction and Personnel, who is also responsible for sport at Stellenbosch University.

The booklet will now be distributed free of charge to over 40 schools in the greater Stellenbosch area and to key sporting personalities across the country. The booklet is available from the Stellenbosch University Language Centre for R55 - call the Language Centre on +27 (0) 21 808-2155 or visit www.stellenbosch2010.com.

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