South Africa

Eight steps, ten words, one new country. This is where the unit starts.

Write your name before you start — it goes on the PDF you hand in.

1

Name three things

What comes to your mind when you hear the word "South Africa"? Write down three things — an animal, a place, a person, a word, anything.

Notiere drei Dinge, an die du denkst. Ganze Sätze sind nicht nötig.

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2
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2

Your word bank

Ten words from the Unit 1 vocabulary list. You need them in every task on this sheet.

diversitydie Vielfalt
multiculturalmultikulturell
multilingualmehrsprachig
to colonizekolonisieren
apartheiddie Apartheid
inequalitydie Ungleichheit
wildlifedie Tierwelt
vegetationdie Vegetation
religiondie Religion
worldwideweltweit
3

What do you see?

Look at the cartoon. Write down eight nouns you can see, then finish the sentence below it.

Acht Nomen, kein Artikel nötig.

Cartoon: flooded Kruger National Park

Cartoon: Zapiro, Daily Maverick, 15 January 2026 · tap the cartoon to open it full screen.

The cartoon makes me think of South Africa because …

4

First look

Read the fact file, then work through tasks a to f. Check each block when you have finished it.

Paste here · replace with your own text

South Africa — a first look

South Africa lies at the southern end of Africa, where the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean meet. More than 60 million people live there. The country has eleven official languages, and most South Africans speak two or more of them. That is one reason why the country is called the Rainbow Nation. South Africa has three capital cities: Pretoria, Cape Town and Bloemfontein. Johannesburg, the largest city, is not one of them. Because the country lies south of the equator, winter there is in June, July and August. Until 1994 a system called apartheid kept people of different races apart. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison and became the first president of a free South Africa in 1994.

a · Yes or no?

Tap one answer for each sentence.

1 South Africa has three capital cities.
2 Johannesburg is the capital city of South Africa.
3 South Africa lies in the southern hemisphere.
Check a {{ s4a }}

b · Which answer is right?

Tap one option in each line.

1 How many official languages does South Africa have?

2 Which two oceans meet at the south coast?

3 Apartheid came to an end in

Check b {{ s4b }}

c · Complete the sentences

Use words from your word bank. Benutze die Wörter aus Aufgabe 2.

1 South Africa is called the Rainbow Nation because of the great … of its people.
2 In the 1600s the Dutch … the Cape. (past tense)
3 Most South Africans are … — they speak two or more languages.
Check c {{ s4c }}

d · Find the mistake

One fact in every sentence is wrong. Write the sentence correctly. In jedem Satz ist eine Tatsache falsch.

1 Cape Town is the largest city in South Africa.

2 Nelson Mandela was in prison for seven years.

3 In South Africa winter is in December and January.

e · Translate into English

Übersetze die Sätze. Vergleiche danach mit dem Modell.

1 Südafrika liegt am Südende Afrikas.

2 In Südafrika leben Menschen aus vielen Kulturen.

3 Viele Tiere leben in den Nationalparks.

f · Choose the correct word

Tap the word that fits.

1 Under …, people of different races had to live apart.

2 Lions, elephants and rhinos are part of South Africa's … .

3 South Africa is known … for its national parks.

Check f {{ s4f }}
5

Listening · A first impression

Listen twice — the recording is played in class. Take notes in the table; words and numbers are enough.

Stichworte reichen. Du hörst den Text zweimal.

1 Where does Thandi live?
2 Which languages does her family speak?
3 What surprises visitors?
4 What can you see outside the cities?
5 When is winter in South Africa?
6 One thing that surprised you
6

Word work

a · Match the words

Tap a German word, then tap the English word it belongs to. Tap a filled slot to clear it.

{{ row.en }}
Check the matches {{ s6a }}

b · Find the word

Eight words of the bank are hidden in the grid — across and down. Tap the letters to mark them.

{{ w.label }}
Check the grid {{ s6b }}
7

Pair task · Eleven languages, one country

Work with the person next to you. One of you is Partner A, the other Partner B.

Arbeitet zu zweit. Sprecht Englisch.

Partner A

Tell your partner three things about the people and the languages of South Africa. Then ask: "Would you like to live in a country with eleven official languages? Why?"

Partner B

Tell your partner three things about the land, the cities and the wildlife. Then ask: "Which part of the country would you visit first? Why?"

Together: write down two reasons why South Africa is called the Rainbow Nation.

8

Exit ticket

Write one sentence: what have you learned today?

Ein Satz auf Englisch.

Cartoon: flooded Kruger National Park