A language-teaching app tests tongues with Zulu and Xhosa

IN 1991 AMERICAN audiences had an introduction to Xhosa, one of South Africa’s most click-filled languages, when Miriam Makeba (pictured) appeared on “The Cosby Show”. When the celebrated South African singer started flicking her tongue as she said her name, four-year-old Olivia asked, “Oh I’m sorry, do you have a cold?”In most parts of the world the clicks of Zulu and Xhosa, the languages spoken most commonly at home in South Africa, sound completely foreign. Duolingo, the world’s biggest language-learning platform, is hoping to make them more familiar. Next year it will offer lessons in both to its 40m active users.