Kgabo Tebele Motswasele Letter

This is a letter written by a Batswana discussing the issue of which languages were to be written. He writes that all people have pride in their native language and desire to express and use it. He also writes that that current written African language in use, Setlhaping, would be confusing for his people to use as their main written language because it is unfamiliar to his people. He writes to inquire if his people could be allowed to use their own native language, as well as allowing other peoples to use their own native language. This letter was written in 1883, the first year the Africans had the London Missionary Society newspaper, which shows that the Batswana picked up on reading and writing quickly. The author of the letter does not insist that their native language be written, he just suggests it. This shows that the Africans were capable of adapting to new languages, and it also shows that they had a good understanding of written languages because the author came up with a logical suggestion that African tribes be allowed to use their own language. However, since the Africans were still new to written language and did not know how to publish newspapers, they were at the will of the Europeans to a degree.