It’s an African language because it’s mostly spoken in Africa.
It’s a European language because it derives from Dutch.
I wouldn’t mind giving it a go, but I’ve got my hands a bit full with these Sinitic languages at the moment. As a German speaker I think Afrikaans wouldn’t be too tough and would certainly be a damn sight easier than Xhosa or another African language. But then again, I don’t choose my languages for study based on how easy they are, otherwise I’d never have started Mandarin in the first place.
I was going to take up kiswahili or indonesian in university, but I chose Chinese instead. Actually, I had wanted to study Arabic, but they didn’t have anyone to teach it the year I had the time free to take it.
Swahili–a trading language used in several East African countries (e.g. Kenya, Tanzania). Heavily influenced by Arabic. Briefly prominent in the West during the 1960’s thanks to Julius Nyere’s “Uhuru” (“Freedom”) movement (hence the name of Star Trek’s Lt. Uhura, a Kenyan). Also provided the names of the Kwaanza festival days, as well as some of the animals in “The Lion King.” This would be the easiest African language to find university courses in outside of Africa.
Hausa–its West African equivalent? Basically a Muslim trading language.
Wolof–another West African language (e.g. Senegal), and a major influence on Haitian Creole.
Berber–a native North African (esp. Algerian) language which competes with Arabic for local use.
!Kung–also a click language, used by the Khoi and San peoples (“Bushmen” being politically incorrect) of the Kalahari. They are interesting not only for their traditional lifestyle, but also for being basically a separate race distinct from black Africans.
