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Durban's Street Vendors Learn Foreign Languages
"Est-ce qu'il y a une réduction? Une ré-du-ction?" she says, struggling to wrap her mouth around the "u", the sentence reverberating in the prefab classroom set up at a Durban police station.
Durban, home to Africa's busiest port, will host seven World Cup matches and expects 100,000 visitors during the month-long tournament that kicks off on June 11.
To welcome the guests, the city has begun teaching street vendors foreign languages.
Over six weeks, a young woman who recently finished her French degree gives three classes a week to 20 vendors who ply their wares along Durban's beachfront, home to most of the city's top hotels.
If the pilot project goes well, the city wants to teach 500 vendors in downtown Durban.
"Informal traders are a key tourism attraction," said Vumi Mchunu, the city's coastal areas manager
"It is important for them to know other languages in order to interact with their customers clearly during the World Cup," she said.
Their efforts could also pay off over the long term.
"A lot of African people who come here understand French," said Nelsiwe Mehunu, who sells candy.
"They want to ask prices, what is this and that. We don't understand. But if we understand them, I believe we can make some money. I think we can be rich too - because we understand their language!" she said.
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