by Thinus Ferreira
BBC Studios Africa is dubbing some of its kids' content on CBeebies (DStv 306) into several South African languages besides English for September, including isiZulu, Sesotho, Tsonga and Afrikaans.
CBeebies will air several popular shows in isiZulu, Sesotho, Tsonga and Afrikaans between 2 and 29 September, daily between 19:00 and 21:00.
The shows being dubbed for kids to watch in their home languages include Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Isizulu, Sesotho, Tsonga, Afrikaans), The Elves and the Shoemaker (Isizulu, Sesotho, Tsonga, Afrikaans), The Enormous Radish (Isizulu, Sesotho, Tsonga, Afrikaans), The Fox and the Hen (Isizulu, Sesotho, Tsonga, Afrikaans), The Magic Porridge Pot (Isizulu, Sesotho, Tsonga, Afrikaans) and The Ugly Duckling (Isizulu, Sesotho, Tsonga, Afrikaans).
Also getting dubbed are Three Little Pigs (Isizulu, Sesotho, Tsonga, Afrikaans) as well as an episode of the hugely popular Bluey having its second season's 26th episode dubbed into isiZulu.
BBC Africa will also make the dubbed episodes available on its BBC Studios Africa YouTube channel.
BBC Africa getting into dubbing of kids' content follows what Paramount Africa started doing with shows like Spongebob Squarepants also being seen and heard on its kids channels like Nickelodeon in isiZulu and Afrikaans.
The BBC's CBeebies is a pre-school
channel on DStv, providing children aged six years and under a range of
programming that encourages learning through play.
Pierre Cloete, BBC Studios Africa commercial director, says "To mark heritage month and celebrate the diversity of
our nation, we wanted to shine a spotlight on some of our African languages
with the help of our pre-school channel, CBeebies".
"As CBeebies is for little
learners, translating a selection of the Sleepy Time Stories into 4 languages
will allow our little viewers and parents to learn or develop their language
skills while enjoying the shows throughout September."
