Airs: Thursday 6:30PM

Category: Comedy

Cast:

Eleven official languages and a handful of quirky but determined students: the sleazeball from upstairs, the maid who knows it all and, of course, their Afrikaans-speaking Zulu teacher all contribute to the question Askies asks: will they ever learn to understand one another?

Askies follows a diverse group of quirky adults who have to learn an indigenous South African language to improve their social status. In the surreal world of the Zulu Night Language-school, they learn to overcome their prejudices and cultural tics... to communicate with each other.

The only thing Frida (Hanli Rolfes-Opperman) got from her divorce is the best years of her life flushed down the toilet, her heart broken and a pawn shop in the middle of Randburg.

But this Afrikaans Primary school teacher from the "platteland" is not going to give up just yet and so she sets out to try to keep her head above water by dodging her landlord and wannabe gangster, Mikey (Dirk Stoltz), who lives upstairs with his grandmother. He wants to turn the pawn shop into a night club.

In order to stay afloat, Frida, with the help of Persistence (Tumi Morake) - the world's most streetsmart tea lady - has to use her language skills to teach a motley crew of after-hours students Zulu.