This paper investigates attitudes of domestic workers in South Africa toward English and the process of learning the language. Interviews that were conducted with domestic workers in Durban are described. Several themes emerged from these interviews, including the need for workers to know English to secure employment, domestic employment as an informal language school for learning English, employers' linguistic chauvinism as an incentive for learning, and the employer's role in facilitating language acquisition. Interviews also revealed that speech patterns between employer and employee are directive and instructive in nature and reflect the unequal relationship between the two individuals, that domestic workers insist their children learn English in school, and that workers perceive English as a social indicator and an instrument of change. (Contains 7 references.) (JP)