Sesotho, or "Southern Soto," as it is called in South Africa, is the primary language spoken in Lesotho. However, there are some communities along the border that speak Zulu or Xhosa. Peace Corps trains all volunteers in Sesotho. If a volunteer is selected to serve in a community that speaks another language, they must also learn and pass a language proficiency test in that language, in addition to Sesotho, in order to be sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer.
The national currency is maloti. The coins are one, two, and five, and the bills are 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200. The bills feature the king's face and have different colors to distinguish their value. Because Lesotho is entirely surrounded by South Africa, the South African rand is also accepted as a valid currency anywhere in Lesotho. However, you cannot use the Lesotho maloti in South Africa. At the time of this post, $1.00 USD is equal to 17.85 maloti. Maloti is based on the strength of the rand, so they have the same value. If a bottle of water costs 12 maloti, it will also cost 12 rand.
