As you explore the diverse landscape of Southern Africa, learning some Afrikaans phases will endear you even more with the locals. Here is everything you need to know.
While being able to speak Afrikaans is not essential when travelling around Southern Africa, as with any language, the locals will appreciate your effort in learning a few key Afrikaans phrases and pleasantries.
Where is Afrikaans Spoken?
Afrikaans is spoken mostly in southern Africa and is one of the 11 official languages of South Africa. Afrikaans is predominantly spoken in South Africa and Namibia. However, there are also Afrikaans speaker in Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Canada, Germany, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, the USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
With so many official languages in South Africa, it can we hard to know when to speak to someone on Afrikaans. Here are a few general rules to keep in mind. In provinces such as Free State, Northern Cape, and Western Cape (Cape Town) you will more likely come across Afrikaans speakers. While in KwaZulu Natal (Durben) and Gauteng (Johannesburg and Pretoria) you’ll find very few Afrikaans speakers.
History of Afrikaans
Afrikaans derives from Dutch which was brought to the Cape by Protestant settlers in the 17th century. In a sense, Afrikaans can be said to be both a pidgin and a creole language. Pidgins are a simplified form of language used amongst people who speak different languages and using vocabulary from those languages. When pidgins are learnt by children as a mother tongue, they become grammatically more complex, and are then called creoles.
Afrikaans is a creole in that it derives from Dutch (and German and English) and has borrowed much from the African and Malay languages. It is a pidgin in that its grammatical structure is much simplified from the Dutch and has adopted much vocabulary from all the languages with which it has been in contact.
Afrikaans has borrowed a lot of words from other languages it has been in contact. Afrikaans spelling is largely phonetic (spell it as you say it) and most of the vocabulary is, as Anglo-Saxon was, made up of compound nouns which can be translated literally and interpreted metaphorically. For example, a vacuum cleaner is a stofsuier, literally, a ‘dust-sucker’.
What makes Afrikaans so easy to learn is that it only has three basic tenses (not six like English) and very few exceptions to any of the rules. Knowing either German or Dutch will make it even easier to master the Afrikaans word order.
That one theory states that you need acquire only 300 words of a language to communicate in it.
Pronunciation and Accents
As mentioned earlier, Afrikaans can be pronounced as it is spelt. Afrikaans uses the same alphabet as English.
There are three written accents in Afrikaans, the circumflex (^), the acute and the two dots or trema (“). The ^ and ¨ are used to indicate a change in sound (and therefore in meaning),
For example:
hoe (how) → hoe (high)
se (the ‘s ending in English, showing possession)→ sé (say)
The acute ´ is used to indicate a stressed syllable, as in die (the) → dié (this)
Again, these words sound different, and as you see they have different meanings.
Vocabulary
Afrikaans won’t look entirely foreign to you as you probably already know some words without realising it. British English absorbed numerous Afrikaans words primarily through the British soldiers who served in the Boer Wars from the late 1800s. Most of these words describe the African flora, fauna or landscape.
aardvark (literally “earth pig”)
aardwolf (literally “earth wolf”)
afrikaans (literally “african”, adj.)
apartheid (literally “apart-ness”)
boomslang (literally “tree snake”)
kommando (literally “commando”)
rand (literally “ridge”)
meerkat (literally “lake cat”)
spoor (literally “tracks” or “footprints”)
springbok (literally “jumping antelope”)
Want to have fun whilst learning Afrikaans? Struggling to find decent Afrikaans language resources? I recommend getting uTalk. Available as a desktop site and app, uTalk is awesome for learning key words and phrases in Afrikaans especially if you want to use it for travel purposes. It’s great for beginners getting started in a language and invaluable for intermediates looking to fill in gaps in their vocabulary and pronunciation.
What I love most about uTalk is that you can jump around their extensive library of topics and choose what you want to learn, when you want, and at your own pace. Because I believe in uTalk so much, I reached out to them and we’ve teamed up to offer you an exclusive 20% OFF reader discount across all of uTalk’s 140 languages! This offer isn’t available anywhere else! Click here to claim your exclusive 30% discount.
Etiquette
The Afrikaners place a lot of importance on courtesy and polite behaviour. When you meet someone or speak on the phone, your first question should always be Hoe gaan dit met jou? (How are you?)
The other person’s response will generally be Goed dankie. En met jou? (Good thanks, and you?) Their response to your politeness is another politeness! You would never just say Môre! (Morning!) and then hurtle into what you want to talk about.
Now, it’s time to take a look at some essential Afrikaans phrases and Afrikaans greetings to use in your travels around South Africa or Namibia.
For your free infographic, scroll down to the bottom of this article. Otherwise, let’s jump straight into some basic Afrikaans words.
Alles van die beste. Geniet dit! All the best. Enjoy!
Afrikaans Phrases for Travellers
Want the infographic to take with you? Scroll to the bottom on the page.
Pleasantries
Greetings
Numbers
Days
Months
Basic Questions
Directions
Eating Out
Sightseeing
Emergencies
Pleasantries
Thank you
Dankie
dahn-key
You’re Welcome!
Plesier
pleh-seer
Please
Asseblief
ah-seh-bleef
Excuse me (to get attention)
Verskoon my
fer-skoen may
Excuse me
(to get past someone)
Ekskuus
ak-skooz
Yes
Ja
ya
No
Nee
knee-ah
Greetings
Hello!
Hallo!
hal-low
Good day!
Goeie dag!
hoy-jah dah
Good evening!
Goeie naand!
hoy-jah naandt
Good-bye!
Totsiens!
tot-seens
Please/You’re welcome
Asseblief / Jy is welkom
ah-seh-bleef / yay es vel-kom
Thank you
Dankie
dahn-key
Excuse me
Verskoon my
fer-skoen may
My name is….
My naam is …
my naam es…
Pleased to meet you
Aangename kennis
aan-he-naam-eh ken-nes
Numbers
0 nul nul
1 een een
2 twee tweeah
3 drie dree
4 vier fear
5 vyf fyf
6 ses ses
7 seve seea-va
8 agt aht
9 nege near-her
10 tien teen
Days
Monday
Maandag
maan-dah
Tuesday
Dinsdag
deens-dah
Wednesday
Woensdag
woons-dah
Thursday
Donderdag
don-der-dah
Friday
Vrydag
fry-dag
Saturday
Saterdag
sat-er-dah
Sunday
Sondag
son-dah
Months
January
Januarie
yan-oo-ah-ree
February
Februarie
fey-broo-ah-ree
March
Maart
maart
April
April
ah-pril
May
Mei
may
June
Junie
yooh-nee
July
Julie
yooh-lee
August
Augustus
ou-goost-oos
September
September
sep-tem-ber
October
Oktober
ok-toh-ber
November
November
no-vem-ber
December
Desember
dey-tsem-ber
Basic Questions
Do you speak English?
Praat jy Engels?
praat yay enn-els
How are you?
Hoe gaan dit met jou?
who haan dit met yo
Would you help me please?
Kan jy my asseblief help?
kan yay may ah-seh-bleef help?
What’s your name?
Wat is jou naam?
vat es yo naam
What time is it?
Hoe laat is dit?
who laat es dit
What’s the weather like?
Wat maak die weer vandag?
vat maak dee veer fan-dah
How much does . . . cost?
Hoeveel kos dit?
who-feel kos dit
Where do I find . . .?
Waar kan ek … vind?
vaar kan ak … findt
Where are the bathrooms?
Waar is die toilet?
vaar es die toy-let
Do you have…?
Het jy….?
het yay
Where is…?
Waar is….?
waar es
Could you please talk more slowly?
Kan jy asseblief stadiger praat?
kan jay ah-seh-bleef sta-de-her praat
Could you repeat that, please?
Kan jy dit asseblief herhaal?
kan jay dit ah-seh-bleef her-haal
Directions
Left
Links
lynks
Right
Regs
rehs
Back
Agter
agh-ter
Forward
Voorentoe
for-en-too
Straight ahead
Voorentoe
for-en-too
Entrance
Ingang
en-haang
Exit
Uitgang
uit-haang
Eating Out
The menu, please
Die spyskaart asseblief
dee shpays-kart ah-seh-bleef
I’d like….
Ek wil graag….
ak vil hraah
Can I please have….?
Kan ek asseblief … kry?
kan ak ah-seh-bleef kray
Could you recommend something?
Kan jy iets voorstel?
kan yay eets for-stel
Another (beer) please
Nog ‘n bier asseblief
noh eh beer ah-seh-bleef
Excuse me
Verskoon my asseblief
fer-skoen may ah-seh-bleef
The check, please
Rekening asseblief
dee reh-ken-ning ah-seh-bleef
A receipt, please
Kwitansie/strokie asseblief
qwin-tah-se / stroh-key ah-seh-bleef
Enjoy your meal
Geniet jou ete
heh-net yoy ee-teh
Sightseeing
When does it open?
Wanneer maak dit oop?
van-nee maak dit oo-ep
When does it close?
Wanneer maak dit toe?
van-nee maak dit too
Ticket/s
Kaartjie/s
kar-key/z
Two adults
Twee volwassenes
tweeah fol-vaas-sehn-nes
One child
Een kind
een kindt
One student
Een student
een stoo-dent
One senior
Een pensioenaris
een pen-syo-nah-ris
Museum
Museum
moo-see-um
Emergencies Out
Help!
Help!
help
Police!
Polisie
poh-lee-see
Fire!
Vuur! / Brand!
fuur / braandt
Get a doctor!
Kry ’n dokter
kray en dohk-ter
I am sick
Ek is siek
ak es sick
I don’t know my way around here
Ek ken nie my weg hier rond nie
ak knen nee may veh here rondt nee
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Sources
Complete Afrikaans
Translation Dictionary
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Over to you!
Which of these Afrikaans phrases do you find most useful? What other phrases or expressions would you like to know?
Let me know using the comments section below or join me on social media to start a conversation.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post.
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