Time to say goodbye? In Afrikaans, this can be just as difficult to do as in any other language. Because hey, who likes goodbyes?! Wishing friends and loved ones farewell is never pleasant nor easy, especially if the parting is permanent or long-term. But even this depends on how you look at it. As Winnie the Pooh wisely says: "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." Not all goodbyes are terribly hard or sad, though. In this article, AfrikaansPod101 will show you several ways to say goodbye in Afrikaans and how to use the right one for every occasion.  As a complement, you can also learn How to Say Hello in Afrikaans in our dedicated blog post before continuing with this one. It's super-easy!  Like... Show more

This is not an easy question to answer! How hard it is to learn Afrikaans depends on a few things, really. Afrikaans is the world’s youngest official language. Known as "Cape Dutch" or "Colonial Dutch" back in the day, Afrikaans was only considered a "real language" in the previous century. Over the years, it has been influenced by many other languages, including Arabic, French, and Russian. So it can appear pretty daunting to learn! However, AfrikaansPod101 is an easy way to learn Afrikaans because we simplify the learning steps for you. We introduce many simple but effective ways to learn Afrikaans while having fun at the same time! And our blog posts are informative and culturally relevant, such as this one on Afrikaans Etiquette... Show more

We tend to experience mistakes as either Tyrants or Teachers. Sometimes, we make regrettable mistakes that we berate ourselves over; other mistakes slide off us like rainwater. In Afrikaans, we have a popular idiom: Probeer maak die beste geweer. (Lit. "Trying makes the best gun.") This roughly means that you won't know if you can hit a target unless you shoot! The secret is simply to not give up, no matter how often you repeat a mistake in Afrikaans! We understand this very well at AfrikaansPod101.com. Dig into this guide to avoid making any of these common Afrikaans language mistakes! Table of Contents Vocabulary and Grammatical Mistakes Pronunciation Mistakes Spelling Mistakes - Compounds and Emphasis Other... Show more

Questions are language constructs we use to elicit information from other people, making them crucial in communication! Knowing stuff helps you navigate your way in this world—every child knows this.  And any parent will tell you that even babies know how to "ask"! So, if your plan is to connect and communicate with Afrikaners, it's very important to learn or brush up on the  most common Afrikaans questions and answers.Afrikaners are nice—like the country's climate, they're warm and friendly. And they love to chat, especially with new friends! So at AfrikaansPod101.com, we make sure that you master the Afrikaans you need to connect with them. Learn the most useful Afrikaans questions and answers quickly and easily in this... Show more

No more biting your nails over your pending Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) Afrikaans proficiency test! Anxiety only serves a good purpose if it motivates you to prepare well, because, as the saying goes, "Good preparation makes its own luck."Also, uncontrolled anxiety is bad for you and can definitely spoil your chances of performing well. We truly understand this at AfrikaansPod101.com, so we aim to help you reach your language goals so you can ace any Afrikaans exam with ease and confidence! In this article, we'll start with a look at why taking the OPI standardized language competency test can be helpful to you.  Then we'll move on to: A) more details about the OPI, which is one of the oldest and best-known international... Show more

Afrikaans is a daughter-language of Dutch, which informs about ninety percent of its vocabulary. However, many other languages helped shape Afrikaans! These include Malay and all of the African languages, as well as Portuguese, Arabic, French, German, and even Russian.  With such a mixed pot, you'd think that Afrikaans sentence patterns would be very complex and difficult to learn. You would be both right and wrong!  Certain aspects of Afrikaans sentence structures are indeed complex, but the basics are pretty easy to master. With a bit of effort, you could be speaking like a native in no time.  Also, at AfrikaansPod101.com, we understand that in order to master the content successfully, the learning process needs to be enjoyable.... Show more

So, you're keen to tell your Afrikaans friends what you've been up to. And you have all the right werkwoorde ("verbs") to manage this well! But if you are, for instance, really excited about something you did, or about something that happened, verbs alone will be inadequate. You’ll have to use an adverb in Afrikaans here. It's the difference between saying: "The group laughs" and "The group laughs happily." In the last sentence, "happily" is the adverb, and its omission could affect the meaning of the sentence, won't you agree? For this reason, we consider adverbs important at AfrikaansPod101, so let us help you master them easily! In fact, why not start with our blog post that tells you almost everything about Afrikaans verbs? Then, dare... Show more

So, you know all about verbs in Afrikaans, but you're still unsure about conjugations. No problem! Let’s learn about Afrikaans verb conjugation together. In Afrikaans, it's pretty simple, as verbs conjugate (vervoeg) in only a few instances. In other words, with most Afrikaans tenses, there are some changes to sentence structure and words, but not to the verb. The only exceptions are in the case of past tenses and the present participle.  Fantastically easy, right? Yes! With AfrikaansPod101, this is definitely the case. Let's unpack this grammar rule in more detail, starting with some definitions. Table of Contents Inflection vs. Conjugation Afrikaans Verb Inflections and Conjugations Quiz - Which Ones are... Show more

Verbs are those words in a sentence that tell us what’s being done (or if it’s being done). In other words, a verb refers to an action.  Afrikaans verbs are, in some ways, easier to master than those in other languages. For instance, in Afrikaans, verb conjugation depends only on time! This means that the verb form remains the same for all pronouns:  Hy eet, ek eet, hulle eet, almal eet! "He eats, I eat, they eat, everyone eats!" Great, right?! At AfrikaansPod101, we’re going to make sure that you understand Afrikaans verbs and their classification with our Afrikaans verbs list. In this blog, we explain the basic types of verbs found in Afrikaans, and offer you easy-to-use lists at your fingertips!  Let's not dally, but... Show more

The word "pronoun" in Afrikaans is voornaamwoord. Like pronouns in most languages, Afrikaans pronouns are very necessary words to use and master. Without pronouns, a language could sound clumsy and be much more difficult to understand! But with AfrikaansPod101.com, this doesn’t have to be a problem. We help you learn not only the relevant vocabulary, but also the grammar and proper use of pronouns in Afrikaans—easily and excellently! Let's start with the purpose of pronouns. Basically, these are words that take the place of nouns (the very word "pronoun" should give that away!) in a sentence. This keeps us from repeating the same word or words over and over again. Also, as mentioned earlier, they ensure elegant and smooth speech and... Show more