Sage-Tips

Can someone who speaks Afrikaans understand Dutch?

Intelligibility between Dutch and Afrikaans Although Afrikaans is a daughter of Dutch, Dutch speakers might take some time to understand the language but they can understand Afrikaans. On the other hand, speakers of Afrikaans might not be able to readily comprehend the Dutch language.

Which Dutch dialect is closest to Afrikaans?

South-Hollandic
Unsurprisingly, Afrikaans was found to be most closely related to Dutch. When Afrikaans was compared to 361 Dutch and Frisian dialects, the South-Hollandic varieties were found to be closest to Afrikaans.

Is Afrikaans hard to learn?

Afrikaans is actually quite simple to learn, and many language learners consider it one of the easiest languages to master. Most Germanic languages have two or even three genders, but Afrikaans, like English, uses a singular gender. The verb conjugations were removed, simplifying the language even further.

How long does it take an Afrikaans person to learn Dutch?

I am an Afrikaans speaker of Dutch descent. I learned written standard Dutch part-time in less than 12 intense months. It is fairly straight forward because the vocabulary is the same. Just some grammar that you need to pick up here and there but nothing you can not overcome even if languages aren’t your thing.

Is Afrikaans easy?

Can Afrikaans be understood by a Dutch speaker?

Afrikaans can be understood by a Dutch speaker, though you have to concentrate more. When Afrikaners speak slowly it is quite easy. There are some strange differences, like the word for kitchen in Dutch is keuken. In Afrikaans it is kombuis.

Are Flemish and Afrikaans dialects of each other?

Frisian is impossible to understand when spoken, and only partially understandable (at best) when written. So: Flemish and Dutch can be considered dialects of each other. Frisian is another language, albeit one with a strong resemblance to Dutch. Afrikaans is in the no-man’s-land between dialect and different language.

Why are Dutch people so direct in their communication?

There is hardly any room for emotion and passion. Everything has to do about practicality and money. The most dutch people make choices in there life, on that base. I think that is a big reason why Dutch people are so direct: they communicate and act in the way it takes them the least amount of time, energy or money.

Are Afrikaans and Dutch mutually intelligible?

As earlier mentioned, the mutual intelligibility between Afrikaans and Dutch is more on the written than the spoken language.