The one thing that I hate most about going to Africa is not being able to understand Afrikaans. I understand that we are in their country and have to adapt to their culture.

I have always been somewhat good at picking up foreign languages but I am having some difficulty with Afrikaans. There is no Rosetta Stone for Afrikaans or any other compatible software. I would greatly appreciate if any of you can recommend a study program.
Regards

Clark

Would studying Dutch be a gateway?

Even that is frustrating unless you already have a background in German/Dutch/Flemish, etc. My efforts have been fun, but I think the challenges are these.

1. Gutterals are unusual for us, unlike Arabic, Hebrew and to some extent German speakers. Also, modern Dutch sounds as unlike Afrikaans as Cajun "French" would in Paris, even though I've been told it is possible to get along, sort of like Koine Greek from Bible days could get you by in Greece today. Flemish is closest to Afrikaans, having also derived from 15th century Dutch (or close to that.)

2. Spelling looks "wrong" to English speakers. Verbs don't change with number, gender or age (except for how used when speaking of God or in polite speech) and the plurals are formed by ending in 'e' with vowels and even consonants being reduced or doubled. Oh, and negatives are formed by flanking the statement with 'nie'. Double negatives are required -- trust me. Sounding it out from written materials didn't work for me.

3. People who speak Afrikaans often have their own mastery of RSA English and don't need to trade off proficiency should you make a South African friend stateside.

4. Past tenses are formed by using the word 'het' early in the sentence and, since the verb comes last in a phrase or sentence, you add 'ge-' to the front of the verb. Their are several words that have two meanings (like our bat and bat) used as articles and to form past action words. (There's a bunch more.)

5. It would help to be able to learn in the way children do -- hear, speak, read, write in that order. "Colloquial Afrikaans" cassette and book materials helped me. Also, listening to South African artists on YouTube is interesting for me.

All this aside, without a "long-haired dictionary" as one guy puts it, you won't have the urgency needed to pick it up on your own.

For ten years I've listened to Afrikaans and English radio stations on the computer, just to hear the accent and maybe subliminally pick up more. I must also add that as an advantage around folks they might not want to understand everything, some aren't crazy about the idea of us learning a whole lot.

There's a wonderful novelist whose work is translated to English from the Afrikaans, leaving enough idiom and jargon in the story to spark interest. That's Deon Meyer.

quote:

Originally posted by Capt. Purvis:
The one thing that I hate most about going to Africa is not being able to understand Afrikaans. I understand that we are in their country and have to adapt to their culture.



Clark

Afrikaans is not a language of African people but of the white man in south Africa.

If you want to adapt you to the african culture , it's better to learn Isizulu or Ndebele depending of the country !

Whenever your PH and trackers start talking in Afrikaans it's either:

This poor sot couldn't hit the side of a barn.

Or

Let's walk in circles for a few hours before going back and shooting Herman. Some one let him out this morning right?

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
Whenever your PH and trackers start talking in Afrikaans it's either:

This poor sot couldn't hit the side of a barn.

Or

Let's walk in circles for a few hours before going back and shooting Herman. Some one let him out this morning right?

Just having a little fun...

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
Whenever your PH and trackers start talking in Afrikaans it's either:

This poor sot couldn't hit the side of a barn.

Or

Let's walk in circles for a few hours before going back and shooting Herman. Some one let him out this morning right?

That is funny! Been there done that!

.

I found a language dictionary along with 2 CD's for Afrikaans on Ebay a few years back, don't remember the brand. I'll look it up and let you know.

After checking Ebay, there are at least 10 dictionary/CD courses available. Just type Afrikaans language CD in the header bar.

Let me know if I can help when you get stuck...

Mooi loop...

quote:

Originally posted by grandveneur:

quote:

Originally posted by Capt. Purvis:
The one thing that I hate most about going to Africa is not being able to understand Afrikaans. I understand that we are in their country and have to adapt to their culture.



Clark

Afrikaans is not a language of African people but of the white man in south Africa.

If you want to adapt you to the african culture , it's better to learn Isizulu or Ndebele depending of the country !

Since the official language of Namibia is English, I'll stick with that.

On my first trip to (South) Africa, I was relaxing in the company of a PH and some locals before supper. They were discussing the poor shooting and clumsiness of another hunting client in unflattering terms (in English), and when that hunter entered into the room, they switched to Afrikaans - never missing a beat.

Right then and there I vowed not to put myself in that position, and as soon as I got home I bought books and tapes and software to learn the language.

When I returned to Africa several years later on a hunt in Namibia, I never let on that I had any comprehension until almost a week later when the PH and tracker were having a discussion during the hunt. I casually made an offhand comment on the situation (in Afrikaans). Their eyes bugged out and you could see them "rolling back the tapes" in their minds to try to recall if they had said anything compromising or derogatory in the past week!

I'm not saying the situation I encountered is common - but I felt more comfortable in my situation armed with a little knowledge.

BTW, I felt that knowing German would have been more beneficial in some areas of Namibia.

Dave

quote:

Originally posted by JGRaider:

quote:

Originally posted by grandveneur:

quote:

Originally posted by Capt. Purvis:
The one thing that I hate most about going to Africa is not being able to understand Afrikaans. I understand that we are in their country and have to adapt to their culture.


Clark

!

Since the official language of Namibia is English, I'll stick with that.

Ja. Me too.

I can always speak to them in Tex-ican.

quote:

Originally posted by grandveneur:

quote:

Originally posted by Capt. Purvis:
The one thing that I hate most about going to Africa is not being able to understand Afrikaans. I understand that we are in their country and have to adapt to their culture.



Clark

Afrikaans is not a language of African people but of the white man in south Africa.

If you want to adapt you to the african culture , it's better to learn Isizulu or Ndebele depending of the country !

My great grandfather (x8 generations) left his family's Farm and village in Germany, and made his way to Texel (Holland) - there, on the 15th of November 1765 he boarded a ship heading for the Cape of Good hope - he had signed up to be a soldier in the command of the VOC and he was heading for the castle in Cape town.

When he arrived on the shores of South Africa - no native Africans lived within a thousand miles of the Cape - only Standloopers (Bushman) lived in the Southern part of South Africa.

The Southern African tribes as we know them today, where new comers to the Northern parts of the country, they had migrated Southwards from North and Central Africa to escape the bonds of slavery (Yes slavery had been going on for a thousand years before the white man got involved) Millions of their brothers and sisters, had been caught and sold to the thriving Arab and Asian slavers. This caused one of the biggest migrations in the history of Humanity - Im sure that you know everything about this lol

To say that any Native language has more prevalence than Afrikaans in Southern Africa is a fallacy, even the ANC government figured it out, that's why Afrikaans is one of the 11 official languages.

I agree , i know the history of the south part of Africa. Today a lot of african people speak Afrikaans , i think much more than white people .

quote:

Originally posted by grandveneur:

quote:

Originally posted by Capt. Purvis:
The one thing that I hate most about going to Africa is not being able to understand Afrikaans. I understand that we are in their country and have to adapt to their culture.


Clark

Afrikaans is not a language of African people but of the white man in south Africa.

If you want to adapt you to the african culture , it's better to learn Isizulu or Ndebele depending of the country !

Most "white men" I have met in South and southern Africa consider themselves African.

Saying that the Afrikaner is not an African is like saying that Americans not of Native American descent are not American...

My PH told me it was derived from Dutch. He said Hollanders can understand them (Afrikaans) just fine. He said they(Afrikaans) had a little trouble understanding the Dutch. He told me that they words were all the same just different accent points.

Here is another way to look at it. I think it is rude for Afrikaans PH's to speak to each other in Afrikaans in front of clients when the Afrikaners are fluent in the client's language. Period! This applies to speaking French, Swahili or whatever. A PH often needs to speak to the trackers and staff in their language but otherwise around clients I think conversation should be in the client's language if at all possible. Maybe then learning Afrikaans wouldn't be necessary.

Mark

Agreed 150%

Bvekenya

Ek kan nie verstaan die 'standloopers' nie. Hy's 'n strandlooper omdat daai mense het geloop ("ran") oor die strande ("beaches").

Deon Meyer brings out why the natural boundary between the Boere-to-be and the Xhosa in particular occurred. Simply put, the crops the blacks in the East were familiar with growing, mielies in particular, don't produce well to their West. Wheat and so on arriving with the Europeans thrived at the Cape, getting rust and other blights where the Fish River area starts. Who knew?

Kaapse Afrikaans is as different from "correct" Afrikaans up North (now) as ghetto English is from that of Oxford, England.

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
Whenever your PH and trackers start talking in Afrikaans it's either:

This poor sot couldn't hit the side of a barn.

Or

Let's walk in circles for a few hours before going back and shooting Herman. Some one let him out this morning right?

or the tracker can't speak English, which is common. I've been in areas where the tracker could only speak whatever his home language was, Venda in my case. Or go to Zululand and they pride themselves on not speaking anything except Zulu.

quote:

Originally posted by BNagel:
Bvekenya

Ek kan nie verstaan die 'standloopers' nie. Hy's 'n strandlooper omdat daai mense loop ("run") oor die strande ("beaches").

'Standlooper' is net n' beter naam vir die hotentot mense - in die einde dit betekend min of meer die selfde ding...

Van my verstanding, die mense het die meeste van hulle lewens op die Kus gebly, die Portegeese (Degama en Dias) het hulle goed beskryf in die boeke oor hulle verhaale, met die ondeking van die Kaap

quote:

Most "white men" I have met in South and southern Africa consider themselves African.

If you where born and bred in Africa - with a pedigree of over 400 years - what else can you be - but African?


I am fluent in Five languages two African and three European, let me tell you one thing about Afrkaans - it is the most descriptive language I now...

quote:

posted 07 December 2015 20:06 Hide Post

Whenever your PH and trackers start talking in Afrikaans it's either:

This poor sot couldn't hit the side of a barn.

Or

Let's walk in circles for a few hours before going back and shooting Herman. Some one let him out this morning right?

Cool

Quote

For ten years I've listened to Afrikaans and English radio stations on the computer, just to hear the accent and maybe subliminally pick up more.


I have mastered the Lion Walk! Kind of Freaked Out the Wife and Kids. Funny Song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VURMGwJPBVI

quote:

Originally posted by Bvekenya:

quote:

Originally posted by BNagel:
Bvekenya

Ek kan nie verstaan die 'standloopers' nie. Hy's 'n strandlooper omdat daai mense loop ("run") oor die strande ("beaches").

'Standlooper' is net n' beter naam vir die hotentot mense - in die einde dit betekend min of meer die selfde ding...

Van my verstanding, die mense het die meeste van hulle lewens op die Kus gebly, die Portegeese (Degama en Dias) het hulle goed beskryf in die boeke oor hulle verhaale, met die ondeking van die Kaap

So they were running in place -- useless non-accomplishers then. It fits the view of the time.

quote:

Originally posted by Capt. Purvis:
Quote

For ten years I've listened to Afrikaans and English radio stations on the computer, just to hear the accent and maybe subliminally pick up more.



I have mastered the Lion Walk! Kind of Freaked Out the Wife and Kids. Funny Song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VURMGwJPBVI

Ag man, moenie die leeuloop maak waneer die kinders naarby is.

Love Robbie but there's much more to admire, if you like the beat. (I do.) Of course, as a serious Christian I may be ashamed of what I've liked when I understand 'die taal' better. As in, "I'm ashamed of what I did for a Klondike bar!"

n' bobejaan kan Afrikaans praat - lol

https://youtu.be/cV3MCkEsgBI

Reminds me of an incident when hunting with a relative in India in the 70s. We were young college boys & my friend knew little Tamil as he was public (private) school educated etc.

We had an old man (tribal villager) as a guide to take us around looking for small game and Muntjack. It was hilly & thick terrain. This old man was illiterate and could not read or write even Tamil. He was probably over 60 - born around 1915 or so (??)

My friend was not very fit and he was getting frustrated & started cribbing about the old man. Frustration and lung puffing increased and the old man started chatting. I noticed that we had made a full circle of a few ridges and asked him in Tamil. The old man did not reply. When I mentioned it to my friend he said he would tell his dad (a local big shot) and that he wished he could shoot the "old bugger".

Now the fun started - (remember my pal did not speak Tamil well but could understand) - The old man slowly started talking in Tamil about city slickers and softies. About how they are spoilt brats and how they want to hunt without having a clue about the bush! He then said that my friend's dad was a real man and could walk and hunt the bush & he had good manners! Finally he said "You think it is so easy to shoot me?"

I could not laugh as I did not want to offend my friend!

quote:

Originally posted by grandveneur:
I agree , i know the history of the south part of Africa. Today a lot of african people speak Afrikaans , i think much more than white people .

I thought white people were Africans....I guess since I am not an Indian, I am not an American. Guess I need a new passport.its for sure a lot of white folks have been in AFrica at least as long as they have been in the US.

quote:

Originally posted by AFRICAN LEADWOOD:
Saying that the Afrikaner is not an African is like saying that Americans not of Native American descent are not American...

+1

Amen brother

buy a donkey!

That being said--

I was on a hunt in SA-both PH's and the biologist spoke Afrikaans- they would have a long 10-15 minute conversation, come back to me and say---we go that way.

By the third day I called them together and told them that since I was paying for the party--all conversation would be in English---

It worked well and we all had fun for rest of the hunt.

My wife and i both speak afrikaans as a first language. Whe have lived in Canada for 10 years. Our kids struggle to understand us even though afrikaans was pretty much the only language they heard for the first years of their life. Since going to school they "lost" their ability to speak and understand afrikaans. It will be a tough language to learn if you do not hear people speak it every day.
It is rude and unprofessional for a PH to speak afrikaans in front of the clients.
A funny thing that happen to us often is that my wife and I will be sitting in a corner of a local coffe shop have a drink, having a relaxing private conversation amongst ourselves, and people sitting next to us, that we do not know and who is not part of the conversation, will turn around and insist we speak english. When I ask why it bothers them if we are having a private conversation that does not concern them they say "how do we know you are not talking about us". I find it strange that they would assume we will be taking about them?

Guys I am white I live in Africa was born here my family's been here for 200 plus years I AM AFRICAN and don't want to be called anything else, It is very upsetting when the politicians use the word African as A political tool.

Afrikaans is what we speak and in most cases that's how we communicate with our trackers and staff. In our area almost most of them speaks it and very little English.

This reminds about the story of an Afrikaans pilot who made an emergency landing in Mozambique. After contemplating his situation he felt the safest option was to make for the Cabora Bassa powerline and follow that, thinking it would surely be searched. At sunset he was hungry, thirsty and alone. Then he heard a generator start and quickly made towards the noise. He found a small village with 3 Shangaan men sitting around the fire.
He greeted them in English upon which one responded 'Naand, Baas, waar kom jy vandaan'
Translated as 'Good evening, Sir, where did you come from'

This bloke had worked in SA and had learnt Afrikaans. They then directed him to a termite mound where his cellphone had 1 bar of signal strength and he could phone home. The next morning they dropped him at the closest border post a 100km away.

One just never knows who understands what.

I have never come across an Afrikaner who couldn't speak better English than I can speak any other language, and the South Africans are noted for their good manners. In 40 years I've never had a problem. With camp staff it might be different, because in South Africa even Afrikaans would be their second, and maybe third language.

quote:

Originally posted by Capt. Purvis:
The one thing that I hate most about going to Africa is not being able to understand Afrikaans. I understand that we are in their country and have to adapt to their culture.

I have always been somewhat good at picking up foreign languages but I am having some difficulty with Afrikaans. There is no Rosetta Stone for Afrikaans or any other compatible software. I would greatly appreciate if any of you can recommend a study program.
Regards

Clark