How similar are Dutch and Afrikaans? They look pretty similar, but are they mutually intelligible? Is the difference between Afrikaans and Dutch similar to the difference between Dutch and German, or is one closer than another?
14 comments
They’re actually quite different. Flemish and Dutch understand each other flawlessly, but Afrikaans is really different. I would understand in great lines what they’re talking about, but if they speak quickly, it’s really hard and I personally would need subtitles.
Understanding written Afrikaans is fairly hard too, but easier than spoken, of course.
A Dutch person once told me Afrikaans sounds like a drunk baby talking to them.
It’s one of those languages that when you hear them, you have the distinct sense that you know what they are saying, but you don’t.
There are some words that are the same which allows you to catch a meaning through context, but it isn’t similar enough to hold a conversation.
Spoke to some African people and understood them enough
I’m half Swiss (I speak swiss-german) and can understand spoken dutch pretty decently. Went to a South African friends house as a kid and the first time I heard him speak afrikaans with his mom, my brain glitched. “Why can I understand this language from the other side of the planet?”
People really overestimate how interchangeable the languages are, the pronunciation and the grammar are a big part of the difficulty. It’s more like the difference between standard Dutch and like a regional language than a dialect.
It’s very clearly a daughter language of Dutch but the mix with English and the influences from indonesian and old timey informal dialects make it very distinct and harder to listen to than to read.
I have worked with Afrikaner immigrants and like there’s a learning curve and they will have difficulty speaking standard Dutch and will have a long period where their passive understanding is better than their ability to speak or write, it’s often easier to just speak English.
It’s not like how some people seem to think that you can just plop Afrikaners up here and they’re instantly fully tapped in and wouldn’t need a language course.
No not at all
When I was in Holland for a week, I found Dutch to be somewhat similar to Danish when I heard it being spoken. Written down it’s not. But I was visiting a Dutch friend and she took me out one night to party with some of her friends. I could understand bits and pieces when they spoke Dutch to each other which took me by surprise.
Yes Dutch and Afrikaans both come from Hollandic varieties of low Franconian so they are pretty similar. Of course because of the diatance and time they both changed a lot but compared to a lot of dialects in the Netherlands it’s pretty easy.
Oh, you’re talking about food.
Ah, you had some kind of chicken dish.
OK, you enjoyed it. It was lekker.
Yes, I also like chicken.
That sort of level of conversation, you can puzzle out.
Isn’t Afrikaans just 16th-17th century Dutch?
Im Afrikaans. I can read Dutch well enough. But I can’t follow a random conversation. I can listen to songs if the lyrics are on screen while the guys singing.
I feel like the opposite is pretty similar for Dutch people. I actually understand Flemish a bit easier than Dutch interestingly enough (still struggle though
From my limited experience, Dutch people struggle more than Flemish people to understand Afrikaans.
A few Dutch mates and I know know a South-African couple. I can understand them just fine as a Fleming, but they understand around half of their conversations.
It’s pretty similar. It’s more like old dutch. Die Antwoord and Jack Parow is hilarious for dutch to listen to. Robbie Wessels’ Leeuloop is a masterpiece of afrikaans too 🤣🤓
14 comments
They’re actually quite different. Flemish and Dutch understand each other flawlessly, but Afrikaans is really different. I would understand in great lines what they’re talking about, but if they speak quickly, it’s really hard and I personally would need subtitles.
Understanding written Afrikaans is fairly hard too, but easier than spoken, of course.
A Dutch person once told me Afrikaans sounds like a drunk baby talking to them.
It’s one of those languages that when you hear them, you have the distinct sense that you know what they are saying, but you don’t.
There are some words that are the same which allows you to catch a meaning through context, but it isn’t similar enough to hold a conversation.
Spoke to some African people and understood them enough
I’m half Swiss (I speak swiss-german) and can understand spoken dutch pretty decently. Went to a South African friends house as a kid and the first time I heard him speak afrikaans with his mom, my brain glitched. “Why can I understand this language from the other side of the planet?”
People really overestimate how interchangeable the languages are, the pronunciation and the grammar are a big part of the difficulty. It’s more like the difference between standard Dutch and like a regional language than a dialect.
It’s very clearly a daughter language of Dutch but the mix with English and the influences from indonesian and old timey informal dialects make it very distinct and harder to listen to than to read.
I have worked with Afrikaner immigrants and like there’s a learning curve and they will have difficulty speaking standard Dutch and will have a long period where their passive understanding is better than their ability to speak or write, it’s often easier to just speak English.
It’s not like how some people seem to think that you can just plop Afrikaners up here and they’re instantly fully tapped in and wouldn’t need a language course.
No not at all
When I was in Holland for a week, I found Dutch to be somewhat similar to Danish when I heard it being spoken. Written down it’s not. But I was visiting a Dutch friend and she took me out one night to party with some of her friends. I could understand bits and pieces when they spoke Dutch to each other which took me by surprise.
Yes Dutch and Afrikaans both come from Hollandic varieties of low Franconian so they are pretty similar. Of course because of the diatance and time they both changed a lot but compared to a lot of dialects in the Netherlands it’s pretty easy.
Oh, you’re talking about food.
Ah, you had some kind of chicken dish.
OK, you enjoyed it. It was lekker.
Yes, I also like chicken.
That sort of level of conversation, you can puzzle out.
Isn’t Afrikaans just 16th-17th century Dutch?
Im Afrikaans. I can read Dutch well enough. But I can’t follow a random conversation. I can listen to songs if the lyrics are on screen while the guys singing.
I feel like the opposite is pretty similar for Dutch people. I actually understand Flemish a bit easier than Dutch interestingly enough (still struggle though
From my limited experience, Dutch people struggle more than Flemish people to understand Afrikaans.
A few Dutch mates and I know know a South-African couple. I can understand them just fine as a Fleming, but they understand around half of their conversations.
It’s pretty similar. It’s more like old dutch. Die Antwoord and Jack Parow is hilarious for dutch to listen to. Robbie Wessels’ Leeuloop is a masterpiece of afrikaans too 🤣🤓