Language World

South Africa

Reader Review:
A 'must buy' because you probably won't find anything else., July 3, 2000
Reviewer: smugs from Davis, CA USA
Before I purchased my plane ticket to Cape Town, I decided to purchase a book that taught Afrikaans. After searching local bookstores to no avail, Amazon.com suggested the selection of Afrikaans books and tapes that almost everyone reading this review has found en route to bumping into the period at the end of this sentence.

'Afrikaans (Teach Yourself)' is a decent book. It provides a chunk of vocabulary, and some peripheral grammar notes. Vocabulary and grammar are good enough, I suppose; but self-instructed language methodology isn't very successful without sufficient drills and answers (and a cassette tape wouldn't hurt, either!).

Yes, there is a pronunciation guide. No, a native speaker of English will not be able to pronounce Afrikaans by reading it. Don't believe me? Just try! (: Americans in particular must also be aware that most (if not all) Afrikaans textbooks present Afrikaans pronunciation through English words as pronounced by an Englishperson.

As I had no native speaker of Afrikaans on hand here in California, I decided that I would pronounce Afrikaans incorrectly, but at least keep my inaccuracies consistent, as written. In other words, I made up my own pronunciations, guessing as well as I could. After my arrival, my Capetonian friends pointed out my *gross* verbal discrepancies, and generalizing their corrections to the rest of my mispronunciations became easy.

I strongly recommend this book, as I have not found anything better.. I would purchase a more comprehensive book in a heartbeat.

Or Buy in: UK or Canada

Reader Review:
Use it for Afrikaans - English, but not the other way around, January 28, 2003
Reviewer: Julie Harlow from Clinton, CT United States
I was really excited when I bought this book. Seeing an opportunity to really expand my ability to speak Afrikaans, a "woordeboek" seemed to be exactly what I needed. However, based on the response I get from my fiance, who is a native Afrikaans speaker, I would probably not buy this book again. Many times, when I use a word from the book, he's never even heard of it, and gives me the correct Afrikaans word. He feels that this book was probably written by a native Dutch speaker, being that Dutch and Afrikaans are very similar, but with some distinct differences. I find it still helpful for any words I encounter in Afrikaans that I need translated into English, but as a reference for translating from English into Afrikaans, it's proven decidedly lacking.

Or Buy in: UK or Canada

Colloquial Africaans is the ideal introduction to the modern language as spoken in South Africa and Namibia. Written by an experienced teacher of the language, the course offers a step-by-step approach to written and spoken Africaans. By the end of this rewarding course you will be able to communicate confidently and effectively in Africaans on a broad range of everyday topics.

Or Buy in: UK or Canada