7 Reasons to learn Afrikaans as an Additional Language

An additional language refers to a language which is not your home language.  In South-African schools, learners are taught in a home language (or first language) and an additional language.  Often parents opt for schools teaching English as the first language, which is not necessarily the learner’s home language.

A question sometimes asked by additional language learners is:

The following are our suggestions to answer the above question:

1. According to Stats SA (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48050197, Afrikaans is the third most spoken language in South Africa. There is a good chance you will encounter an Afrikaans speaker in daily life.
2. The National Educational Policy requires that you learn an additional language.  Your school governing board may choose between any of 11 official languages as determined by the Constitution, in many cases this choice is for Afrikaans.
3. Afrikaans is a distinctive language, which originated in, and is uniquely South African.
4. Speaking to somebody in his/her language, even if you are not fluent, will earn you respect and appreciation.  Imagine being greeted in your home language and knowing that the person who is greeting you does not share your home language.
5. There are many Afrikaans resources available.
6. Afrikaans is considered a grammatically simple language to learn.  (In a future article we will explain what is meant by ‘simple language’.)
7. Afrikaans is a dynamic and energetic language.  It is characteristically expressive and jam-packed with humour.