Complete Afrikaans Beginner to Intermediate Book and Audio Course

Learn to read, write, speak and understand a new language with Teach Yourself

Lydia McDermott

• Publisher: Teach Yourself
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9781444105865
• eBook ISBN:
  9781444134384
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

This product is most effective when used in conjunction with the corresponding audio support.
- You can purchase the book and double CD as a pack (ISBN: 9781444105872)
- The double CD is also sold separately (ISBN: 9781444105889)
(copy and paste the ISBN number into the search bar to find these products)
Are you looking for a complete course in Afrikaans which takes you effortlessly from beginner to confident speaker? Whether you are starting from scratch, or are just out of practice, Complete Afrikaans will guarantee success!Now fully updated to make your language learning experience fun and interactive. You can still rely on the benefits of a top language teacher and our years of teaching experience, but now with added learning features within the course and online.
The course is structured in thematic units and the emphasis is placed on communication, so that you effortlessly progress from introducing yourself and dealing with everyday situations, to using the phone and talking about work. By the end of this course, you will be at Level B2 of the Common European Framework for Languages: Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party.Learn effortlessly with a new easy-to-read page design and interactive features: NOT GOT MUCH TIME?
One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started.AUTHOR INSIGHTS
Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience.GRAMMAR TIPS
Easy-to-follow building blocks to give you a clear understanding.USEFUL VOCABULARY
Easy to find and learn, to build a solid foundation for speaking.DIALOGUES
Read and listen to everyday dialogues to help you speak and understand fast.PRONUNCIATION
Don't sound like a tourist! Perfect your pronunciation before you go.TEST YOURSELF
Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress.EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Extra online articles at: www.teachyourself.com to give you a richer understanding of the culture and history of Afrikaans speakers.TRY THIS
Innovative exercises illustrate what you've learnt and how to use it.
The course is available as an ebook (9781444134384), as a print book (9781444105865), as a pack comprising the book and double CD (9781444105872) and as a double CD (9781444105889).

1

Groete
Greetings

In this unit you will learn

• About the use of greetings in Afrikaner culture

• The terms for members of the family

• The terms for the relationships among family members

• How Afrikaners distinguish between their nuclear and extended families

• How to say hello

• How to say goodbye

Note

The Afrikaans word groete greetings comes from groet, which can mean either to greet or to say ‘goodbye’.

Insight

The Afrikaners place a lot of importance on courtesy and polite behaviour. When you meet someone or phone them, your first question should be Hoe gaan dit met jou? How are you? The other person’s response will generally be Goed dankie. En met jou? Their response to your politeness is another politeness! You would never just say Môre Morning and then hurtle into what you want to talk about.

Dialogue 1

Meet the Smit family.

CD1, TR 3

QUICK VOCAB
moeder mother
vader father
twee two
kinders children
een one
seun boy
ander other
meisie girl
dogter daughter
naam name
gesin family
bynaam nickname
seun son
broer brother
suster sister
pa dad
ma mum
ek I

Exercise 1

The following picture is of three generations of one family. Besides a father, mother and older children, the picture includes the oldest and youngest family members: the grandparents, ouma (grandmother), oupa (grandfather) and the baby (baba).

Use the following words to identify the people in the picture:

dogter, Pa, moeder, Oupa, seun, Ma, baba, vader, broer, Ouma, suster, kinders

Language patterns

Pronouns

Pronouns, as the word implies, are those words which are used to replace nouns (persons, places or things). It is likely we would find the sentence Peter looked for Peter’s book, Peter most odd. We would normally say, Peter looked for his book, himself. The words his and himself substitute for the words Peter’s and the second occurrence of Peter in the sentence, respectively. Pronoun substitution is used to avoid repetition, which often leads to clumsy sentences. Pronouns work the same way in Afrikaans as they do in English.

Insight

In Afrikaans, we have two ways of saying you. Generally, we use the word jy, but we also have a special form, u, for addressing those to whom we would be expected to show respect in terms of Afrikaans cultural practice. For example, we would say, Goeiemôre, Meneer. Hoe gaan dit met u? (Good morning, Sir. How are you?) if we were addressing our boss or perhaps a child was addressing his/her headteacher.

In a typical Afrikaans expression of respect, mother-tongue speakers will address any adult older than themselves – including strangers – as oom or tannie (uncle or aunt). So don’t be surprised if someone addresses you in this way: they’re not claiming kinship with you, they’re being polite!

Look at the following table which sets out the English pronouns and their Afrikaans equivalents.

CD1, TR 4

Note

• While there are separate singular and plural for...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Meet the author
• Only got a minute?
• Only got five minutes?
• Introduction
• Pronunciation
• 1 Groete Greetings
• 2 Ja meneer, nee meneer Yes sir, no sir
• 3 Asseblief, dankie Please, thank you
• 4 Kultuur en kerk Culture and church
• 5 Feesvierings Celebrations
• 6 Fris, fors, vrolik Fit, strong, happy
• 7 Het dit! (1) Got it! (1)
• 8 Om daar te kom Getting there
• 9 Om daar te bly Staying there
• 10 Koopkuns Cunning shopping
• 11 SOS SOS
• 12 So maak mens This is what people do
• 13 Het dit! (2) Got it! (2)
• 14 Volg jou maag Follow your stomach
• 15 Voed jou siel Feed your soul
• 16 Veld toe To the veld
• 17 Het dit! (3) Got it! (3)
• Key to the exercises
• Taking it further
• Appendix: useful information
• Afrikaans–English glossary
• English–Afrikaans glossary
• Copyright