Premium Courses Overview

Below is an overview of our Afrikaans course.

This course is designed to provide structured, step-by-step grammar learning, with exercises and practice to help you build confidence in using Afrikaans.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the course outline and structure in the comments below. Please let us know if you found this useful or if there’s anything you think we should add or change.

The Study Guide to Afrikaans for English Speakers

Do you struggle with Afrikaans? You’re not alone.

Afrikaans is often described as an “easy” language, but for many English speakers, this simply isn’t true.

A lot of teachers and textbooks rely on the use of vocabulary lists and endless practice without clear explanations of the rules of Afrikaans, expecting students to somehow figure out how to speak and understand Afrikaans on their own.

But that’s the big problem.

Most resources teach you what Afrikaans is, not how it actually works.

So, if you’re an English speaker trying to learn Afrikaans but can’t quite wrap your head around its intricacies, this course is for you.

Who is this course for?

This course is for English speakers who struggle with Afrikaans. It was designed with adults and high-school students in mind. This course would also be useful to visitors to South Africa who want to learn some Afrikaans.

It is ideal for learners who don’t just want to identify grammar rules, but need to understand how to actually apply them.

Many learners already know what nouns, verbs, and pronouns are. But what they need is to understand how they work in Afrikaans — and how they differ from English.

This course highlights these differences, providing clear, structured rules and explanations that help you use the language correctly.

What makes this course different?

This course is based on real problems English speakers experienced while learning Afrikaans.

From my own experience as a language tutor, students would ask questions that seemed simple, but can’t be answer clearly using traditional textbooks or online resources. Afrikaans speakers intuitively know the rules from speaking Afrikaans their whole life, but those rules weren’t always properly explained in the materials available to second language speakers.

It became clear that many Afrikaans resources are not designed with English speakers in mind, but rather for first language Afrikaans speakers. Even the material marketed at second language speakers often focuses heavily on classifying parts of speech and other aspects of the language, even though most learners already understand what nouns, verbs, and pronouns are. The real challenge is not identifying these elements — it is learning how to use them correctly in Afrikaans.

Many Afrikaans resources are not designed with English speakers in mind. They often focus heavily on classifying parts of speech, even though many learners already understand what nouns, verbs, and pronouns are. The real challenge is not identifying these elements — it is learning how to use them correctly in Afrikaans.

In addition, many resources rely on direct translation, which is often unhelpful. Afrikaans does not simply follow English grammar rules with different words, and trying to learn it that way leads to confusion.

Some topics that are difficult to use in practice, like when to use “hy” vs “sy,” are often barely explained. Instead, learners are left to figure things out on their own.

This course takes a different approach.

It is built around real questions and real mistakes from English-speaking students, with clear explanations that focus on how the language actually works in practice, not just in theory.

This course is designed to help students improve their exam marks or improve their confidence in using Afrikaans in their everyday life or at work by helping them speak, write, and understand Afrikaans better.

Why do English speakers struggle with Afrikaans?

Afrikaans doesn’t always feel as easy to English speakers as people claim. One reason is that it has an entirely different set of words and grammar to learn.

Online resources and textbooks sometimes oversimplify things by providing direct English translations, but many Afrikaans words don’t have a clear equivalent in English.

A classic example is ”wat” and “dat.” Many resources translate them as “what” and “that,” which seems straightforward — but in practice, English speakers often run into confusion. If you do not understand these concepts, Afrikaans would become very difficult to learn.

For instance, a sentence like:

“Die man dat oud is, is honger.”

might look correct at first glance because it follows English grammar rules (“The man that is old is hungry”), but in Afrikaans, you should use ”wat” in this case, not “dat.” First-language Afrikaans speakers might struggle to understand the sentence above as a result.

It isn’t that Afrikaans grammar is overly complicated — it’s that it doesn’t always follow the same patterns as English. This course explains these patterns clearly, so you can use the language confidently and avoid common mistakes.

Afrikaans can feel eerily similar to English at times, and then suddenly completely alien.

If you are battling with Afrikaans, no matter what anyone says— you’re not dumb. The rules just haven’t been explained clearly to you. As a tutor, I’ve seen this firsthand. None of my students are incapable — the material simply isn’t always taught clearly.

How is the Course Different from the Blog's Content?

The core explanations and examples are available for free on Owl’s Bilingual Academy blog for anyone who needs them.

For those who want to take things further, this course organises the lessons into a structured learning path and provides exercises so you can practice what you have learned and track your progress.

Using the course makes learning Afrikaans easier, more focused, and much more convenient.

Free blog content

• Core Grammar rules and explanations — focused on practical rules instead of just theory
• Example sentences and demonstrations to show you how the language is used in action

Premium Course content

• Exercises to help you apply what you’ve learned
• A clear, guided learning path from start to finish — all lessons organised in one place
• Introductory lessons to help you understand key concepts of the core lesson.
• Quick reference sheets — fast and easy review when you need it
• Convenient access — your own copy you can use anytime, without searching for lessons online

Course Catalogue

Below you will find a list of the volumes for sale in The Essential Afrikaans Study Guide for English Speakers course.

Mastering Pronouns

Confused about when to use “hy, sy” or “hom”, why “sy” is sometimes male and

sometimes female, or when to use “jy, jou” and “julle”?

Many English speakers feel the same, and this course will help you understand how

to use these and the other most commonly used pronouns in sentences confidently and

correctly.

 

Understanding Pronouns in Afrikaans is the perfect place to start on your Afrikaans

language journey. Pronouns are part of the backbone of Afrikaans grammar,

because they are central to most sentences and using pronouns properly will open

the door for you to start speaking Afrikaans like a native speaker.

 

This course is a deep dive into Afrikaans pronouns for English speakers. We will

break Afrikaans pronouns down for you step by step, with clear examples and

explanations, with exercises to practice what you have learned and quick reference

sheets to help if you need a quick refresher.\

Ready to dive in?

Buy the course now and start your Afrikaans journey or check the course overview first

if you want to see exactly what's inside.

Coming soon.

Making tenses easy

Upcoming volumes.

Wie wat and dat

Questions vs statement in Afrikaans.

Afrikaans Word order

Infinitives

Multi word expressions

Prepositions

Confusing Afrikaans words

© 2026 Owl's Bilingual Academy. You’re welcome to share or adapt this for non-commercial use, as long as you give credit. Please don’t sell it or claim it as your own.