Learn how to catch up with an old friend
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Intro |
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| Becky: Hello, and welcome to AfrikaansPod101.com, where we study Afrikaans in a fun, educational format! I’m Becky, and this is Absolute Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 1, Catching Up with an Old South African Friend |
| Chesney: Hallo, I’m Chesney. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to make small talk in Afrikaans and about Afrikaans pronunciation. |
| Chesney: This conversation takes place on a street in Pretoria. |
| Becky: The conversation is between Anet and Mikka, two friends who haven't seen each other in a long time. |
| Chesney: The speakers are friends, so they’ll be using informal Afrikaans. |
| Becky: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
| Mikka: Hallo, Anet? Hoe gaan dit? |
| Anet: Hallo, Mikka!! Goed dankie, hoe gaan dit met jou? |
| Mikka: Goed, dankie. |
| Anet: Hoe gaan dit met Jan? |
| Mikka: Heel goed en met Bert en die kinders? |
| Anet: Ook goed! |
| Mikka: Wat 'n verrassing! |
| Anet: Ja! |
| Becky: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Mikka: Hallo, Anet? Hoe gaan dit? |
| Anet: Hallo, Mikka!! Goed dankie, hoe gaan dit met jou? |
| Mikka: Goed, dankie. |
| Anet: Hoe gaan dit met Jan? |
| Mikka: Heel goed en met Bert en die kinders? |
| Anet: Ook goed! |
| Mikka: Wat 'n verrassing! |
| Anet: Ja! |
| Becky: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Mikka: Hello, Anet? How's it going? |
| Anet: Hi, Mikka!! Good thanks, how’s it going with you? |
| Mikka: Good, thank you. |
| Anet: How’s it going with Jan? |
| Mikka: Very good, and with Bert and the children? |
| Anet: Also good! |
| Mikka: What a surprise! |
| Anet: Yes! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Ok, we should probably talk about greetings in this first lesson. South African people use different greetings depending on the time of day. |
| Chesney: For example, in the morning, before noon, people say, goeie more. |
| Becky: It means “Good morning.” And in the afternoon? |
| Chesney: In the afternoon, even if it's just one minute past noon, people say, goeie middag. |
| Becky: “Good afternoon.” Is there a greeting for "Good evening" as well? |
| Chesney: Yes, we say goeie naand. |
| Becky: Around what time do people start saying the expression? |
| Chesney: Maybe around 5 pm. There is also goeie nag, meaning "good night," but it’s not really a greeting per se. Goeie nag is only used to wish someone to ‘sleep tight,’ when they're about to go to bed. |
| Becky: So, how do we say “goodbye?” |
| Chesney: If you want to say goodbye when leaving late at night, just say totsiens. |
| Becky: Okay, thank you! Now, onto the vocab. |
| VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| Becky: The first word we shall see is... |
| Chesney: hallo [natural native speed] |
| Becky: hello (informal, answering the phone) |
| Chesney: hallo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chesney: hallo [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Chesney: goed [natural native speed] |
| Becky: great |
| Chesney: goed [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chesney: goed [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next is... |
| Chesney: dankie [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Thank you |
| Chesney: dankie [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chesney: dankie [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Chesney: met jou [natural native speed] |
| Becky: with you |
| Chesney: met jou [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chesney: met jou [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next... |
| Chesney: heel [natural native speed] |
| Becky: very |
| Chesney: heel [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chesney: heel [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Chesney: en [natural native speed] |
| Becky: and |
| Chesney: en [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chesney: en [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And next... |
| Chesney: kinders [natural native speed] |
| Becky: children |
| Chesney: kinders [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chesney: kinders [natural native speed] |
| Becky: The next word is, |
| Chesney: ook [natural native speed] |
| Becky: too |
| Chesney: ook [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chesney: ook [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have, |
| Chesney: wat [natural native speed] |
| Becky: what |
| Chesney: wat [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| wat [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last... |
| Chesney: verrassing [natural native speed] |
| Becky: surprise |
| Chesney: verrassing [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chesney: verrassing [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Becky: The first word we’ll look at is… |
| Chesney: Hallo. |
| Becky: What can you tell us about this word? |
| Chesney: It’s a standard Afrikaans greeting. |
| Becky: When can you use this word? |
| Chesney: You can use this with anyone at any time. |
| Becky: Are there any special words you can use when greeting friends? |
| Chesney: You can also say hi, just like in English. This is more informal. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Chesney: Sure. Hallo Jan hoe gaan dit? |
| Becky: “Hello Jan, how are you?” |
| Becky: Okay, what’s the next word? |
| Chesney: Hoe gaan dit? |
| Becky: meaning “How goes it?” |
| Becky: After you greet someone in Afrikaans, you’d most likely ask how they’re doing right after. |
| Chesney: The most common way to ask this is Hoe gaan dit? Literally, "How goes it?" |
| Becky: Can you use this phrase to ask about other people too? |
| Chesney: Yes, just add met plus a name to the end of this question. For example, Hoe gaan dit met Michael, or Hoe gaan dit met Sandra? |
| Becky: “How goes it with Michael?” or “How goes it with Sandra?” |
| Chesney: That’s it! |
| Becky: Okay, what’s the next word? |
| Chesney: Goed dankie |
| Becky: meaning “Good, thank you.” |
| Chesney: This is an answer for the last phrase we heard, Hoe gaan dit? |
| Becky: Remember, that phrase means “How goes it?” How else can we answer? |
| Chesney: You could also say baie goed. |
| Becky: This means “very good.” Okay, onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn about Afrikaans pronunciation. |
| Chesney: Afrikaans is quite easy in that the language is pronounced exactly as it’s written. |
| Becky: That sounds easy enough! Is it really that simple? |
| Chesney: Yes, but there are still a few sounds that you should pay attention to. |
| Becky: Okay, can you introduce those sounds for us? |
| Chesney: Of course. First, let’s talk about the throaty “g” sound. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example of words that have this sound? |
| Chesney: goed, gaan, goeie. |
| Becky: Can you hear that sound, listeners? |
| Chesney: This sound might take some practice, but I think that once you master it, it’s a lot of fun to say! |
| Becky: I think so too. What’s the next sound that we should be careful with? |
| Chesney: It is the Afrikaans “r.” This is quite different to the “r” used in American English. |
| Becky: How is it different? |
| Chesney: Like “g,” it comes from the throat. |
| Becky: Okay, let’s hear some examples. |
| Chesney: There are the names Bert and Gert, and the verb verassing. |
| Becky: So far, we’ve looked at two consonants. Are there any vowels that we should be careful with? |
| Chesney: Yes, there are. Vowels are usually the easiest way to tell who is a native Afrikaans speaker and who isn’t. |
| Becky: The pronunciation can be that different? |
| Chesney: Yes, it can. |
| Becky: What are the vowels in Afrikaans? |
| Chesney: The base vowels in Afrikaans are a as in gaan, e as in heel, i as in bied, o as in ook, u as in duur, and oe as in hoe. |
| Becky: If those are the base vowels, does that mean there are more vowels? |
| Chesney: Yes, each of these vowels can be long or short, and there are several diphthongs or vowel combinations. |
| Becky: Do you have any advice for new speakers of Afrikaans that want to get their pronunciation perfect? |
| Chesney: Listen to native speakers carefully and pay particular attention to the vowels; then, try to imitate them. |
| Becky: Sounds like good advice! |
| Chesney: Yes, I think that this will help you acquire a good accent in Afrikaans. |
| Becky: Try it out, listeners! |
Outro |
| Becky: That just about does it for this lesson. See you next time! |
| Chesney: Totsiens. |
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