As more and more people from all over the world learn about and fall in love with South Africa, it only makes sense that they’d want to learn our languages. Cue the Afrikaans Texan. Now, we know what you’re thinking ‘What in tarnation’? But, this is South Africa and stranger things have happened…
Northern Cape (16 April 2025) — We all know that South Africa is a pretty special place filled with weird and wonderful cultural tropes, the best food, landscapes to die for and unique languages that you won’t easily hear anywhere else. As more and more people flock to various parts of our country, it only makes sense that they’d want to learn more about what it takes to be a South African. And, a big chunk of this means learning our languages. Amid the foreign nationals learning Xhosa, Zulu, and SA slang is the Afrikaans Texan—a man from the United States who has been proudly sharing his Afrikaans (and lessons about South Africa) to his followers on social media.
We know what you’re thinking…’What in tarnation?’ or rather, ‘haibo!’. It’s certainly not every day that you hear Afrikaans spoken with a Texas accent. But, social media user ‘wordswithaus’ (Austin) describes himself as an American polyglot (someone who speaks multiple languages fluently). And he’s giving Afrikaans a real go.
However, the Afrikaans Texan doesn’t just talk the talk; he actually educates on it. And, lives in the Northern Cape to practice.
Austin’s videos are a mixed bag of goodies (and laughs, if you’re a South African) that range from educating people on Afrikaans phrases, bits of South African culture, the similarities between Texans and people in the Northern Cape, and exploring whether people prefer dry or dunked rusks.
As for how he learnt Afrikaans, Austin jokingly shares that he was drinking a few bezzas with Leon Schuster while hunting waterbuck in Mpumalanga. Legend has it that he took a bite of biltong and suddenly found himself speaking Afrikaans.
True to his polyglot identity, he’s also learning Xhosa!
Watch: The Afrikaans Texan
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