An American learning Afrikaans is sharing the words she loves and the words she has beef with, and we’re giggling because she might just have a point on the latter:
South Africa (27 March 2025) — An American content creator named Morgan is learning Afrikaans. With a South African fiancé named Pierre in her life (whose first language is Afrikaans) and lots of time spent in South Africa, Morgan decided that it only made sense to jump on the Afrikaans bandwagon and avoid another braai spent on Google Translate.
View this post on Instagram
Like any language, there are words we’ll love and those we won’t get along with. As Morgan takes others along on her Afrikaans adventure, she’s been transparent in identifying her favourites and her foes.
To the latter, we couldn’t help but giggle because the American might just have a point.
Coming in first is the word ‘reg’. Her argument? Reg is pretty tough to say if Afrikaans isn’t your native tongue, and it sounds like someone clearing their throat.
The second is ‘die’. We cackled at this one because, as Morgan explains, it reads as die (as in, death). For someone who isn’t used to the word, any noun prefaced with die (which is a lot of words) reads as if it is instructing said noun to die.
The last ‘words’ Morgan’s got beef with are actually letters that don’t sound how you’d expect them to. To this point, everyone for whom Afrikaans is a new language knows the struggle.
You can watch Morgan’s full explanation and have a chuckle below:
View this post on Instagram
Sources: @acrosstheatlantic/Instagram
Don’t ever miss the Good Things. Download the Good Things Guy App now on Apple or Google.
Do you have something to add to this story? Please share it in the comments or follow GoodThingsGuy on Facebook & Twitter to keep up to date with good news as it happens, or share your good news with us by clicking here or click the link below to listen to the Good Things Guy Podcast with Brent Lindeque – South Africa’s very own Good Things Guy. He’s on a mission to change what the world pays attention to, and he truly believes there’s good news around us. In the Good Things Guy podcast, you’ll meet these everyday heroes & hear their incredible stories:
Or watch an episode of Good Things TV below, a show created to offer South Africans balance in a world with what feels like constant bad news. We’re here to remind you that there are still so many good things happening in South Africa & we’ll leave you feeling a little more proudly South African.
by 
Hoekom moet die arme Amerikaner leer om “slaperig” te sê? Niemand praat so nie! “I am sleepy” = “Ek is vaak.”