Ways you can help your child with their Afrikaans homework

Helping your kids with their Afrikaans homework can be a frustrating experience for many parents, especially if you don’t understand the language. It feels like you are required to be a student all over again, and that’s even more challenging for subjects you did not excel in. Afrikaans is one such subject that has non-Afrikaans speaking parents getting creative. There are a few discussions around this topic on various South African mom groups. Some moms reached out for help on how to assist their kids with Afrikaans homework.

Here are some of the ways moms and dads can assist:

Lean on Google translate

This is the go-to platform for moms that first need to understand the basic instruction. For those that do not know Afrikaans at all, Google Translate is your best friend. You can translate long texts or single words. The technology is not completely accurate, so your child won’t be getting 100% on homework done on it, but it is still better than undone work. Moms use Google Translate to finish Afrikaans homework. 

Just a word of caution: If not used properly, Google Translate offers a crutch that a child won’t have during tests and exams. It has to be combined with comprehension, or else they will still struggle to absorb the learning. The accuracy is also a bit debatable, so when used by someone who does not know the basics of the language, you might use the wrong words entirely, or in the wrong context.

Watch more Afrikaans TV shows

To help increase their comprehension of Afrikaans, watching shows like 7de Laan is advised by some moms. They can pick up conversational words, and which context to use them. Other Dstv shows like Kyknet, Kyknet & Kie, and Kyknet Lekker are also good options and are created for kids. YouTube also offers some content for kids who speak and are learning Afrikaans.

Call on Afrikaans speaking friends

A lot of parents struggle with the pronunciation of many Afrikaans words. Having a teacher or a friend that can send a voice note on the different words can help a lot!

Surf the net

Pages like Teach Me Afrikaans offer great learning resources for beginners. They offer lessons on topics such as fruits, vegetables, months and seasons, numbers, etc. The page has been successfully running for four years.

Invest in additional Afrikaans workbooks

Publishing houses like Trumpeter Publishers offer a variety of affordable books for Afrikaans learners and parents. Everyone can learn vowels, greetings, fruits, and vegetables together. Your child learning Afrikaans at schools means you have to learn Afrikaans at home, even make it part of your lifestyle. This encourages them to learn better as they get more accustomed and more comfortable with using the language.