The decision to commit to learning Afrikaans was easy. The execution of it is the hard part. Anyone can say they want to learn something. Anyone can talk about something passionately and with good intentions, but actually doing it, requires an entirely different level of commitment.
I actually had a dream a couple weeks after my initial exposure that solidified my desire to learn Afrikaans as less of a want, and more of a need. I woke up from this dream excited and filled with determination. I couldn’t understand why, and I didn’t know what would happen, but I knew that learning Afrikaans was important for me to do (it helped that it was also something I wanted to do).
When I was blocked, it not only forced me to make this commitment to myself (my learning got a whole lot harder without a connection to South Africa/Afrikaans), but required me to look outside the box for help. As I mentioned in a previous post, it was suggested to me that I change my Tinder location to somewhere where the language was spoken. I am not sure if it was suggested to me as a joke or not, but it seemed like a simple way to meet new people (and my journey started with Tinder, as that is how I met the first guy).
Tinder has a reputation for being primarily a hook up and dating app that allows it’s users to swipe left or right depending on if they are attracted to someone or not. Since I was using it for something entirely different (and I was on the opposite side of the planet so dating and hooking up wasn’t even physically possible), I changed my settings to include everyone (males and females). It didn’t take very long for me to have some new matches and some new people to talk to!
When most people (at this time) heard I wanted to learn Afrikaans and that I was American, it was assumed that I was coming to Cape Town on vacation and thought it would be cool to learn a few words in a local language. I cannot tell you how many times I got taught swear words, slang words, derogatory words, and other rude words.
It felt like no one was taking me seriously, yet I knew that I just needed to be patient and persistent. That persistence did pay off, and it didn’t even take that long (about a 10 days after changing my Tinder profile location)! I matched with my first Afrikaans friend who I was able to make a genuine connection with (we bonded our love for the same plastic container brand, Sistema)! A few days after that, another really important person for my Afrikaans journey came into my life as well.
Making any kind of commitment, to yourself or someone else, can be difficult and scary (I was scared to start learning Afrikaans and asking strangers for help!) but anything worth having, is definitely worth fighting for.
Quest For Afrikaans 