“Getting Compliments”: Canadian Polyglot’s Deep Dive of Different Dialects of Afrikaans Impresses SA

• A Canadian polyglot and language content creator shared a detailed breakdown of the three main dialects of Afrikaans
• The video covered everything, breaking down the key differences in pronunciation and grammar between each one
• South Africans flooded the comments with corrections and plenty of praise for the Canadian man

Canadian language creator @polyglotfiles shared a video on 10 March 2026 that had Afrikaans speakers across South Africa stopping to listen. In the clip, he broke down the three main dialects of Afrikaans in a way that was clear, accurate and genuinely fascinating, even for people who have spoken the language their whole lives.

What are the three dialects of Afrikaans?

The gentleman explained that Standard Afrikaans is the most widely spoken and is based on Oosgrens-Afrikaans, the dialect that spread across the country with the Voortrekkers from the Dutch Cape Colony in the 1600s. It is the version used in schools, government and the media.

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Afrikaaps, also known as Cape Afrikaans, is spoken by around three million people in the Western Cape. It has several unique features. The word "ek" is pronounced more like "ik", the diminutive ending "tjie" becomes "chie", the letter J takes on a "dz" sound, and the negative "nie" is shortened to "ie" at the end of sentences.

Oranjerivier Afrikaans, the third, is spoken in the Northern Cape and carries strong influences from Khoisan languages. Speakers use a uvular R sound, insert a "y" sound after K's and G's. It also shares similarities with Patagonian Afrikaans, spoken by descendants of South African settlers in Argentina.

What made the video stand out was not just the content but the man's pronunciation, which several native speakers in the comments praised as surprisingly accurate for someone who did not grow up speaking the language.

Watch the Instagram clip here.

People love the Canadian's Afrikaans knowledge

Social media users shared their thoughts on the Instagram user @polyglotfiles clip, praising his knowledge and his accent:

@randombeezy said:

"Very accurate 🙌 Dankie man 👏"

@marilettait added:

"Brilliant! I also find the different accents of standard Afrikaans interesting. In the north, you will hear 'more' and in the Cape you will hear 'môre' for good morning."

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@heinbotha asked:

"Your pronunciation of Afrikaans words is excellent. Were you previously South African?"

@sooziewhoozie reflected:

"You have opened a can of worms. Afrikaans is Afrikaans, however you choose to speak it. Our language is an ever-evolving being, and none of us should question how the next person speaks it."

@schalk88grobler joked:

"Learning Afrikaans from an American 😂"

@polyglotfiles replied:

"@schalk88grobler *Canadian. But I'll take it as a compliment 😂"

@la_cohen_ suggested:

"I feel like Pretoria Afrikaans might also be worth a mention, where the 'a' in 'Afrikaans' becomes more like an 'o' like in 'otter'."

@_rainy_dae observed:

"Getting compliments from South Africans in a video about them is an accomplishment that deserves a certificate 🔖"

@grahamventer said:

"Very interesting. Never thought of other Afrikaans ways of speaking as dialects 🤓"

More Afrikaans-related stories in South Africa

• Briefly News reported on an American woman who visited the Oranjezicht City Farm Market in Cape Town and left with a very sweet review.
• A group of Americans toured Orania in the Northern Cape and shared their honest reactions to what they found there.
• An Afrikaner couple living in the US shared their story showing hopw life treated them abroad compared to SA.

Source: Briefly News