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Afrikaans is basically low German, spoken in much of northwest Europe. Although Afrikaans throws in a few peculiarities (eg piesang - also Bahasa Indonesian). I know school history likes to pretend Afrikaans is Flemish, but really Flemish is just another low German dialect. I’d also say I’ve liked most Afrikaners I’ve met, didn’t encounter much racism, and Jan Smuts is a fascinating character.

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As it happens I also used to speak Indonesian, although I unfortunately forgot that somehow, despite learning it very early. German, Dutch and Afrikaans stuck since they're basically the same as you say.

I guess the racism is mostly due to growing up in Pretoria while apartheid was ending, and my stuffy old family and everyone around me was still using the k-word and stuff like that :/ Getting out of SA was my first real act of self-agency and I haven't regretted it for a second. On the contrary, when I look on social media at how the people who never left my hometown are doing... it's so grim over there. Left a sour taste for sure, and I don't mean to say that all Afrikaners are racist.

What the f-word is the k-word?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffir_(racial_term) which is pretty much like the N-word with hard r in America.

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