
What are excellent books to learn Afrikaans? If you’re a self-study learner and you’re looking for good materials for your study, then this article is for you. Below is a list of good books that are highly recommended to Afrikaans learners. It would help you obtain basic speaking, writing, reading, and listening within 30 days. Let’s take a look at these books!
1/ My First Afrikaans Alphabets Picture Book with English Translations – Level: Beginners
- Full name: My First Afrikaans Alphabets Picture Book with English Translations: Bilingual Early Learning & Easy Teaching Afrikaans Books for Kids
- Author: Earleen S
- Price: $9.9
- Rating: ⭐4.3
- Level: Beginners

Although this book is designed for kids, it is also an excellent choice for Afrikaans beginners. All Afrikaans letters are included in the book, which has a large font size and a variety of colors to interest learners. Besides, it also offers an English translation to help people understand the text easier.
2/ My First Words in Afrikaans – Level: Beginners
- Full name: My First Words in Afrikaans: Basic vocabulary for beginners (Learn Afrikaans Book 1)
- Author: Mia Bowen
- Price: $0
- Rating: ⭐4.0
- Level: Beginners

Another Afrikaans teaching material for beginners is free on an online platform – Kindle. This book will provide simple words that often appear in everyday life. Therefore, it can be said that this is an essential document to teach kids, as well as beginners to practice speaking basic sentences.
3/ Afrikaans Vocabulary – Level: Beginners
- Full name: Afrikaans Vocabulary: An Afrikaans Language Guide
- Author: Jaivyn Van Schoor
- Price: $11.6
- Rating: ⭐14.1
- Level: Beginners

“Afrikaans Vocabulary: An Afrikaans Language Guide” is one of the best books to learn Afrikaans by yourself. It has 18 lessons including weather, measurements, people, animals, traveling, shopping, and basic other themes. Thus, beginners can learn vocabulary by topic and easily expand their vocabulary. Besides, this book also supports their IPA to help learners practice pronunciation.
4/ Afrikaans Self-taught – Level: Beginners
- Full name: Afrikaans Self-taught: By the Natural Method with Phonetic Pronunciation
- Author: LEONARD W Van Os
- Price: $18.0
- Rating: ⭐4.1
- Level: beginners

Once beginners memorize all letters and simple vocabulary of Afrikaans, they will need an extra textbook focused on pronunciation to use them correctly. This reference material includes a lot of lessons showing how to identify phonetic pronunciation. Certainly, You will be surprised after only 7 days of study, for you can even know how to pronounce the words that you have never knowledge before
>>> Read more: TOP 10 Books to Learn Arabic for Beginners and Beyond
5/ Colloquial Afrikaans – Level: Beginners
- Full name: Colloquial Afrikaans: The Complete Course for Beginners
- Author: Bruce Donaldson
- Price: $50.35
- Rating: ⭐4.5
- Level: Beginners

The “Colloquial Afrikaans” course covers everything you need to learn Afrikaans for beginners. There are many exercises that reinforce four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing as well as numerous dialogues based on real life. In addition, there is an answer sheet with a detailed English explanation towards the end of the book.
6/ Teach Yourself Afrikaans – Level: Beginners
- Full name: Teach Yourself Afrikaans
- Author: H Van Schalkwyk
- Price: $34.1
- Rating: ⭐4.3
- Level: Beginners

“Teach Yourself Afrikaans” is one of the best Afrikaans books for those who seek to self-study and communicate. Its contents focus more on syntax, grammar, and vocabulary. In addition, it also supports language learners with illustrative examples of structures and vocabulary in many different contexts. By reading and following the exercises available in it, you will very quickly master elementary Afrikaan.
7/ A Grammar of Afrikaans – Level: Beginners
- Full name: A Grammar of Afrikaans
- Author: Bruce C. Donaldson
- Price: $335.0
- Rating: ⭐4.2
- Level: beginners

When you’ve finished reading some introductory Afrikaans books and want to improve your language skills, pick up “A Grammar of Afrikaans” – the best basic Afrikaans grammar book developed by Bruce C. In great detail, his book explains informatively the puzzling points of grammar that people generally accept to memorize instead. Besides each grammar structure, there are many examples, and some text, idioms, and expressions are easy-to-understand for learners.
8/ Complete Afrikaans Beginner to Intermediate Course – Level: Beginners, Intermediate
- Full name: Complete Afrikaans Beginner to Intermediate Course
- Author: Lydia McDermott
- Price: $155.10
- Rating: ⭐3.8
- Level: Beginners, Intermediate

This is the best afrikaans book for beginners and intermediate learners. It has comprehensive features such as: useful advice and strategies for improving your knowledge, grammar tips for doing exercises, common vocabulary words for building a solid foundation, and more materials to help you challenge any Afrikaans barriers.
>>> Read more: TOP 10 Books to Learn Portuguese from Beginners to Advanced
9/ Five Short Stories To Learn Afrikaans For Beginners, Intermediate, & Advanced – All Levels
- Full name: Five Short Stories To Learn Afrikaans For Beginners, Intermediate, & Advanced: Immerse yourself into a world of five professionally written and translated Afrikaans tales.
- Author: H Gainsbourg
- Price: $–
- Rating: ⭐–
- Level: All levels

This book contains five short stories to learn Afrikaan for beginners to intermediate and early advance. It is presented in both English and Afrikaans, so learners don’t need to look up when confused with obscure words. Thanks to five stories created on various engaging topics, you can be entertained but learned effectively.
10/ Bilingual Learner’s Dictionary: Afrikaans-English & English-Afrikaans
- Full name: Bilingual Learner’s Dictionary: Afrikaans-English & English-Afrikaans
- Author: M. Du Plessis
- Price: $102.81
- Rating: ⭐–
- Level: All levels

Bilingual dictionaries will be a great choice for learners who want to delve into Afrikaans. With a large vocabulary and adequately explained in English, learners can easily understand its meaning and related vocabulary in example sentences.
11/ Top FREE Afrikaans books for beginners
Nowadays, there are very few books that teach Afrikaan so their standard textbooks are often very expensive. Below, we’ll be recommending some great books for beginners, and of course they’re completely FREE.
1/ A Grammar of Afrikaans: This textbook includes concise grammar explanations and related exercises. It will also have notes and strategies to identify weird grammar points and hard structures.
2/ Teach Yourself Complete Afrikaans: This is a comprehensive textbook to help you learn Afrikaans well step by step. In addition to 24 thematic chapters and important grammar structures, this book also provides many extra exercises on the website.
Above are 10 best books to learn Afrikaans that are carefully selected. We hope that you will find these books useful. Please share your thoughts on the list, we always welcome comments from our readers!
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