Arts and Social Sciences
The Department of Afrikaans and Dutch at Stellenbosch University is a vibrant centre of expertise that bridges local and global linguistic fields. Our work, grounded in rigorous research, supports studying and teaching Afrikaans and Dutch literature, linguistics and applied disciplines. We offer a wide range of academic and practice-oriented programmes, emphasising multilingual education and preparing students to excel in diverse areas of language and communication.
The Department of Afrikaans and Dutch is an exceptionally diverse center of scholarship in continuous dialogue and collaboration with other national and international language areas and professions. Quality research underpins the diverse activities that center around the Department’s established core, namely the study and teaching of Afrikaans and Dutch literature, linguistics and applied fields. In addition, the department offers a particularly wide range of academic as well as practice-oriented, multilingual training in creative writing, lexicography, translation, interpreting and editing.
Undergraduate programmes
The Department of Afrikaans and Dutch offers two undergraduate streams: Afrikaans Language Learning and Afrikaans and Dutch. Afrikaans Language Learning is for students who did not have Afrikaans Home Language at school, but who are interested in studying Afrikaans language and culture.
Afrikaans and Dutch is for students who had Afrikaans Home Language and Afrikaans First Additional Language at school and who want to study Afrikaans and Dutch literature and linguistics.
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The Department sounds interesting, but I really don’t know much Afrikaans.
If you pass Afrikaans Second Additional Language in matric or have very little knowledge of Afrikaans, you can enrol for Afrikaans Language Acquisition 178. In this module you will improve your Afrikaans reading, listening, writing and speaking skills.
I know some Afrikaans. What can I study?
If you pass Afrikaans First Additional Language in matric and do not speak Afrikaans at home, you can enrol for Afrikaans Language Acquisition 188 and continue with Afrikaans Language Acquisition 288 in your second year. You will further improve your Afrikaans reading, listening, writing and speaking skills and also study visual media and film.
Do you only offer language acquisition, or can I study something else?
You can definitely study something else. If you pass Afrikaans Home Language or First Additional Language in matric you can enrol for Afrikaans and Dutch 178 and take it up to third-year level. You will gain exposure to Afrikaans language proficiency, poetry, prose and language studies, Dutch literature, lexicography, language practice, literary theory, the methodology of Afrikaans language acquisition, and Afrikaans creative writing.
What sort of work could I do if I take Afrikaans and Dutch?
At the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch you will learn to think critically, to analyse language and text at different levels, and to use language and text in such a way that you not only sway your audience, but also have them leaping into action. This means that you have a very sound foundation for jobs such as advocate, actor, marketer, data manager, poet, lecturer, playwright, entrepreneur, philosopher, historian, content manager, content creator, information scientist, journalist, copywriter, artist, lexicographer, social worker, human resource practitioner, musician, environmental expert, teacher, development manager, political analyst, project manager, lawyer, editor, psychologist, writer, sociologist, language practitioner, interpreter, publisher and translator.
Do I have to take Dutch if I want to study Afrikaans and Dutch?
You don’t have to be able to write Dutch. You will have to be able to read a little Dutch. If you have a look at the Calendar of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, you’ll see that Dutch literature is mostly offered as an elective. But exposure to Dutch literature will broaden your horizons – don’t be afraid of it!