Does Duolingo Have Afrikaans? No, and What to Use

No, Duolingo doesn't have Afrikaans. There is no Afrikaans course on Duolingo for English speakers, and none from any other language either: we read Duolingo's full course catalogue on 1 November 2026, and Afrikaans isn't in it.

A disclosure: we make Qlango, a language app that teaches Afrikaans, so we have an interest here. The Duolingo fact above is plain fact, and you can check it yourself on Duolingo's course list.

Does Duolingo offer anything close to Afrikaans?

Yes: Duolingo teaches Dutch, the language Afrikaans grew out of. Afrikaans developed from the Dutch brought to the Cape from 1652, reshaped over two centuries by speakers of Malay, Portuguese creole, Khoekhoe and Bantu languages, and was standardised as a language in its own right in the early 20th century. Dutch speakers can usually read Afrikaans without much trouble.

Speaking is another matter, and learning Dutch to speak Afrikaans means learning a lot you'd then have to drop. Babbel and Busuu don't offer Afrikaans either (checked November 2026).

How Afrikaans differs from Dutch

Afrikaans shed most of the grammar that makes Dutch slow going, and changed many everyday phrases along the way:

Dutch	Afrikaans	Meaning
de man, het huis	die man, die huis	the man, the house
ik ben, jij bent, hij is	ek is, jy is, hy is	I am, you are, he is
ik heb gewerkt	ek het gewerk	I worked, I have worked
hoe gaat het?	hoe gaan dit?	how are you?

Afrikaans has one word for "the" and no grammatical gender, and its verbs don't change for person: ek werk, sy werk, hulle werk. In return it has one habit Dutch doesn't, the double negative: Ek praat nie Afrikaans nie, "I don't speak Afrikaans". The second nie closes the sentence like a bracket, and learners forget it for weeks. If you already know Dutch you have a head start. Just don't expect a Dutch course to teach you Afrikaans.

How to learn Afrikaans with Qlango

Qlango teaches Afrikaans at A1 and A2, the first two levels of the CEFR scale. At these levels you can introduce yourself, handle everyday exchanges and talk about your family, work and plans in simple sentences.

A lesson works like this. You get a set of short example sentences in Afrikaans with the translation in the language you learn from, and you answer them in different ways, such as flashcards, picking one of two answers, matching pairs, putting scrambled words in order, writing what you hear and building the sentence yourself. Building sentences is where the closing nie and the word order get drilled until you place them without thinking. Each example is read aloud by an AI voice, and you can slow it down, which helps with the rough g and the ui sound. When you finish a lesson, it comes back after one, two, four and eight days and then once more, and any example you needed a hint for returns in harder questions later.

You also choose the language you learn from, so it can be English or your own native language.

Your first Afrikaans words

Afrikaans	Meaning
Hallo	hello
Goeie môre	good morning
Hoe gaan dit?	how are you?
Baie dankie	thanks a lot
Asseblief	please
Totsiens	goodbye

Then there's lekker: nice, great, tasty, fun, possibly the hardest-working word in the language. Our full guide to learning Afrikaans covers the sounds, word order and a plan for your first month.

FAQ

Is Afrikaans on Duolingo?

No. As of November 2026, Duolingo has no Afrikaans course from English or from any other language.

Can I learn Afrikaans with Duolingo's Dutch course?

Not really. Dutch helps you read Afrikaans, but the grammar, many everyday phrases and the pronunciation differ, so you'd be learning a different language.

What is the best app to learn Afrikaans?

It depends on what you need. If you want a course organised by CEFR level with a fixed review schedule, Qlango teaches Afrikaans at A1 and A2. Duolingo, Babbel and Busuu don't offer Afrikaans (checked November 2026).

Is there a free app to learn Afrikaans?

Qlango is free to download on iPhone and Android, and you can start your first Afrikaans lesson without creating an account. It also works in your browser.

Afrikaans isn't the only gap. See every language Duolingo doesn't teach, or compare Qlango and Duolingo side by side. Your first Afrikaans lesson in Qlango takes about five minutes.