My brother is very good with languages though. I remember about 12 months back we were driving through Germany discussing the difference between German and Dutch, and he was just like to me ''you do speak German, you just dont know it man. Speak Dutch with a stupid German accent and they'll understand'' We were driving through Limburg and they have a very German way of speaking Dutch(btw you can describe that in one word) and so that was good.
Never knew I could speak German until then. ''Drop a vowel and guess when you dont know the word, youll be close enough'' Went back to Munich speaking Dutch basically with a Bavarian accent, absolutely understood.
My brother is sick with languages though. He has never been to South Africa, just met them and he will speak Afrikaans like a native just by hearing a few mates.