Die salsaklas begin vandag.

Yes. Die is the Afrikaans definite article, and here it means the.

So:

• die salsaklas = the salsa class

A useful thing to know is that die is used for all genders and for both singular and plural definite nouns in many contexts. Afrikaans does not have different words like the for masculine/feminine/neuter nouns.

Yes, it is one word on purpose. Afrikaans very often writes compound nouns as one word.

So:

• salsa
  • klas → salsaklas

This is very common in Afrikaans. Where English might write two words, Afrikaans often prefers a compound:

• school bus → skoolbus
• coffee cup → koffiekoppie or similar compound forms depending on meaning

So salsaklas literally means salsa class.

Yes. Begin is the verb, and it is closely related to English begin.

In this sentence:

• begin = begins / starts

Because Afrikaans verbs do not change much for person in the present tense, the verb form stays begin:

• Ek begin = I begin
• Jy begin = you begin
• Die klas begin = the class begins

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not add -s here.

Because Afrikaans verbs do not usually change according to the subject in the present tense the way English verbs do.

English:

• the class begins

Afrikaans:

• die klas begin

So even with a singular subject, Afrikaans still uses begin, not a special third-person singular form.

Vandag means today.

It tells you when the action happens:

• Die salsaklas begin vandag.
• The salsa class starts today.

It is an adverb of time.

Yes, vandag can appear in different positions, but the version you have is very natural.

Current sentence:

• Die salsaklas begin vandag.

You can also put vandag first:

• Vandag begin die salsaklas.

When an element like vandag comes first in a main clause, Afrikaans normally keeps the verb in the second position:

• Vandag
  • begin
    • die salsaklas

That word order is a very important Afrikaans pattern.

Mostly yes, in this sentence it is very similar to English:

• Die salsaklas = subject
• begin = verb
• vandag = time expression

So the structure is basically:

• Subject + Verb + Time

That said, Afrikaans word order can differ from English more noticeably in other sentence types, especially when another element is moved to the front or in subordinate clauses.

No, it is not pronounced like the English verb die.

In Afrikaans, die is usually pronounced roughly like dee.

So:

• die ≈ dee

That is one of the first pronunciation details English speakers need to learn, because the spelling can be misleading.

A rough guide for an English speaker:

• begin ≈ buh-KHIN or beh-KHIN, with the stress on the second syllable
• vandag ≈ fun-DAKH or vun-DAKH, with a guttural sound at the end

A few notes:

• The g in Afrikaans is usually a throaty/guttural sound, not the English g in go.
• The v in Afrikaans can sound somewhere between English v and f, depending on speaker and accent.

You do not need perfect pronunciation immediately, but it helps to know that Afrikaans g is one of the big differences from English.

In this sentence, salsaklas is singular, so it means the salsa class.

If you wanted the salsa classes, you would use a plural noun:

• Die salsaklasse begin vandag.

So:

• salsaklas = class
• salsaklasse = classes

Yes, that would also be understandable and natural. Afrikaans often has both a more Germanic option and a form that looks closer to English or international vocabulary.

So both of these work:

• Die salsaklas begin vandag.
• Die salsaklas start vandag.

However, begin is a very common basic verb, so it is an excellent one to learn early.

In this sentence, die means the.

Afrikaans die can also appear in other functions, especially in relative constructions, but for a beginner reading this sentence, the simplest and correct understanding is:

• die = the

If you want this, Afrikaans usually uses hierdie:

• hierdie salsaklas = this salsa class

If you want that, Afrikaans often uses daardie:

• daardie salsaklas = that salsa class

Because Afrikaans main clauses follow a verb-second pattern.

Compare:

• Die salsaklas begin vandag.
• Vandag begin die salsaklas.

In both sentences, the finite verb begin stays in the second major position of the clause.

This is a key rule in Afrikaans and one of the biggest differences from normal English word order. English can say Today the salsa class begins, but Afrikaans wants:

• Vandag begin die salsaklas

not:

• Vandag die salsaklas begin in a normal main clause

Yes—this sentence shows several very common Afrikaans patterns in a simple way:

1. die for the
2. Compound nouns written as one word: salsaklas
3. A present-tense verb that does not change form: begin
4. A time adverb: vandag
5. Basic main-clause word order: Subject + Verb + Time

So even though the sentence is short, it contains some core Afrikaans grammar.