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Learn Dutch on My Website

My website can be just a resource: choose subjects you need to know about or that look interesting - Site Map - but I also have some programs for learning Dutch using the material on my website.

My Other Programs:

Program 3 for Learning Dutch

It's also a (partial) list of contents of my website

Introducing Dutch
Beginner: Pronunciation and Spelling, Vocabulary
Intermediate: Verbs and Word Order
Intermediate 2: Possibly Problematic Vocabulary
Intermediate 3: Pronunciation Review
Mistakes to Avoid
Advanced
Reference and Overview Pages

Introducing Dutch:

  1. Listen to and read a little Dutch: Colors - to get an idea what Dutch looks like and how it sounds
  2. Listen to (and read) a little easy Slow Dutch
  3. Read and listen to a poem about Holland

  4. Read about how the letters are pronounced in Dutch: Vowels (a e i o u) and Diphthongs (au ou ei ij eu oe ui)
    The Dutch consonants (b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x z) are generally not very different from the consonants in English.
  5. If you want to: more Reading and Listening
[Marco at Microphone]
ik spreek click to hear 2
[I'm smiling]
ik glimlach click to hear
[I'm laughing]
ik lach click to hear

Beginner: Learn Words

  1. Learn a few standard phrases like Goedemorgen click to
      hear ('Good Morning') and Dank U wel click to hear ('Thank you') - Useful Phrases / Common Phrases - smartphone - learn just a few, you can return for more later
  2. Before you start learning words, read about the Dutch definite articles ('the') - de click to hear 2 and het click to hear 2 3 (often shortened to: 't click to hear) The Article - about 2/3 of Dutch nouns are de-words, so when learning nouns, memorize which take het
  3. Start Learning 'Basic' Dutch words, about a thousand total: Nouns first - in small doses, say 20 or 30 words a day.
  4. After a few days of learning words, you're probably a bit puzzled by the spelling of long and short vowels and the 'third E' click to hear
    Learning words will be easier when you understand how long and short vowels are written (it's fairly logical.) Read, and listen to the examples: The Spelling of Long and Short Vowels - more
    Or find the spelling/pronunciation rules by yourself by studying and listening to many examples
    The 'voiceless, unstressed E' also called 'the schwa' can also be a problem. Read, and listen to the examples: Voiceless, Unstressed E (schwa)
  5. If you're puzzled by the pronunciation of a word, it may be an exception - Read
  6. Learning the words from the 'Basic Dutch' pages may be a little boring. You could alternate with the more attractive Pictures Dictionary or look for material that interests you in Words by Subject Mobile 'Words' Pages, Learning on the Go:
  7. If you're a native speaker of English or otherwise know English well, the Easy Dutch 'recognizable' words will be easy to memorize, and they will also help you quickly understand the differences between Dutch and English spelling and pronunciation
  8. Next to the formal learning, read some (hopefully) interesting and/or entertaining pages about Dutch and The Netherlands. You'll pick up some words along the way. For instance the Short Essays or pages like Alliterations, False Friends or Sayings - and more of that 'Sideways Learning'
  9. And/or you could next to learning the basic words jump ahead and already start with Verbs and Word Order or Words and Phrases of subjects interesting to you

  10. When you've learned a good collection of words, Test and Review with Flashcards Pages: Vocabulary and Listening - organized by subject like the words lists - and: from pictures
  11. 770 Basic Words Listening Test - Pictures Vocabulary Tests
  12. If you're looking for a specific word, it could be in my 'Master Lists:'  Dutch to English - English to Dutch that have pronunciation and often link to some explanation, examples of usage and/or related words

  13. Learn the Dutch numbers: Desktop - Smartphone
  14. Test your understanding of the numbers with Listening Tests: 1 - 2
  15. Learn Dutch words and phrases for Time: telling time on the clock, the parts of the day, the days of the week, the months of the year and the seasons: Desktop - Smartphone
  16. Days, Months, Seasons: Vocabulary Test - Listening Test

  17. Study the 50 Common Adjectives and Adverbs page
  18. Learn the Basic Adjectives and Adverbs
    Adjectives almost always get -E endings, which may cause spelling changes - study the spelling rules: Introduction - More - Much More - you'll find the same spelling changes in verbs and plurals, so it's important to understand this well
  19. Adjectives and Adverbs Flashcards: Vocabulary Test - Listening Test
  20. Read about the Dutch Plurals - it's also good vocabulary
  21. Test your understanding of the Plurals: Plurals Flashcards Exercise
  22. Learn the common Dutch prepositions and study the schematic drawings for their physical meaning: Desktop - Smartphone (We'll return to the prepositions in great depth later)
  23. Word Opposites - test yourself or study it as a lesson

  24. Review spelling and pronunciation: 1-page summary
  25. Compare the sounds of the vowels and diphthongs, hear them all next to each other
  26. Learn more Basic Phrases and 'Hello' and 'Goodbye'

  27. Return to Basics: Recognizing Sounds and Words, and Spelling them correctly:
    Hear all vowels and diphthongs next to each other:
    Vowels and Diphthongs Compared Vowels and Diphthongs Compared
    Vowels and Diphthongs Listening Tests

Intermediate: Verbs and Word Order
To speak in sentences, you need some grammar:
(but keep alternating with lighter stuff like 'Sideways Learning')

  1. Look at the Personal Pronouns Table and read the notes below it. Then learn the nominatives (first case: I, you etc.)
  2. Read the Introduction to Verbs
  3. Read and listen to the Personal Pronouns Examples
  4. Study the basic verbs Zijn click to hear 'to be' and Hebben click to hear 'to have' - and read and listen to the simple sample sentences on the pages
  5. Read about the verb 'Stem' and the changes of verbs, and read about the Simple Present Tense

  6. Start studying the build, structure of sentences: Basic Word Order and continue to the next chapters: 2 - 3 - Smartphone Version - Much of it is not very different from English - Compared
  7. Next to the 'Easy Dutch' vocabulary and pronunciation, the Dutch and English page has some other shortcuts, for native speakers of English and people who know English well

  8. Read about the Simple Past Tense
  9. Study the past tense of Zijn 'to be' and Hebben 'to have' and read and listen to the examples of usage on those pages
  10. Read about the 't kofschip click to hear Rule - 2 for 'weak' verbs and study as examples of the two types of conjugation: Maken click to hear 'to make' and Leren click to hear 2 'to learn / to teach' and read and listen to the examples

  11. Study a few more common verbs and read and listen to the sample sentences. Note that the most common verbs are a bit irregular.
    Kunnen click to hear 'can,' to be able to, to be possible, to be allowed to
    Doen click to hear 2 3 to do
    Moeten click to hear 2 'must,' have to, 'be obliged to,' 'ought to,' 'should,'
    Weten click to hear to know (things) - to have knowledge of
    Houden van click to hear to like, to love
    Willen click to hear 2 to want, wish, desire, would like to
    Lezen click to hear 2 3 to read
  12. Get to Know the Other Common Verbs
  13. Most verbs take hebben click to hear as the auxiliary verb for the perfect tenses ('to have,' like in English) but some verbs take zijn click to hear (otherwise translated as 'to be') - and some can take both. Learn Which Verbs Take Zijn

  14. Test your understanding of the verbs with the Verbs Flashcards Exercise
  15. Read about the Future Tense
  16. Read about the Dutch 'Continuous/Progressive'
  17. Read about Splitting Verbs
  18. Review Verbs - 2
  19. Review Word Order

Intermediate 2: Possibly Problematic Vocabulary

  1. Learn the other cases of the Personal Pronouns and read and listen again to the examples
  2. 'This,' 'these,' 'that,' and 'those' do not have straight equivalents in Dutch: see and read
  3. Veel click to hear 2 is 'much/many,' while heel click to hear 2 3 and erg click to hear mean 'very.' These words are confusing to many students.
    Read more: Introduction - Veel - Erg
  4. Students often confuse 'Niet,' 'Geen' and 'Wel' - Read
  5. Read about the passive voice (worden click to hear 2 ) - especially for native speakers of English the Dutch passive voice (and some of the perfect tenses) can be very confusing
  6. 'It' can usually be translated as het click to hear 2 3 or 't click to hear - 'that' as dat click to hear and 'what' as wat click to hear but when there's a preposition involved, 'it' is almost always translated as 'er,' click to hear - 'that' will be 'daar' click to hear and 'what' will be 'waar' click to hear Introduction - 'Er' - 'Daar' - 'Waar'
  7. Large, Tall, Big, Great and Small, Little
  8. Good and Bad, Right and Wrong
  9. More and Less etc.
  10. Dutch people often use diminutives: examples of usage - list
  11. 'Partitive Phrases' and other common combinations

Intermediate 3: Pronunciation Review

I've started a series of pages about the pronunciation of the letters in Dutch. Many of the letters, but not finished yet.
Repeat the words after me, try saying them like I do, and record yourself or ask a friend to compare how you say them with how I say them. Try to bring your pronunciation of the words closer and closer to how I say them. Use as few or as many examples as you like.
 AU/OU  CH  E  EI/IJ  EU  G  H  L  OE  SCH  U  UI  V  W  X  Y
Review Pronunciation

Mistakes to Avoid

Advanced

  1. More words and phrases, with sample sentences:
    Study subjects that are interesting or look useful to you
    Weather - Travel - Sleep
    Food, Eating, Drinking
    Speaking Dutch - Bicycling
    Talking about Time
    Ziek - Talking about Not Feeling Well
    Jobs and Lines of Work
    The Senses - Using Words
    'What I Want' - Loves andLikes
    I think of these pages as 'Conversation Templates'
  2. Remaining Words by Subject and Pictures Dictionary
  3. Study the verbs that look useful or interesting to you: Verbs List
  4. For me learning English, prepositions are still somewhat a problem, and I assume there's a similar difficulty for people learning Dutch. I recommend reading my 'Disambiguation' pages and Verbs and Their Prepositions
  5. A few common verbs don't take the past participle but the infinitive in the perfect tenses when combined with other verbs, and the related occasional use of 'te'  with Dutch verbs - Read
  6. Dutch people often add words that look unnecessay or meaningless - Read
  7. Revisit the Sayings and Aliterations pages, read and listen again to the examples
  8. Study the 'Thesaurus' pages for a good understanding of how to talk about these subjects: Life - Change - Time

Reference and Overview Pages


email - Copyright © Marco Schuffelen 2021. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, redistributed, or hotlinked to.
Gij zult niet stelen click to hear 'Thou shalt not steal'