Some useful links

[Quetzal]

I found a site called Spellic, which offers exercises in a rather impressive number of languages, including a few for Dutch. I really like the way the exercises work - not only can you do the exercise itself, but the website automatically creates word games like Hangman, Memory and even Mahjong with the words of the exercise. Unfortunately there aren't that many exercises in English for Dutch (there are some more in German, for those who speak that), but I'm thinking it has to be possible to contribute additional exercises.

There is among other things an impressively long exercise of irregular verbs (the past tense and past participle in each case), though unfortunately there are a few mistakes in there.

[JazzedPotato]

Looks like a very handy site!

I think it's an excellent idea & suggestion, Quetzal!

[JazzedPotato]

Ooh, I just checked the about.com site for traditional Dutch food and I gotta see if I can make some of those apple and bacon pancakes. I think I have all the ingredients. BTW, possibly dumbest question ever but what is a "rasher" of bacon? Is that just referring to a strip of bacon?

Oh the apple and bacon pancakes are delicious!! You should try them definitely. I think a rasher is probably a strip of bacon yes as we use those in quite a few recipes.

Just came across this site apparently for expats especially, who can't live without their Dutch goodies..

Anyway you can order typically Dutch goodies (such as stroopwafels, bokkenpootjes etc. etc) online here.. for those of you that are interested in giving it a try.

[JazzedPotato]

This site offers quite a lot of exercises for the NT2 on beginners, intermediate and advanced level, as well as games and other things to help you practise your Dutch.
Also it offers quite a bit of information in general a.o. on the 'samenleving' /'maatschappij'.

Not so much useful as funny/interesting in a way is this site.. It's 'Bargoens voor beginners' ('Bargoens' being originally the language of thieves and criminals, but many of the expressions have found their way to (semi-) colloquial Dutch - i.e. this would be slang for beginners.. ) Please note that although some terms are used in normal everyday life-Dutch (such as e.g.'bajes' (een 'bajesklant' = a prisoner e.g. ; 'eikel' ('jackass'), 'gappen' (i.e. 'to nick' - though in Beschaafd Nederlands (BN) e.g. this would be called 'stelen' or in Amsterdam 'jatten' etc.) : ) some are also real 'slang' and could be considered as rude if you choose to use them. So some caution is warranted.
Also, the explanations are in Dutch so you might need to be a little more advanced to understand them ( or otherwise just start a 'Bargoens' topic here and ask.. ).

[JazzedPotato]

The 'luisteren'-link works, but when I try the direct links, my browser says this site is marked as an 'aanvalsite' (attack site) that tries to install troyans and refuses to open it.

By the way, it seems abovementioned problem is now fixed because I no longer see any warnings.
(I recently saw a similar warning from google about Verbix as well but it seems that returned back to normal also. )

So for those that are interested, you can download the dialang-program on this site for free.

[JazzedPotato]

This site can be helpful / useful too I think. 'School tv' is actually educational tv for kids (from toddlers to kids going to highschool). But there is a diversity of topics and also a link for'schooltv gemist' (i.e. to watch the programs online). This can be helpful for people learning Dutch too in fact.

The site contains links to other sites too with some interactive games and puzzles etc on different levels.

http://www.schooltv.nl/

Two other sites for tv programs for kids:
- http://www.zapp.nl/

And the Belgian/ Flemish site:
- http://www.ketnet.be/

[Ruud]

Dear readers,

We have made for you a special website where you can learn Dutch. (preliminary level and above)
We have made a special site with sentences and not just single words.

It is called: http://www.impikoko.wrts.nl.

It is a special program where you can test your knowledge of Dutch.
First of all you have to make an account on: http://www.wrts.nl.
If you have your own account than you can download our lists. (overnemen)
Nothing will be installed on your PC, only the internet is required.

We have also a list with Dutch verbs and their fixed prepositions, with explanation in English.
That list will be sent free of charge on request.

Kind regards,

Ruud and Andrew

ijszee@seniorennet.zzn.com

[Drejka]

Thank y'all guys for all these links! I think Dutch is a very hard language to learn, especially I have difficulties with spelling and phonetics. Hope these resources will help me practice more efficiently.