Why Dutch?

[Joke]

Here is the translation you need. Now you only have to practice your pronunciation
Ik ben Stephanie en ik ben verdwaald. Spreekt u Engels (of Spaans)?

I hope you will enjoy your studies and our country and language!

Joke

[Jonesy]

I want to learn Dutch fluently as I plan to live in the Netherlands with my Dutch g/f. I am grateful that the Dutch have English as a second language as this will be of great advantage to my own learning

[Joke]

Hi Jonesy,
Welcome for you too!

I am grateful that the Dutch have English as a second language as this will be of great advantage to my own learning

I'm not so sure if this is really an advantage. I've actually heard a lot of people complaining that Dutch people switch to English far too easy whenever they hear a foreign accent and that it's therefore hard to get enough practice and motivation.
But of course there are exceptions. And you can alsways practice or ask questions here.

Joke

[Jonesy]

Hi Joke!

Yes, I have had instances where I have spoken in Dutch and they have answered in English, I think my main learning will come through my girlfriends family and of course places like here with native speakers.

I can imagine people being frustrated at being answered to in English, the Dutch are very friendly in my opinion and I think they always mean well

[Raphaël]

Hallo allemaal,

Dit is mijn eerste post op dit forum en als nieuwkomer wil ik gelijk even uitleggen wat ik hier kom doen. Om antwoord te geven op de vraag 'Why Dutch?': omdat ik een Nederlander ben in zijn thuisland, ik moet dus wel Nederlands spreken en schrijven. Nu zullen jullie je misschien afvragen wat ik hier dan kom doen? Wel, eigenlijk schaam ik mij een beetje voor die reden. Ik ben geboren en getogen in Nederland, mijn ouders zijn beide van Nederlandse afkomst en de scholen waarop ik heb gezeten hebben altijd les gegeven in het Nederlands. Toch is mijn Nederlandse spelling en formulering niet wat het zou moeten zijn (zoals jullie misschien wel zien aan deze post). Nu ik bijna door het 2e jaar van mijn studie rechten heen ben merk ik steeds vaker dat ik tegen de lamp loop op het gebied van spelling en formuleren, ik wil er dan ook alles aan doen om dit te verbeteren voordat ze mij van de opleiding verwijderen (ik heb nog 2 kansen voor mijn spellingstoets). Ook nadat ik mijn plek op de opleiding verzekerd heb zou ik graag nog mijn spelling willen verbeteren, want zo kan het eigenlijk niet langer doorgaan. Dit forum leek mij een goede plek om af en toe eens wat te lezen over de Nederlandse spelling, ik hoop dat het verder geen probleem is dat ik als 'native speaker' tussen alle 'buitenlanders' (niet beledigend bedoeld!) wat informatie probeer mee te pikken. Ik heb zeer veel respect voor de 'buitenlanders' hier die de Nederlandse taal proberen te leren, mijn ervaring is dat het een hele uitdaging is!

Met vriendelijke groeten,
Raphaël

[lachiluvwii]

I'm half-Dutch, half-British, but I spend more time with my Dutch side of the family. I want to learn Dutch so that I could amaze my oma and opa with how well I can speak Dutch to them.

[Robb]

Hi, my name is Rob.
I'm a native Dutch speaker, lived my entire life in the Netherlands, except for the 6 months i lived in Germany and the other 6 months i lived in France.
I'm here to help other people to learn Dutch and tell them some funny stuff about our country or language.
I admire the persistence of you guys learning Dutch.
Way to go! And if theres anything i can do to help, let me know.

[Pen Duick]

Hello,

I'm a French national (ethnically Breton) and have been working in the UK for several years now. I initially intended to stay there until retirement (and then go back to Paris or Brittany), but the jobmarket has deteriorated since 2008 and doesn't seem to be getting any better, so I've been thinking of relocating somewhere else for about a year.

I used to speak German, Rumanian and Russian and I also did a lot of Latin. I have been considering moving to a German speaking country, or learning one of the Scandinavian languages. I love outdoor sports, especially sailing, trekking, and horse riding, and Scandinavia looks very enticing!

While looking for English speaking jobs in Germany/Scandinavia, I chanced upon job offers in the Netherlands. I have been to the Netherlands a couple of times, first, with a German Gastfamilie, to buy flowers (and petrol!) across the border, and, several years later, on a shortbreak in Amsterdam. I didn't speak a word of Dutch, but didn't have any problems getting by in English, and although I only stayed 2 evenings, I managed to attend a concert with Thomas Quasthoff and Maria Joao Pires (Die Winterreise, Schubert) at the Concertgebouw on the first evening and to see Christopher Marlowe's 'Faustus' (in English) on the second evening. I was particularly impressed by the audience at the Concertgebouw: they seemed to have come for the music, not for 'socialising', and a gentleman in the row in front of me had brought his score! I also loved the cheese and the bread, and the various seafood and fish dishes, and walking along the canals!

I've had a couple of Dutch acquaintances in Paris, very decent people. They spoke excellent French and I really appreciated their efforts to learn my language!

I had heard French-speaking Belgians complain about Dutch souding 'ugly' and I was a bit worried about this, as there are some languages I would never learn. So I got hold of podcasts online. I liked the sound, so I've bought 'Floris', with Rutger Hauer. The vocabulary isn't exactly going to help me in an office, but it's a start!

When I can afford to go on a sailing holiday, I try to sail on 'traditional' sailing ships. Over the years, I've noticed that there are a lot of such ships based in the Netherlands: hopefully, if I move there, I'll be able to do a little more sailing than here in the UK, and I'll have one 'hobby' in common with some of the natives! I like harbours too (several years ago I took a holiday on a containership, and did 5 harbours!) and even if I don't get a job in a harbour town, I should be able to indulge in my other hobby, taking ship photos!

I guess that's enough about me!

[Joke]

Welkom aan alle nieuwe leden!
Ik hoop dat jullie het hier naar je zin zullen hebben en veel nuttigs zullen leren!
Stel gerust al je vragen over het Nederlands, ook als je zelf Nederlander bent.
En uiteraard is hulp in het beantwoorden van vragen ook altijd welkom.

Welcome to all new people!
I hope you'll enjoy our forum and learn a lot here!
Feel free to ask any questions on Dutch or anwer questions of others.

Joke

[Stonegarden71]

Hallo allemaal!
Ik ben Diego en Ik won in Argentinië.
I´ve started learning dutch last year after becoming facebook friends with dutch singer Anneke Van Giersbergen. I just wanted to learn a few words to write to her in her language.
I was so lucky I had the chance to meet her in person last june here in Buenos Aires, and she´s such a nice person, so I decided to travel to Nederland to follow her on a tour last October-november. Also it was a great chance to meet & visit a few dutch friends I made through her also on facebook.
I had a great time in Holland and I even made lots of new friends, so I decided to go further in this learning dutch thing, I think it’s a way to make myself closer to them, also it´s useful to understand what they say cause most of them uses dutch as their first language on the net.
I´ve started with a software that gave me a lot of daily use vocabulary, but it doesn´t tell you why things are like that, and a few days ago I found this very cute web site that is being very useful to learn some rules.
Hopefully I´ll be back in Holland later on the year or at the beginning of the next one and I´ll be able to speak a little more than last year, with my little knowledge I can already understand what some of my dutch friends say if it´s not too complicated and if they write properly of course. Also I´m starting to make some sentences myself, which is very encouraging!!!
Cheers!
Diego

[Joke]

Ik ben Diego en ik woon in Argentinië.

Welkom Diego!
What an original reason for learning Dutch!

[Stonegarden71]

Thanks for the welcoming and also for the correction!
I make silly mistakes like that all the time when writing in dutch, hope by reading the rules on the lessons written by Bieneke I could lower them down... We don´t have such things as short and long vocals in spanish, so without knowing why for me is very difficult to distinguish when to write one or two, also to find out when to double the consonant, well that is in order to keep the short vocal that now I know
Indeed both reasons why I´m now learning dutch are quite original, LOL, the first one, that was to write something nice to Anneke Van Giersbergen and the current one, to be able to understand what the friends I made say in dutch, hahah. It´s easier to understand than to write properly anyway, but I´m gonna give my best, ik vind nederlands leuk!! Hope this one has sense, cause sometimes I mix words that I know in dutch that they don´t really work together... For example, ik hou van nederlands, I know you all understand what I tried to say but it doesn´t make really sense, I´ve already tried that, hahaha

[cmccann]

Hello all!

I decided to learn Dutch because it's a beautiful language that I've found myself comfortable with from the start.

I look forward to learning a lot of vocabulary and grammar on this site and most of all... making friends!

Sincerely,
Caitlin

[Phil]

Hello all
I have been given a job role that involves me working for three days a week in the Netherlands. I am English and as a result i would like to learn Dutch even though the Company i work for has an English speaking policy globally.
It is a little early to say in which area i need help with the language but i will be purchasing appropriate literature from Amazon to aid me.
I have noticed on this site that certain books are suggested.
More to follow??............
Phil

[srdjan]

Hello everybody,

I am working in Suriname as expat for next two years. Since it is official language here I need it to be fluent very soon. I have just finished HUGO Dutch in three months and wondering how should i continue. I have been confused with different pronounce of dutch words here than in the CD.

Any advice appreciated.

Srdjan