Basic Dutch: A grammar and workbook

by **Feanor** » April 11th, 2009, 11:19 pm

Hi!
I'm looking for a good workbook of exercises. There are many grammar books, but few contain exercises in them. Could you please recommend me some book of exercises? I've already got short Stern's grammar and Donaldson's comprehensive grammar(goed boek!). But both of them lack exercises. So I don't actually need grammar rules, only exercises, however I don't mind if the book has rules as well.
I've peeped in Shetter's grammar (old rev) and it does contain exersises, but in my opinion there are too few of them.
Could anyone tell me if Routledge's new Basic Dutch: A grammar and workbook(as well as Intermediate one) contain enough exercises? Or maybe I should go for something else?

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by **Feanor** » April 12th, 2009, 10:25 pm

Um... Any thoughts?

by **firefly315** » April 13th, 2009, 12:09 am

Hoi Feanor,

I think that the grammar exercises in Teach Yourself Dutch (beginners Dutch) are good, but there are probably other books, which are solely grammar exercises.

Groetjes,

Cathleen

by **edwardjameswells** » April 13th, 2009, 12:11 am

I'd say the best book I've come across in terms of the number (and quality) of exercises is 'Routledge Intensive Dutch Course' by Gerdi Quist, Christine Sas, and Dennis Strik. However, the book alone retails at £28, and if you wanted the accompanying CD-ROM then you're looking at £52. You get the grammar here as well, but obviously nothing like the level of detail that you already have in the Donaldson (1st or 2nd edition?) - though, like I say, you do get plenty of exercises; at an estimate, I reckon there are about 400 or so of varying types.

One other book that I know of, but don't own, is 'A Reference Grammar of Dutch: With Exercises and Key' by Carol Fehringer. A 210 page book with 40 pages of exercises. I don't know any more about it other than what I have seen on Amazon but it may be worth a closer look perhaps.

by **firefly315** » April 13th, 2009, 4:03 am

That sounds like a great book! I looked at a few sample pages on Amazon, and I think that that book looks wicked helpful, and entertaining too.

by **Feanor** » April 21st, 2009, 9:49 pm

Dank je voor jouw antwoorden. I've looked through those books, but still I'm not content. To tell the truth I was looking for something more erm ... solid, like a whole book devoted to exercises, I've got one such book, the English language exercises, but alas, I doubt that there's a book of the kind for dutch(. May be it'll sound strange but finally I've chosen routledge's Basic Dutch which I mentioned above; judging by its brother Intermediate Dutch the quality of exercises is good, hope it'll be useful.

P.S. Also I've got 2nd edition of Donaldson's reference grammar

by **firefly315** » April 22nd, 2009, 12:41 am

If you find that you want something, which is totally exercises, you could try ordering one from online from at Dutch website. I've used bruna.nl, but I think that some other Dutch websites have cheaper shipping charges. I think bol.com might be cheaper.

by **Feanor** » April 23rd, 2009, 5:21 pm

And what exactly are those charges?

by **firefly315** » April 23rd, 2009, 7:44 pm

Hoi,

I bougght a Dutch English dictionary at bruna.nl when I first started to study Dutch. It was 8,50 Euros for the Dutch-English volume. However, my grand total came to 30 Euros, or so! It was $40. Then I found a dictionary in my local bookstore for $5, and that one has a Dutch-English and English Dutch part. However, I think I will get the second half of the dictionary that I bought at bruna.nl soon, although I will try to find it on another website. I was in graduate school when I bought that, so it felt like a wicked lot of money. It still does because I'm still looking for a job as a reporter.

I bought the Kramers Vertaalwoordenboek Nederlands Engels, which is really good.

I have heard that it is even better to buy a Van Dale, which I have gathered, is what most Dutch people use.

However I think the one I bought is great when you're a beginner and into your intermediate study of Dutch.

Groetjes,

by **edwardjameswells** » April 24th, 2009, 10:20 am

Bol are cheap if it's being posted between Dutch or Belgian addresses - €1.95 - but if you're outside of The Netherlands and Belgium then it's obviously more expensive. Here are the prices;

http://www.bol.com/nl/m/klantenservice/afleveren-bestelling/index.html

However, despite the price soaring for those outside The Netherlands and Belgium, I don't think it increases with each item that you buy - so it may be cost effective to get a few books at once.

Bear in mind, though, that the 2nd hand books can only be traded between Dutch and Belgian addresses.

by **Ikzaleenvlammingzijn** » November 19th, 2009, 10:42 am

Sorry I'm late to this discussion... I have used both "Basic Dutch" and "Intermediate Dutch", published by Routledge, and I found them an invaluable primer on Dutch grammar. Each chapter ends with several exercises that review the material from that chapter. My only criticism (minor) of the series is that subsequent chapters don't integrate previously learned material that well. But overall, I was very satisfied with them.

by **doc_who** » December 27th, 2009, 5:18 pm

The book Teach Yourself Dutch Grammar is by the author of Routledge Intensive Dutch Course and contains short grammar explanations on one page and then exercises on the other page (so its 50% exercises

).

These two Dutch books look good as well (I've only glanced through the 2nd one but it contains exercises):
Basisvaardigheden Grammatica
Eenvoudige basisgrammatica NT2

by **firefly315** » December 28th, 2009, 5:57 pm

Yeah, Teach Yourself Dutch is really good!

by **falcybe** » December 28th, 2009, 10:22 pm

hoi,

dit is gratis: http://users.skynet.be/middenschool.bel ... %20MSB.htm

doe ook nederlands oefeningen online in google; er zitten veel oefeningen :-)

groetjes, Arthur

by **Tom** » December 28th, 2009, 11:03 pm

If you want a lot of exercises and examples with key rules of word order and such I suggest the following two sets of books/cds/dvds.

The first is Vanzelfsprekend. http://www.acco.be/uitgeverij/nl/publication/9789033473746/vanzelfsprekend.+nederlands+voor+anderstaligen.+cd%27s
There is an "English" version and a "French" version (but really for the most part the book is in Dutch)

More advanced i.e. the follow-up set is Niet-Vanselfsprekend http://www.acco.be/uitgeverij/nl/publication/9789033475412/niet+vanzelfsprekend.+een+vervolgmethode+nederlands+voor+anderstaligen.+dvd

This one is all in dutch but the explanations are not so complicated. Both book sets have more examples and exercises than I have seen anywhere else. They are probably better for use in the classroom with a dutch speaking teacher but if you can already speak a reasonable amount of dutch they are challenging and not dumbed down. If you are really serious about learning they are great. Many other books approach a "travelers guide" to learning the language.

The dvd's and cd's are also pretty good. I own them all and am very happy with them.

They are not cheap but they are very good for the serious student!

There is no "one" magic book which will teach you a language. You will always find something in one book that is better explained in another. We all have different goals as well. So which is "best" has to do with what we really are looking to learn. For me, my goal is to be able to converse with the average person about typical everyday things without having to revert to English. Writing is not so important to me and neither is worrying about perfect grammar when I speak. As long as I am understood (without too much laughter) I am happy. I let time and practice do the rest.