Australian learning Dutch

by **Yehoshua** » November 24th, 2009, 5:38 am

Hi there. I'm new to this site and relatively new to Dutch (approximately 6 months now).

I only speak one language and that is English. Australian English though, so maybe it will be different for some of the Dutch people here, who are most likely very good at English anyway. Different accents always interest me, so it might be a slight challenge.

So far, my speaking ability is very, very limited but I feel like getting the ball rolling. Hopefully I'll get started on the process with some easy, formulaic, beginner level conversations.

So, who's up for it?

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by **Yehoshua** » May 17th, 2010, 5:50 pm

Well, I'm back again. 6 months later. In a week I'll have been studying Dutch for 1 full year now, and I've still not had a single conversation.

It's just so...demotivating...

So...anyone want to speak with me?

by **Quetzal** » May 17th, 2010, 8:57 pm

The problem with this section of the site is that we don't have a lot of native speakers who intensively use Skype and the like, and so there's much more foreigners wanting to chat than we have volunteers on offer. I don't think any other section of the site has so many unanswered posts, it's sad.

I'm sorry that you find it so demotivating to not have anyone to chat with. With written language, you can just practice on the forum here, but I can see how it would be a problem that you don't have any way to practice your conversational skills. You could get feedback on your pronunciation through sites like Livemocha, or simply through here if you asked us to give feedback on mp3s shared through Esnips or other sites, we have a whole section devoted to Audio that hasn't seen a lot of activity lately. But, yes, still not the same thing. Sorry I can't help you.

by **Yehoshua** » May 18th, 2010, 8:18 am

Thanks for the reply.

I'm not really bothered by my pronunciation, it's not perfect but I'd be understandable without trouble (I believe). I want to speak because it's a really tricky thing. It's the new frontier. I've spend so much time with listening/watching, now quite a bit of time with reading. perhaps I need to keep on reading and start some writing? Then move on to speaking?

Listening > reading > writing > speaking - it seems like a reasonable progression. I just want to speak though

by **snowball** » May 18th, 2010, 11:08 am

If you want to practice your dutch conversation skills you could have a look at meetup.com.
There are a couple of Dutch language meetup groups in Australia on there, one in Perth and one in Sydney.
I think there are some people here who've had positive experiences with similar meetups in the U.S. and Canada.

All Dutch language meetups

by **Yehoshua** » May 18th, 2010, 3:40 pm

Perth is...about 5 days trip from here! (Unless you have money for flights) Would be good if I lived there though. haha

And, going to Sydney means staying the night, because I'm a bit too far away to not be exhausted before I get there. Staying in Sydney, means money. Unfortunately I don't have any.

Certainly a good idea though. Might be useful for other languages in the future.

by **snowball** » May 18th, 2010, 3:52 pm

You could always start your own meetup in your area.
Who knows, there might be people there looking for the same thing as you :-)

by **dutchsucksballs** » May 18th, 2010, 11:01 pm

Hi there! I'm American & trynna learn Dutch. Read my other posts, it's been a nightmare.

Why are you studying Dutch? This forum is not as active as I would have hoped BTW. Or like they say in New York, like I would of hoped! LOL

by **falcybe** » May 18th, 2010, 11:42 pm

Well, I'm back again. 6 months later. In a week I'll have been studying Dutch for 1 full year now, and I've still not had a single conversation.
It's just so...demotivating...
So...anyone want to speak with me?

Hoi, na een jaar aan het leren, kan je dit in het Nederlands proberen te schrijven? Ik heb (bijna) altijd op dit forum in het Nederlands geschreven en soms heb ik een praatje/gebabbel/geklets (chat) gehad. Ik weet dat het geen gesprek is maar het is beter dan nooits. Ook wanneer je in een vreemde taal wil spreken dan moet je de moeite maken om in die taal te schrijven/praten of niemand denkt dat je in staat (bekwaam?) bent.

Ik vind dit forum heel actief is als je zijn doel begrijp. Ook hoe meer schrijf je, des te (?)/hoe meer iedereen zal je antwoorden; in dezelfde taal in welk je schrijft.

Groetjes, Arthur

by **Quetzal** » May 19th, 2010, 12:15 am

falcybe wrote:

Hoi, na een jaar ~~aan het~~ te leren, kan je dit in het Nederlands proberen te schrijven? Ik heb (bijna) altijd op dit forum in het Nederlands geschreven en soms heb ik een praatje/gebabbel/geklets (chat) gehad. Ik weet dat het geen gesprek is maar het is beter dan ~~nooits~~ niets. Ook wanneer je in een vreemde taal wil spreken dan moet je de moeite ~~maken~~ doen om in die taal te schrijven/praten of niemand denkt dat je in staat (bekwaam?) bent.

Ik vind dat dit forum heel actief is als je zijn doel begrijpt. ~~Ook~~ En hoe meer je schrijft je, ~~des te/~~ hoe meer iedereen ~~zal~~ je zal antwoorden (of: "des te meer zal iedereen je antwoorden); in dezelfde taal ~~in welk~~ waarin je schrijft.

Groetjes, Arthur

Inderdaad! We zijn niet super-actief, maar de meeste posts krijgen toch binnen de dag of zo een reactie. Niet allemaal, toegegeven.

Opmerkingen:
- "in staat" en "bekwaam" kunnen allebei, maar zijn allebei nogal raar in deze zin, ik zou gewoon zeggen "of niemand denkt dat je het kunt"
- Als er na "ik vind" een deelzin (met werkwoord) volgt, moet er dat tussen. "Ik vind dit forum heel actief" kan ook, maar in dit geval wordt dat verwarrend, omdat de "als"-zin dan op "vind" slaat en niet op "is". Als je snapt wat ik bedoel, nogal lastig om uit te leggen...
- "Hoe meer ... hoe meer", of inderdaad "hoe meer ... des te meer". Maar het eerste is eenvoudiger qua woordvolgorde. Zie hier voor de details.
- We beginnen liefst geen zinnen met "ook" in het Nederlands. Je kan "en" gebruiken, of "bovendien", en er zullen nog wel mogelijkheden zijn.

by **Yehoshua** » May 19th, 2010, 11:00 am

Well, I'm more likely going to benefit from doing lang-8 posts for now. I'll try speaking at the 2 year point

by **dutchsucksballs** » May 21st, 2010, 11:49 pm

I'm a lil discouraged to learn Dutch just because it is only spoken in one country. Whenever I get out of here, I feel like my effort's gone to waste! Can anyone else relate?

by **Snoezig** » May 22nd, 2010, 11:51 am

dutchsucksballs wrote:I'm a lil discouraged to learn Dutch just because it is only spoken in one country. Whenever I get out of here, I feel like my effort's gone to waste! Can anyone else relate?

Perhaps Wikipedia can re-encourage you, then...

'Most native speakers live in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, with smaller groups of speakers in parts of France, Germany and several former Dutch colonies.'

Groetjes

Snoezig