ARE WE LEARNING DUTCH? (life in the netherlands)

[@siccodierdorp6947]

Please do not feel uncomfortable trying cnversations with us in Dutch, we will be so proud!

[@IgorEngelen1974]

That's also my experience here in Belgium. If someone puts in the effort to address me in Dutch I'll be happy to help them in any way possible. And that's also what I experienced for instance when taking my first steps in France.

[@woutvanostaden1299]

I just got back from my vacation Croatia and people were very impressed with my Croatian, I've had "2 lessons". If you know a little bit how to learn you can stumble your way through almost any situation. It's all mindset and method, time to go on an adventure!😊😊😊😅

[@Taolishao]

No we dont. Go away, foreigners.

[@ariebhjd]

Ik bekijk veel video’s van mensen die in nederland zijn komen wonen. Jullie video’s van overal uit nederland zijn leuk. Vooral jullie voornemen om het Nederlands goed te leren (onder de knie te krijgen 😅) vond ik erg goed. Tip!! Bekijk de video’s van Casey Kilmore. Zij heeft de Nederlandse taal uitgezocht in regeltjes die zelfs voor mij nog dingen duidelijk maken. Bekijk de video’s van haar van drie jaar geleden. 2020-2021. Of “learning Dutch is nearly impossible” van 2 jaar geleden. Ik hoop dat jullie wat aan deze tip hebben. Succes en groeten van mij.

[@80Mrblueeyes]

@@ariebhjdbedankt arie

[@nynkestellema2641]

In high school my English teacher said that it's okay to not know a word. The most important thing is that the other person understands what you're talking about. So just describe what you mean and the other person most likely will say the word you were trying to remember. Then you only have to acknowledge that's the correct word and the conversation moves on.

[@ruudvisser712]

When my wife started learning Dutch, it really helped her watching tv-programs 'Het Klokhuis' and 'Het Jeugdjournaal'. Informative and not demeaning at all. What you could also try is reading comic books instead of children's books (off the top of my head I would suggest series like 'De Blauwbloezen', 'Gilles de Geus', 'Asterix', 'January Jones', 'Franka' and/or the newspaper-comics ''Dirk Jan', 'Sigmund' and 'S1ngle'?)

[@nickdentoom1173]

Donald Duckies in het Nederlands lezen helpt ook

[@arduenn]

Second this. Go read Dutch comics!

[@jbird4478]

I watch "Het Jeugdjournaal" sometimes and I am Dutch. It's fascinating how they explain really complex and mature subjects from the world news to youngsters. A lot of parents could learn from that.

[@buncharted]

this is a great idea!!

[@annehoog]

@@buncharted it absolutely is, when I was learning Spanish at University we got the same advice. Donald Duck is actually a very good one because the use of language it has is really very good. Als there is a donald duck junior version aimed at beginning reading to get you started. Both my children learned to read with Donald. (and in the Netherlands yes we greatly prefer Donald Duck over Mickey Mouse who we find quite annoying ;-))

[@Michael.Barath]

Keep up the Dutch classes Buncharted. Great advice on the learning program. As a South Africa expat that speaks Afrikaans, I have a huge advantage being able to understand about 60% of spoke and can easily read Dutch. Full agree that speaking Dutch is terrifying... I take my hat off to you both for working at it so hard and encouraging the rest of us.

[@jeffafa3096]

Sounds like you're really working hard to learn Dutch. Keep it going, you are doing great! Also, another tip to improve: ask people if they can speak Dutch to you, because you want to learn. They are very willing to speak slowly and basic if you want to, but if they hear you are not a native speaker, a lot of Dutch people will automatically switch to English. You might have noticed that as well during your travels through the country...

[@PatQuakernaat]

Dutch people do not expect you to master it. If they see you are making an effort they usually much appreciate it. Some of the words you say, you say without a real accent. That tells me, you are doing well, keep it fun, thats the trick.

[@46numanr]

Ik volg al een tijd jullie vlog en ik ben een fan. Ik ben een echte Hollander en ik hou van onze Nederlandse taal. Ik vind het heel dapper van jullie om goed Nederlands te spreken, maar daarbij kom je veel hindernissen tegen. Jullie reizen rond in ons mooie land en komen daardoor in verschillende provincies en buurtschappen en steden. Overal wordt Nederlands gesproken, maar overal op een andere wijze; dus dialect. Bij voorbeeld: er is een groot verschil tussen Amsterdams, Rotterdams of (Den) Haags terwijl dat allemaal Hollands is. Ik zelf ben geboren in Haarlem en daarvan wordt gezegd daar het zuiverste Nederlands wordt gesproken. ( Door dit te schrijven maak ik waarschijnlijk veel mensen boos, maar ik heb dat niet zelf verzonnen.) De familie van mijn vader woonde al 500 jaar in Amsterdam. Maar ik woonde als kind ook in Utrecht, daar is weer een ander dialect. En daarna in Harderwijk op de Veluwe, weer een ander dialect. De familie van mijn moeder woont al 600 jaar in Brabant, Zeeland en Vlaanderen (Antwerpen). Allemaal verschillende soorten Nederlands. Maar wij mochten van mijn moeder geen dialect spreken. Jullie zullen dus op jullie reizen door Nederland af en toe best wel eens fouten maken met de taal, maar dan doe je maar net of dat jullie eigen dialect is. Oja, denk er aan de Friesland echt een eigen taal heeft en Limburg het lastigste dialect. (Ik heb daar ook familie wonen.) Succes en veel plezier met onze taal, Rob Numan, o,a, schrijver van sprookjes boeken.

[@buncharted]

❤️❤️❤️

[@CouldBeMathijs]

Limburgs het lastigste dialect, gezien vanuit het Standaard Nederlands? Of Hollands?

[@rutgerb]

​​@@CouldBeMathijs1 van de redenen die ik had om ziggo op te zeggen was omdat zij hun telefonische helpdesk in Limburg hebben. Ik versta dat nauwlijks.

[@46numanr]

Van uit beide helaas. @@CouldBeMathijs

[@CouldBeMathijs]

@@46numanr Ik vind het als Antwerpenaar (Provincie, niet stad) makkelijker te verstaan dan West-Vlaams of Hollands, zeer interessant allemaal. West-Vlaams daar kan ik nog een beetje de grote lijnen van snappen maar een Frieslander, zelfs 1 die Nederlands spreekt, vind ik echt moelijk te verstaan.

[@MableM1985]

This video is so relatable. We moved here six weeks ago but had done DuoLingo for awhile before moving. I’m only between A1-A2. I have learned quite a bit watching one of my favorite tv shows- Wie Is De Mol. There is a KZbin channel which has added English subtitles to all the seasons. Highly recommended!

[@daviddevos3518]

That hard 'G' in 'Doeg' was brilliant. Use that one in 'Scheveningen'.

[@remylammerse5467]

lots of respect for you guys!! a lot of people coming to live here in Holland, but they don"t take the time to learn our language. it's nice to see that you try so hard. Dont give up! hoe vaker jullie Nederlands praten, hoe beter het gaat! gaat helemaal goed komen! so when you speak Dutch good enough, you will do a video in Dutch?

[@buncharted]

yeah - that's the plan, but it'll be a while 😅

[@kreatreestv]

Good to hear you guys are learning Dutch! I do admit that it's a difficult language to learn as an adult. I'm a Dutch Filipina who grew up in The Netherlands and learned Dutch as a four-year-old when starting Kindergarten. My mother learned Dutch through watching Sesame Street and reading children's books. Both my parents are Filipino immigrants who settled down in this country, and I was raised trilingually. As we always spoke English and Tagalog(Filipino) at home, I always had a Dutch tutor who taught me how to speak and write formal Dutch. I suggest reading more Dutch magazines, books, or newspapers at the library and jotting down all the Dutch words and sayings you don't know by keeping track of a glossary.

[@damarmar1001]

When you're really dedicated to learn a language you can do it fairly quick. I have learned enough Spanish to communicate fairly well in three months of studying about a half hour every day. What helped me besides studying is listening to spanish music. Singing along with Dutch music will help you a lot as it helped me to learn Spanish. It will help you to pronounce better

[@gertstolk]

Ik wens jullie veel succes met de moeilijke uitspraak van het nederlands. Alex, your 'goedemorgen' is spot on, keep up the good work 😊🇳🇱

[@Chris_mas73]

Wat goed dat jullie het belangrijk vinden om de taal te leren van je 'gastland'! Vertel er de volgende keer ook bij dat het leren van de taal ook gekoppeld is aan een beter begrip van de cultuur. Hoe beter je de taal beheerst, hoe meer je van de cultuur begrijpt. Veel succes!! 💪🏻

[@niwde73]

What also is important is, when you are talking a different language you also must think in that different language. Veel succes. 👍🏻

[@nicoabels9545]

Don't be afraid to say the wrong wordt or be ashamed if you misprounce a word. Speak in dutch as much as possible with the locals, without translating from English to Dutch. Ik ben trots op jullie, want er zijn velen die jullie niet nadoen. Hou vol, het komt goed☺

[@mhjmstultiens]

Learning the language is the gateway to mastering someone's culture. I see you're making a real effort and that's what counts. Keep it up and don't be discouraged when progress is slow. Eventually you'll get there. /thumbs up

[@foxtanker4055]

diphthongs are the most important to know for pronunciation. I immigrated from Canada in 2010 and after a 10 week course had to write the Nederlandse Statsexam niveau 1. It was super hard but I was then considered ingeburgerd. So have fun and keep it gezellig.

[@peterf1]

Priority #1: You have the right attitude of learning the language. Don't sell yourself short on not being proficient yet. Priority #2: And I STRUGGLE with this one... opening up yourself to sound dumb. C'mon we all know that's a huge impediment to speaking any new language. I don't pretend to have answers. I've been taking private online lessons for over a year. I know lots of grammar rules and words, and can read far more than I can speak, but struggle in conversation, because my wife and I here in the US don't practice enough. OK, private confession here, so don't spread this around but last time we visited Maastricht, I put our hotel TV on in the morning and started to watch children's TV shows. I loved it. Slow speaking and simple concepts. Just what I needed.

[@janmango4692]

Top tip: "De Zevensprong" ("The song of seven" in English) is a great book to start with. Age group 8-12, so not too easy.

[@buddy1155]

Literally translated it is "the Seven jump" but a better translation would be "the seven way junction".

[@janmango4692]

@@buddy1155 It's the title of the official English translation.

[@thernymous]

For books: nowadays some novels by established writers also get published in 'easy Dutch' versions. Then you can read the easy version now, then next year try your hand on the more difficult regular version. Have a look for them in the public library. (Which also hosts activities like 'Taalcafe' where people of different language levels get together.)

[@jumpingpiggie422]

I so love you guys. Keep trying, you'll get there!!!

[@jumpingpiggie422]

Oh , and go Buckeyes U Band btw ;)

[@renevaanhold]

Beste Michelle en Alex, Bedankt voor alle goede adviezen! Volgend jaar verhuizen wij naar Curaçao en het eerste wat ik ga doen is in een klas Papiaments leren. Die taal is veel makkelijker dan Nederlands! Masha danki pa bo video. Bon siman! 🇨🇼

[@mrv89mrv89]

Well, the way you asked for the broodje rendang, pretty good! And I think just the fact that you actually try to learn the language already earns respect because I heard that our language is quite hard.

[@devanii]

it was very good..i think he received his broodje rendang :)

[@henkmeerhof8647]

Geweldige video Michell en Alex! Well that is easy for me I'm Dutch... but live in Denmark, so also I had to learn a different language some years ago. My advantage was that as a Dutchman I already had some reasonable English and German in my 'baggage'. Danish also being a Germanic language made some parts of learning it a little more easy... but only a little. My partner and I fell in love with Denmark on holidays and chose to learn that language to be able to talk to people. We found us a private teacher for 9 days intensive course. It learned us heaps about the language and culture of Denmark, not knowing learning this language would lead to moving country. A year after this course we where in Denmark again and tried our little knowledge of our new language, and it took off from here. We probably where at an A1 level, but our other languages paved the way to a job. Next challenge, making the Danish people we met regularly, because of the job, to talk Danish with us, and only change to English or German if there was urgent reason to do so. Within two years we spoke a rather high level of Danish even without going to extra language training. After living and working in Denmark for 14 years I lost my job, and in between jobs the job center offered all kind of courses to improve skills, I signed up for a brush up for my language and was tested. This was not rated after the international system, but a system to value Danish for Danes! with 1 being elementary school and 4 gymnasium/pre-university level. I entered at level 2 and managed to 'graduate' level 3 in the time given by the job center. I could have taken a second helping, but as the group in our town was a mix of all levels, I could test myself in answering the level 4 questions, when this level was tested. I scored full marks for this level when it came to 'foreign words' but would never manage the depths of advanced literature. So I didn't follow up. My tips for learning your new language quick: Don't stay at home, go out and try. When natives switch to English or an other common language, ask them not to do that, but to help you in the language you are learning. By describing things and words you don't know you learn a lot more than only this lacking vocabulary. Be proud of your accent, it show others you can use at least one other language. And some sounds are almost impossible to learn for adults. And the last one is form the Dutch Mr Cactus show, as it always ended with Mr Cactus telling us 'Geef nooit op!'

[@dikkiedik53]

One of the main reasons Dutch people are using English is that Dutch and English are the almost closest related languages, originating both from the same language. Only Frisian is a bit closer. It should be the same for English speakers. To stimulate you a bit... my 3 yr old native Dutch speaking granddaughter was at day care, there came a 3 year old girl from England in her group. My daughter was called by the daycare. She was asked to stop the 3 year old, talking English to the new girl. She asked her daughter to stop speaking English. The answer of the little one.. "she only sounds a bit different, but he means the same."

[@johnalvanvugt58]

All your efforts are so appreciated!!

[@mareiketje4899]

Ik kijk met veel plezier naar jullie videos en vind jullie en super sympathiek koppel! 🧡 Maakt helemaal niets uit of ik het onderwerp interessant vind, ik kijk ze allemaal. Wat fijn dat jullie nu de taal begonnen zijn te leren! Wat misschien ook nog kan helpen is altijd een Nederlandse radiozender in de achtergrond te laten lopen, zo ben je nog meer geconfronteerd met de taal en wen je sneller aan de uitspraak.

[@mareiketje4899]

Oh, en als jullie nog eens naar Keulen komen ... 😊

[@SuperEdwin61]

Wat een geweldige video weer (en altijd leuk om de kat te zien). Ik denk dat jullie Nederlands steeds beter zal worden, leuk hoor!

[@larsvanderaa6449]

Lovely and interesting episode. When I watch your videos I always activate the english subtitles tot support my understanding of the english language. If I miss a word by hearing I might pick it up by reading. I really hope you will speak some dutch to show the level and progress. I hope you wil get over the fear. Please do!

[@gcbosma1]

I am Dutch, lived in Italy for almost 20 years (now back in NL). That was lucky because Italian is soooo much easier for pronounciation (what you read is what you pronounce). So my experience was different, but the thing that helped most was: get among the native speakers as much as you can. I would not advise practicing with other learners too much. If you would like some online chatting with a dutchman, also fluent in english to explain and elaborate, feel free to reach out! would be my pleasure (oh, I also lived in Dordrecht for a blue monday (small language joke :) )

[@remmus666]

Very much enjoying your channel, guys. As a native Dutchie it's always great to see how 'buitenlanders' perceive is. That being said I think one of the biggest challenges about learning Dutch is that most of us ruin the incentive for you by switching to English so naturally. My mother taught Dutch in primary school her entire life and 'till today she's still the first to acknowledge that Dutch grammar is insanely difficult and illogical. So.... focus on vocabulary and basic gammar and wipe off that urge to do it 100% right. One last thing about pronunciation: Don't even try to mimic our "Sch...". It's just a "Sk" (like in "Scattered"). Like Twain said ""Dutch is not so much a language as a disease of the throat."" Heel veel succes en ik hoop nog veel video's van jullie te zien!

[@uomunumerous2350]

3:56 Watch movies you 've seen lots of times before. Also: Semantically translations are obviously not always literally accurate. But that won't matter much. You will notice it while enjoying the movies. 😊

[@flitsertheo]

1:54 Don't know if the Dutch use the same word but the Belgian word for a ham & cheese toastie is "croque-monsieur", used by everyone regardless their language. The "croque-madame " (where the number of ham or cheese slices is reversed) is also known but way less used.

[@mareiketje4899]

What? Croque Madame in France is with a fried egg on top! 🤯

[@MrDaryn]

From experience i can say that everybody can learn Dutch. I am a native English speaker (born in Wales) and came here with my family when i was 7 yo. As a Child i had no problem learning the language but i saw my family atruggle. The difference was that i only could speak Dutch in school and with frieds where my family kept speaking English with eachother and us. Eventually when they changed that they also learned the language faster. So don't be affraid and Just speak it. Outdoors but also with eachother. Most People Will be patient and if not, that says more of them. Good Luck and if you need help i'll be glad to help.

[@tyasbank]

It's amazing if you really try to learn it, and that's the problems in groups. If you do a couple of words most will switch into English. But groups usually switch to one language, so it might go from English to "This person gets dutch" and they switch over to complicated fast dutch soon. In my opinion it works best to practice in stores and such.

[@anouk6644]

⁠Doing an entire video in Dutch is setting a pretty high bar for yourselves and I can’t wait when you are ready to do so! Just start by sprinkling in more and more words and sentences over time to get comfortable on camera. You are off to a good start with opening and closing in Dutch. By the way, your pronunciation of ‘goedemorgen’ is so good already. Learning a new language takes time and I’m confident you’ll get there. Joining a group like a club focused on a favorite (or new) hobby, team sport, doing some volunteer work where there are native speakers might also help you immerse yourself more in the language. If you have time for it, of course 😉

[@xinhood]

Goed bezig! Ik maakte in Hongarije vaak boodschappen lijstjes voordat ik boodschappen ging doen op de markt. Maar volgens mij gaat het eet-vocabulaire al goed bij jullie.

[@mver191]

When I started learning Spanish and got around what would be the A2 level I started watching Disney movie songs in Spanish, put on subtitles, and every word I didn't recognize I looked up. :) Look up "Belle en het beest - In Ons Dorp (beauty and the beast)", that song has a lot of simple conversations between people and easy words in it. :)

[@lbergen001]

Kijk/luister ook naar het (jeugd)journaal. De presentators spreken standard Nederlands.

[@pintdigitaleproeverij3916]

jullie doen het geweldig met het leren van Nederlands! Laat ik voorop stellen dat Nederlanders in het buitenland tegen dezelfde problemen aanlopen: 'is mijn uitspraak wel correct, klopt de grammatica?'. Ik ben het volledig met jullie eens dat Nederlands leren essentieel is als je langer in Nederland bent. Jullie komen op mij over als een stel dat vooral veel leuke dingen met elkaar doet (prima), maar het sociale aspect van het leven in Nederland is zeker ook essentieel, en daar hoort een beetje beheersing van de taal bij. Ik nodig jullie graag uit om een keer door Utrecht te gaan. Jullie spreken Nederlands, ik Engels of Nederlands al naar gelang jullie behoefte en dan kan ik jullie meteen de leuke dingen van de stad laten zien.

[@jacogriffioen1205]

Don't be afraid to say the wrong word or if you misprounce it. Speak in dutch as much as possible and we dutch love it when you try.

[@frisos3944]

You guys will get there, don’t worry! Jullie komen er wel, geen zorgen! He who sows, shall reap. Hij die zaait, zal oogsten.

[@peli71]

Practice what I preach😊: Een advies wat op nummer 1 moet staan: accepteer in gesprekken niet dat Nederlanders overschakelen op Engels. Vraag of ze Nederlands willen spreken. Vraag om uitleg van een woord, maar spreek zoveel mogelijk Nederlands. Schaamte is niet nodig. Veel Nederlanders spreken Engels, Duits en/of Frans en weten dus hoe lastig een vreemde taal kan zijn. Veel succes.

[@Eek1971]

Precies, vraag in Nederlands aangesproken te worden. Nederlanders schakelen veel te gemakkelijk om naar Engels om bezoekers op hun gemak te stellen….. Exactly, ask to be addressed in Dutch. The Dutch switch to English too easily to comfort our visitors.

[@baux_dud]

Ik ben heel blij dat jullie zo je best doen om Nederlands te lezen. Veel expats doen die moeite niet. Zij vinden praten in het Engels vaak goed genoeg. Maar je leert Nederlanders pas echt kennen als je hun taal spreekt. Petje af!

[@Student-cs2ws]

Dutch and English are so much related! Once you’ll learn how to structurally alter the pronunciation of just a few English consonants, lots of English words are going to sound incredibly Dutch. Take ‘yesterday’ for example. By making the /y/ into a /g/, you’ll get ‘gesterdag’. And likewise ‘may’ logically becomes ‘mag’. Large chunks of the Dutch language can be easily tackled this way! or ‘weg’?

[@jeanetchrisGeocachingNL]

Jullie doen het geweldig! Als jullie vragen of help nodig hebben, vraag gerust! Wat ook helpt? Ook onze video’s bekijken! 😉

[@ErikBraamhaar]

Jullie zijn goed bezig.Veel succes!

[@norajazzypoppy9043]

Love this vlog.😊goed gedaan👍😊

[@leonkotler]

Wonderful video guys. I highly recommend watching Steve Kaufmann's channel. He is a hyper-polyglot an his approach to language learning basically turns up side down all traditional methods. I can't really estimate my level in Dutch, but following his methods brought me, within 8 months, to a level at which I can understand 90% of any content, including contemporary novels. I cannot attest to my speaking level, but I would definitely say that I can get around. I'm moving to NL in a few months so I'll put that to the test!

[@meticulousgeek]

You can always mix in English nouns and adjectives/adverbs with Dutch in a Dutch grammar style. As a Dutch native, I sometimes even have to resort to English words when I can't come up with the Dutch version. Reading childrens books is not something to be ashamed of, they are great for language learning and have cool pictures! Don't worry too much about grammar or being perfect. Language is about being understood or understanding, not about being perfect. Ask people explicitly to speak slower if you try to converse with them in Dutch, they usually are willing to accomodate. Good luck with the learning, I'm sure you two will do great!

[@reesnordrhein7486]

Internationals en expats in de jaren 70 en 80 waren ook goed in staat Nederlands te leren. Het is zeker mogelijk. Goed om te horen dat jullie hier energie in steken. Ik vind mensen die hier wonen en werken zonder aan hun taal te werken niet sympathiek.

[@Stormvogel262]

Was that bucket really filled to the brim with mini-stroopwafels? I'd like to think so... Also, love the MK2 reference and basically entire generations of Dutch kids (including me) learned speaking English through subtitles on tv.

[@buncharted]

haha sadly no, it was a thin layer on top of a sealed bag of cat food stuffed into the bucket 😂

[@ilonkagootjes858]

The way our letters sound, is the most important, I think. Like, you spell 'cool', we spell 'koel', but it sounds and means the same. I never understood why some englisch speakers reed schoen, as shoo-en, because that letter combo is familiar to them 'shoe'. So, 'shoen' would be more likely. Right? 🤔🙂 love the video.

[@sonjareijmer3053]

I reeeally want to hear you two try to speak Dutch! Come on, it's fun! Your audience here won't judge you!! Or maybe you can give us a poll for questions, and you have to answer them in a video in Dutch! Then you can practice beforehand 😊

[@buncharted]

haha that’s a good idea! we do want to do a video entirely in dutch but probably not for a bit as we want to get more comfortable speaking off the cuff. we do try to include us speaking dutch sometimes though (like me ordering the broodje!)

[@IgorEngelen1974]

Regular practice is very important. I'm learning Norwegian via Duolingo and even 10 minutes each day can make a huge difference in your progress. There are no excuses to skip practice.

[@danielmantione]

Petje af voor hoe jullie het aanpakken! Wellicht een leuke oefening: Maak een video in het Nederlands. En dan vooral je angst overwinnen fouten te maken, naar mijn ervaring is dat de grootste drempel bij het leren spreken van een taal. Ik spreek zelf naast Nederlands ook Duits, Italiaans en Engels.

[@robvorstermans9248]

no English today {geen Engels vandaag) Goed dat jullie bezig zijn om Nederlands te leren, is niet echt nodig omdat je hier met Engels goed wegkomt maar, met Nederlands zullen jullie je eerder thuis voelen dan een buitenstaander te zijn. Keep on the good work ;-)

[@ravenandira9001]

Listen to dutch music. That can be a good way to learn the language. Since I’m an ‘old’ woman i would recommend listening to ‘Doe Maar’ and ‘Kinderen voor Kinderen’ (from the early years).

[@8alakai8]

and i remember when going to the fisrt year of school i did not speak dutch and there where stuff we had to practice like the R learning how to keep on rolling it tthe dutch kids to i think it took me more then 6 months to learn as a 4 year old

[@notmyrealnameify]

I think it's really important to learn Dutch if you want to join groups. If you can't understand Dutch you will feel excluded. I would recommand that if you are close to A2 to often ask people to just talk Dutch to you. The problem with many Dutch people is they will switch to English as soon as they see you struggle only a tiny bit.

[@mariadebake5483]

Veel succes met het leren van onze taal! But I think you're doing fine!

[@mymemeplex]

If you start to read classic children's books like all the Nijntje and Jip en Janneke, you'll not only learn the language, you'll absorb some of our culture as well. Ask your local library which other classic books they would recommend.

[@quimerawesterburger1867]

You can also tey playing board games like monopoly, you alrwady know the rules, but the streest and reading the cards could help a lot in a social situation

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

If you are planning to stay here in the netherlands the best thing you can do is really commit fo it for 3 months. Spend an hour every single day studying, only speak dutch with eachother exclusivly. Watch dutch tv, read dutch books etc. And if you don't know a word or something, don't immediatly look it up but learn to rephrase using different words that you do know to convey the same message. It is hard but that way your ability skyrockets really quickly and you start thinking in dutch. That is when it becomes second nature and when you automaticly start picking up environmental and conversation cues from other people as well automaticly. That way you are doing probably 10 hours a day and will make 600 hours basicly just 2 months. If you keep doing it like you are doing it now, dutch will always stay your second language. And that is ok ofcourse for people who are just learning for fun or who are only planning to stay a couple of years. But if you want to stay here forever basicly making the sacrifice now will make all the years you will be here a much better and richer experience. That is how i became fluent in both french and german in only 2.5 years.

[@Stab_N_cut]

Proud of you guys 🤩

[@eddys.3524]

Well, the cat already is fully integrated in Dutch culture.... and addicted to stroopwafels. 😼 Great that you share your experience learning Dutch... And yeah... Doeg! Tot de volgende Video.

[@prairiepirate]

I was wondering if a language update would be coming soon. Good to hear about your progress! I'm still working on Dutch basics. Off and on for the past year. I tell friends (and Twitch chat) that I find Dutch to be easier than Spanish, mostly because it is like German. I'm around a B2 level with German and know at least 1600 words. There are lots of German and American cognates in Dutch, plus Dutch feels very similar to German. Children's and young adult books are worth using. I know you are joking, but I'm putting on my librarian's hat. Children's books are just fun to read in any language. Several months ago, I finally found some Dutch books here. Nancy Drew serials at Half Price Books.

[@buncharted]

wow really? what a find!

[@hilly8000]

easiest way to learn dutch. is if some can explain. you what english word sound you must make. to make a dutch sounding words. like HAND in english. sounds like HEND to dutch. but if you say HAND. but combine with the end of wANT(English). you actully will sound like saying the dutch HAND.

[@Nitzpitz]

Keep up the good work! Goed bezig!

[@Wintertalent]

A2 is low, but at least you'll be able to hold basic conversations with natives (asking/telling someone the way, ordering in shops and restaurants, small talk, etc.) I teach English at an mbo school, and at mbo level 4, the productive skills (speaking, writing) only require A2 level. And this is supposed to be sufficient to go on to hbo (college). (It's not.) I'm glad they're going to crank up the level to B1 for new citizens. Hopefully they'll do the same to the English levels as well.

[@KeesBoons]

Thank you for your efforts :o)!

[@framegote5152]

Als je bedenkt dat er ook Nederlanders zijn die moeite hebben met onze taal, is het niet verwonderlijk dat jullie het ook niet makkelijk vinden. Maar als jullie de inmiddels opgedane kennis willen testen zou ik het best leuk vinden een Nederlands gesprek met jullie te hebben. (Uiteraard onder het genot van een hapje en/of drankje). Jullie kennen mijn woonplaats inmiddels: Almere. 😉

[@chrisvandijk99]

Learning just takes time! but taking the effort (for example in dutch you would say, Making the effort) which is as far as i know not correct, like taking a picture, we would say ( and directly translated) making a picture :-) anyway you'll learn!!

[@razorsharp9850]

It’s simple, if you want to learn another language well, the best way is to live in a country where they speak it and then you learn and improve the skills while you live there. If you don’t take the opportunity then, you never will. So if you don’t want to miss that opportunity, you need to do it while here. Personally if someone intends to stay for a year or longer I think that person should learn the language. I would also do that myself in that case. It’s a time investment for sure, therefore I would probably not do it if I can get by in English and have a shorter term job/stay in another country.

[@buncharted]

this is exactly right 💯

[@rollingwoodmediaservices831]

Without constantly being in situatuons where you need to speak with native speakers, it will take quite long to get to even be at B level. I had the good fortune to live in the same house with non-English speaking in-laws for the 1st year I was in NL ( wayyyy back in the 80s ).

[@TheUberDark]

Jullie doen het goed. En het wordt gewaardeerd 😊

[@TWolf317]

I heard a lot of "speak right away!" when I started learning Dutch. But my intention has always been to enjoy Dutch culture (Films, Music, TV, books, etc.) I have been working on my speaking recently, but honestly I don't know if I will ever use it. My situation is very different from yours. I would LOVE to hear some of the things you are reading, watching, etc.- not apps or textbooks, but TV shows, books, music, etc.! I've read children's books too - De Regels Van Floor, Lena Lijste. Recently I was able to finish a 500 page scifi novel all in Dutch. I was able to understand it. But yeah, I don't speak much at all. Oh, I wanted to add one more thing. Maybe you need a certain level for an exam. But otherwise don't get too caught up on levels. I did that at first and was making myself nuts. Your goal is to learn the language. It takes quite a while so just try to enjoy the process. Now I don't think A1, A2, etc. is important at all.

[@buncharted]

we've tried to watch some dutch tv shows and movies on netflix but nothing has really stuck. we like to watch dutch youtubers like vet gezellig and de vloggende bestemming and watch dutch twitch streamers like djuncan :)

[@TWolf317]

@@buncharted I subscribe to both NPO Plus and Videoland. NPO plus is goedkoop and has tons of good movies and TV shows. When Americans are crying because their favorite TV shows are off the air (writer's strike) I will be watching Dutch shows anyway. ;)

[@dutchfan1]

I’ve been learning since 2003, and believe me, it wasn’t easy… to this day, I still have difficulties speaking it whenever I see my Dutch friends

[@rludemann]

What works for me is to read comics books like Donald Duck or an other of your liking as long as it is in the Dutch language. The images will give you a clue about the text

[@Frankie_alaplaaja]

Here's a very important one: if you want to learn Dutch at a beginner's level, focus 100% on listening and speaking. ONLY when you have a basic understanding of the building blocks you can shift attention to reading and writing. Otherwise you'd only be translating everything to English, which gobbles time and energy. First lesson: Take a walk through the city with a Dutch friend and call out EVERYTHING you see, while ignoring English names completely. This will be of great help in pronunciation, and as a result any Dutch you meet will be far less inclined to switch to English when they speak with you. Remember: even though English and Dutch are akin, not a single sound of English sounds exactly like the Dutch equivalent. Those sounds are the true building blocks that make up any language, so I suggest you start there. Also save up a hell of a lot of cash and get some nice fresh air while you learn. That 'll be 20 Eur. (lol) A Dutch teacher.

[@velovoice47]

What a great suggestion! We try to meet up with Dutch friends when we visit, but all too often we all lapse into English to catch up on each other's lives etc, but next time I am definitely going to propose this Dutch only call-out game. Useful & fun!

[@aliekegeerse]

What makes it harder is that many people, myself included, will switch to English almost immediately which makes it harder to learn Dutch. I am trying to avoid this automatic habit now that I’ve been following more people wanting to learn to speak English. But yes, it’s a hard habit to break, because as a Dutch native, switching back and forth comes to easily.

[@clifffan3]

I am 75 and Dutch, never learnt english in school, but I learnt myself from tv and internet. I am not afraid to make mistakes. Just try it.

[@cyrielwollring4622]

Om een bekend Engels jurylid van een tv-programma te citeren: Vooral doorgaan!

[@PetraStaal]

Grappig dat hij nog steeds als Engelsman wordt gezien. Hij is intussen genaturaliseerd tot Nederlander.

[@Mesmancer]

Barry Stevens. De meest Nederlandse Engelsman die ik ken. Of was het andersom XD eigenlijk zou ik Barry Hughes ook mee moeten tellen maar dat was een Welshman.

[@jorgkuijt4735]

Reading childrens books is a great fun way to learn any language... You are somewhat proficient allready, so buy this book: De Kleine kapitein ; by Paul Biegel. Before you go to sleep, read atleast one paragraph ( like a bedtimestory) out loud. You won´t regret it!

[@tonzelle2720]

Please do! You can only fully integrate in a culture of you know the language!

[@H1SCOTTY]

Now it’s about time for “houdoe” (sounds and has a common ground with How do (you do)).

[@JanBinnendijk]

The biggest hurdle I suppose for learning Dutch while living in the Netherland is the fact that, if English is your native language, we speak that as well, and a lot of Dutch people actually are quite fluent.. so we'd switch to English just as easy, and faster than the weather would change.. Make it clear that you are learning Dutch, and prefer to speak Dutch as well, 11 years ago, i moved to the province of Friesland, from Zuid Holland, and i've been struggling to learn Frisian, which is also an official language here, but most frisian people also speak Dutch fluently.. and the moment they notice you're not frisian, they switch to Dutch.. Even in the Local Supermarket where i've been doing my shopping for the last 10 years, they still speak Dutch to me...unless i make clear that i prefer Frisian... We seem to have the Knack for speaking foreign languages.. since most Dutch people speak at least 1 foreign language, mostly English, while a lot also speak German, French, Spanish, Italian..Still Funny when in Austria for instance..meeting English people, helping them with translations, and when they ask if you're a local.. "no.. I'm Dutch.. why?".. always leaves them utterly surprised..

[@THORIONONE]

vooral doorgaan :)

[@46numanr]

Een tip: als jullie een probleem hebben met het uitspreken van SCH zoals in school of schuimspaan of Scheveningen., gebruik dan in plaats van SCH - SK met een zachte K. Zoals in het Engels School .In veel Nederlandse dialecten komt dat voor speciaal in Noord Holland. Dat is boven Haarlem en Amsterdam. In de 2e wereld oorlog waren Duitse spionnen die deden of zij Nederlanders waren, zij spraken wel wat Nederlands maar een Duitser kan geen SCH zeggen. daardoor werden veel Duitse spionnen ontdekt. Good night.

[@danielvanderaar2749]

Het moeilijke gedeelte gaat nog komen; spreekwoorden en gezegden maar ook dat we sommige dingen heel letterlijk zeggen zoals washandje. Maar goed dat je aangeeft dat je iets niet snapt dat scheelt al. Ik zou juist adviseren dat de tegenpartij alleen maar Nederlands praat en niet gaat mixen met Engels, pas als je het echt niet snapt. Dat je in het Engels antwoord geeft liever niet maar dat is minder erg. Je moet juist voorkomen dat mensen in het Engels gaan antwoorden want dan leer je niks. Tips van iemand die met veel expats heeft gewerkt.

[@TD-er]

Just as a tip, try watching Dutch comedy. For example Herman Finkers has great sketches which also relate to expressions being misused and therefore being extremely unexpected and funny. Most stand-up comedy can be quite quickly spoken, but that's also why Herman Finkers may be a good one to start with. You can keep on re-watching those shows as you keep finding new jokes hidden in "plain sight" and even native Dutch speakers will not always get every joke he puts in. So it shouldn't feel like reading childrens books as those often are featured to kids of a certain age. And if you can truly understand humor in a specific language, you really have mastered that language. Also since the Dutch language is filled with expressions, you really should get to know them or else you may miss out on a lot of context even though you know the words. Watching Herman Finkers will also be a great excercise in learning those expressions and also how not to take them literally.

[@donaldvanberkum8666]

Love your guys keep it going,when you can pronounce scheveningen with no accent you made it ask The Germans, used in WW2 it's very hard. Dutch man living in Arizona for more 30 years good luck

[@richard-riku]

I am also shocked that only A2 is needed for citizenship. I am from the UK and live in Finland. Here B1 is needed for citizenship and Finnish is much more difficult that most european languages. And years ago B2 was needed for Finnish citizenship. Happily they lowered it to B1 but that has been hard enough to pass.

[@buncharted]

yeah, it is surprising. but they are changing it to B1 here, maybe as soon as later this year i'm overwhelmed at the thought of B2 being a requirement before becoming a permanent resident! B1 seems way more appropriate (even though it is still challenging)

[@sleutelbergen8678]

Mijn ervaring is dat het makkelijker is om een nieuwe taal te leren als je jong bent. Het belangrijkste is om te leren om duidelijk over te komen bij een medicus. Om te overleven gewoon. Bordjes kunnen lezen is ook erg handig. Vooral op de weg. En wij moeten wat geduld hebben. Ai dat is moeilijk. 😂 bij voorbaat sorry. 😊

[@tingelinggarber]

Love your channel love your cats (Dutch person in usa)

[@marcdewitte5264]

Dutch is a difficult language and what doesn't help most Dutch people start speaking English when they notice your not Dutch. My partner is German and that was one of the issues she had when she went I to a store for instance.

[@renevw5812]

In The Netherlands we are tolerant concerning speaking Dutch . If you are living here, we understand that someone can not speak Dutch. But, first of all we love it when you try, and after lets say 2 years we expect someone to speak a little Dutch.

[@bridgetvogelgregory]

Did you find that many people tried/try to switch to English when they realized you were foreign? When I’ve visited that was the hardest thing because I was trying to practice but that switch happened quite a bit.

[@buncharted]

haha yes, it happens like half the time. it just happened a few minutes ago, actually!

[@andreathegreat7765]

The Dutch will answer your attempts to speak their language with English. Their "steenkolen Engels". Be aware they won't compliment you either, not a compliment-driven society, and they are rude by nature. Learn the phrase, and it's connotation: "Ik ben aan de beurt!" and learn how to confidently win in an argument, in Dutch, and keep at it. You are doing a great job, and pat yourself on the back. It is important and admirable to feel at home in your home away from home,you don't want to miss out on the riches in any culture if you do not understand, if you are not interested in the languages spoken there. We can learn so very much from one another! P.S. Don't overlook the opportunity to learn from older Dutch people, those whom have lived through WWII, their perspective will add the cherry on the top about Dutch culture! Veel success en Vooral doorgaan!