Ways to Improve your Dutch accent

[@sarahalicewyndham1288]

Casey, as someone finally learning Dutch after being married to a Dutch man for 25 years, I am very grateful for your channel. After we listened to you speak Dutch, I ask my husband what he thought. He said he was impressed. He speaks English with no accent. And I've always been impressed with that. I asked him to expand on his thoughts. He said he basically didn't want to tell me because he didn't want me to be discouraged or think that I needed to speak on your level. He said there were only some minor little tells here and there that showed you weren't a native speaker. Quite an accomplishment in 2 years! Keep up the good work and thanks for the channel.

[@Maartun]

I'm Dutch, why am I even watching this 🤣

[@thinking-ape6483]

Omdat het interessant is hoe buitenlanders met jouw taal omgaan?

[@caseykilmore]

😂😂😂

[@Milo.2610]

@@thinking-ape6483 ah, nu snap ik het thanks

[@Thecoolstemama]

Same here, I’m Dutch, but I love watching these vids.

[@Abihef]

I know right😂

[@matthewcollins]

I've gotten better with pronunciation kind of like how I learned to whistle as a kid, a bit obsessive but just attempt after attempt after attempt constantly changing, testing, and experimenting to eventually find better and better versions until one day it fit. We all have to put in the hours to make this work in the end.

[@cristiansalgado5179]

This video made me realize how much I’ve been doing right in my Dutch language journey. I’ve done most of these steps and continue to do them. How I first heard Dutch was through the audio of the person that I’ve formed my Dutch accent from. That audio was of Corrie ten Boom. When I took a two week introductory Dutch language and culture course at university last January, I had already been learning for months. The professor is from the Netherlands and said that I sounded pretty fluent with my accent. She said that it was a very good North Holland accent, which made sense because Corrie ten Boom was from Haarlem. She understood me clearly, but had some comments on my accent. It was mostly because she had lived in every other province, except for North and South Holland. When I spoke to my friend from Amsterdam about her suggestions, he asked me to speak some Dutch, then after he listened, he said to not implement her suggestions. It was interesting to see their opinions. They both understood, but it came down to preference and familiarity.

[@caseykilmore]

Very interesting there are so many different dialects and accents within dutch, it literally blew my mind. Have you seen my accents video??? The point is being understood and it sounds like you've nailed that and it also sounds like you've got a good intuition for languages and your learning style. Are you living on the netherlands? What made you startlearning dutch? I'm always interested to see what gets people started :))

[@cristiansalgado5179]

@@caseykilmore Yes, I saw the accents video and really enjoyed it! I think accents are so interesting. I’m learning a few languages and I’ve picked up an accent for each that has helped me to sound fluent. I actually live in the US, but would love to visit or live for some time in the Netherlands. I started learning for two reasons. The first was that I learned about Corrie ten Boom’s life story, especially her and her family’s role in the Dutch Resistance, and she soon became my role model and it started my interest in the Netherlands. The second reason is that I had a few South African friends. One friend was trying to learn Afrikaans and I wanted to learn as well. She suggested learning some Dutch first. I started learning and listening to Dutch and immediately fell in love with it. I thought it was so cool and so beautiful. My family doesn’t fully understand why I love it so much, but I just do. The main reason that I’ve continued to learn has been my mentor at university. She’s a polyglot. She speaks English, Hungarian, German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Swahili. She has been encouraging me to continue to learn Dutch and the other languages I’m learning (Spanish, Italian, French, and some German, Norwegian, and isiXhosa).

[@rudirestless]

@@cristiansalgado5179 I am super impressed. I am not a native English-speaker but can tell a lot of accents apart ( having lived in Ireland for a long time). After ten years in the Netherlands, I only know Southern ( soft g) and Northern accents. I was also interested in the Dutch resistance ( Hanni Schaft, " Het meisje met de roode haar") but did not have a good teacher. You definitely learn the quickest with what really interests you. Fair play!

[@hansc8433]

No stress, but ‘interessant’ is pronounced with stress on the last syllable ;)

[@ArjenHaayman]

ja, interessant dat je dát net gebruikt als voorbeeld

[@donarnoldus7884]

De tweede lettergreep wordt meestal niet uitgesproken. Je glijdt er als het ware heel snel overheen: int'ressant. Zoals je het nu uitspreekt, klink het te dik, te vet. Zelf kom ik uit de stad Haarlem, waar - naar men zegt - het best ABN (Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands) wordt gesproken.

[@ronaldderooij1774]

@@donarnoldus7884 Ik kom ook uit Haarlem, maar dat inzicht is achterhaald. Tegenwoordig wordt het beste ABN gesproken in VINEX locaties. Gewoon omdat mensen vanuit alle windstreken daar komen wonen en ABN de grootste gemene deler is. Haarlems is eigenlijk "Amsterdams light".

[@ronaldderooij1774]

Yes, bad luck with that example.

[@rockytekkel406]

@@ronaldderooij1774 "Haarlems is eigenlijk "Amsterdams light"" Ik kom uit Haarlem en heb nog nooit zo'n lulkoek gehoord.

[@ronaldderooij1774]

When I learned other languages, I dreaded the moment that natives were going to answer me in their own language. Totally incomprehensible!

[@caseykilmore]

I recognise this feeling myself, all too familiar hahaha.

[@HeavenestStCyr]

Thank you. pretty nice tips that help improves one bravery to speak Dutch

[@CarlosMagnussen]

This video reminded me of a joke that most high school students in Belgium know and that is perfect for this (mostly bilingual) audience. Belgians are generally pretty fluent in English, but not all of us are that good at it. A funny way to admit that about yourself goes as follows: "My English is very well, wel niet zo very snel, maar dat coming nog wel."

[@caseykilmore]

🤣🤣👍 love the joke

[@lyndatelford512]

For me it’s the sch sound, but I saw something on the ‘soft sound’ being more said in the south of Netherlands which is a little easier for me so I think I will practice that first.

[@forkless]

We have an old tonguetwister here that should get you started: Scheveningse schaapscheerders scheren scheveningse schapen met scheveningse schaapscheerderscharen 🤣🤣🤣 (Translation: Scheveningen sheep shearers shear Scheveningen sheep with Scheveningen sheep shearer shears)

[@ilvasch]

In the south people have more of a soft g. For a foreigner it might be easier pronunciation, but the soft g comes from the dialect. So if you want to practice, be mindful that you might be learning more of the kind of dialect tones and maybe some words that belong only to the dialect instead of ABN (Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands, the kind of Dutch that is deemed without accent)

[@caseykilmore]

Another dutch learner told me about her trick for learning the sch. It was easier to make a smile shape with her mouth and pull the corners of her mouth out and begin with a really long s and slowly close her throat till it changed to the g. Maybe this will work for you too :)

[@ST-vt4nu]

I my opinion (being from the south) you can speak perfectly good, prettymuch abn, dutch with a sodt g. It's not about having 0 accent imo and just pronouncing one letter differently from others does not make you any less understandable to others. People understand me just fine wherever I go haha

[@hessel9154]

the interest you have for our Dutch language Dutch is a difficult language for a foreigner to speak, so keep explaining to people how to properly speak our language (I am proud of you LOL )

[@forkless]

Dutch is actually one of the (West-Germanic) languages closest to English. Frisian being the closest.

[@samenjaimy]

@@forkless I think he's talking about the pronounciation of the words with for example oe, ui, ei, sch, g, etc

[@forkless]

@@samenjaimy Yes, I am aware of diphthongs and I hear what you say but the comment made is slightly ambiguous (considering the dual-meaning of the word speak in Dutch)

[@samenjaimy]

@@forkless yes I see what you mean. I'm just assuming that's what he meant xD

[@chrislaarman7532]

@@forkless How about Afrikaans, jou suikerbossie? ;-)

[@CeliaGercovich]

Hahaha the dog! Love the outdoor setting case

[@chrislaarman7532]

She had to rest her case somewhere... ;-)

[@caseykilmore]

Mixing it up a little hahaha look at me go

[@_SilentPhoenix_]

I also have the most problems with "ui" and rolled "r" sound 😅

[@Abihef]

Man your pronunciation keeps taking me by surprise and blowing me away, also how Dutch your voice sounds at times pronouncing words is strange almost mixed in with the rest of the video in English.

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

The ooo. Het stoplicht springt op rood, het stoplicht springs op groen, in Almeloooo is altijd wat te doen... :)

[@dgraveth]

Voor het dialect in mijn regio Nijmegen (Nimwege) hier kun je al wat info krijgen nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nijmeegs

[@tmhc72_gtg22c]

For me, it is difficult to hear the difference between many of the sounds, such as "zon" and "zoon" "man" and "maan" "uit" and "oud" "hout" and "huid" "door" and "deur" "buur" and "boer" "haai" and "hei" "bui" and "bij" I once was watching a Dutch news program online and wondering why a tiny butterfly was called a "shark butterfly" then I realized that it is "heivlinder" and not "haaivlinder" With almost every language that I have studied, there have been sounds that I found difficult or impossible to tell apart, even after several years of studying the language. When I try to speak a foreign language to native speakers they can't understand what I am saying.

[@forkless]

Dutch diphthongs can take a while to get used to, but don't get discouraged and just keep at it. We Dutch are also usually more than happy to correct someone (it's part of that Dutch directness that can be perceived as rude but is all well intended and without judgment). You can doooooo eeeeeeet!

[@caseykilmore]

Of these are the subtle differences your having trouble with then the pronunciation trainer might be for you. I also had a dutch friend record sounds with long vowels in them and I would listen and repeat and shadow speak with them. Create your own content that you know will help you get the most out of your study.

[@gbsccfig]

I understand completely. A coworker could not distinguish the sound difference of "bruin" vs "brown". I had a taxi driver who had lived 11 years in Ijmuiden and she still pronounced it as aimouden.

[@tmhc72_gtg22c]

@@gbsccfig Sometimes I will see a Dutch word written and wonder how many times I have had heard that word and mistaken it for a different word. For example, when I saw the word hofstad in something I was reading, I wondered how many times I had heard hofstad and thought that the person was saying hooftstad.

[@dawnmaster68]

don't worry about your accent. everybody has one ... there's is only one person that speaks perfect dutch and even then only once a year. reducing it can help you. but unless you sound like an arabian russian trying to speak dutch from frensh roots. we'll mostly understand.

[@chrislaarman7532]

To me, humour seems a good way to learn a language. Especially puns. To paraphrase it: you learn your way around town by the crossroads and squares, rather than by long straight sections. Hmm... funny that squares should be square. Anyone here from a "brinkdorp"?

[@joey2463]

Who else thinks the Aussie accent is amazing??

[@gustavscholten597]

It’s BLOODY amazing...

[@rockytekkel406]

Yeah! ... if you are a lorry driver .....

[@jamesrogers5277]

I’m English from the UK. I understand Casey’s Dutch better than her English.

[@joostjo1]

Hi Casey, as a native Dutch speaker I have to say : stress in the word "interessant" is on the LAST syllable ( and NOT on the first) good luck!

[@caseykilmore]

You know this has been mentioned a few times. This is probably where my own accent fails me. In english we 100% stress the first syllable of interesting so I've carried over my English roots with me when I say a word that's slightly similar

[@gertvanderstraaten6352]

@@caseykilmore Sometimes the stress changes. Direct changed from diRECT during my lifetime to DIrect, heaven knows why. Schiphol used to be SCHIPhol and now is SchipHOL.

[@gibcoprobe66]

Thanks for the video. Great tips, especially the one about reading out loud and over a recording. Not crazy about the editing though.

[@christianstainazfischer]

How to have a beter Dutch (or for that matter any language) accent best tip ever: NEVER STOP TRYING. If you get to a decent level of fluency and call it good you will always sound like an outlander, notice you struggle to roll your ‘r’s after ‘n’? Practice nrrrrr nrrrr any (comfortable) opportunity you get, NEVER STOP TRYING. Other things to look for, check out ipa transcriptions every now and then and try to look at HOW sounds are pronounced in the mouth. The t in Japanese and English sound VERY similar, but are indeed different. Are the p t and k sounds aspirated? In English yes, in Dutch no. In Icelandic you have an unvoiced m sound, small things like this that are really hard to notice without someone or something pointing it out to you

[@p_mouse8676]

Tone, especially going up, was for me a funny when when I went to Aussie and Kiwi-land, you guys have a tendency to go up. A lot! Which sounds super cute. Although my GF find kids asking Papaaaaaaaa or Mamaaaaaaa? super cute and funny in the Netherlands. With the answer; jaahhaaaaaaa. LOL It's just very refreshing when you have been somewhere else for a while, or if you coming from somewhere else. All of a sudden you're super aware of how things sound and flow. Something you were never aware of, since you just simply grew up that way. For me practicing in my head helped a lot. Just imagine and picture certain tones and sounds. Sometimes whisper it a couple of times.

[@caseykilmore]

YES! I used to whisper a lot of sentences and tones after I had heard them too. Sort of parroting but only so I could hear it. We (Aussie speakers) do go up A LOT my grandmother hates it, and teenage girls are notorious for ending their sentences with a rising tone. Needless to say I copped a lot of slack from my grandmother as a young girl. After arriving back in Australia earlier this year I had forgotten how "Australian" people sound, if that makes sense? I had been in The Netherlands for close to two years by that point and it struck me how thick some peoples accents are even in a professional setting i.e. Customs hahaha. I felt as though I was in a badly acted Australian movie but no, I was just home for the first time in a few years hahah.

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

Your accent is great, both of them :) The Dutch too.

[@weiareinboud6990]

Wat ook goed is om natuurlijk te klinken is de 'uh' klank, als je naar woorden zoekt. Dat klinkt in elke taal anders, 'uh uh uh wat is het woord ook alweer'. Voor de r zijn er veel mogelijkeden, zie op wikipedia 'uitspraak van de r'. Je doet het trouwens prima!

[@caseykilmore]

YES! this is such a great suggestion. learners should definitely keep an ear out for the sounds speakers make when thinking and pausing. they really are the best way to start switching your brain into Dutch mode and stay thinking in that language.

[@jcw7435]

Do you still offer one-one sessions? I get an error on your wbsite :)

[@paulanamorim]

Hello! Thank you for your video! Maybe it's a silly question but what's the "dutch pronunciation trainer"?

[@caseykilmore]

No not silly, it's an anki deck that was brought out by a company called fluent forever, I may have linked to it in the description box. If not just google fluent forever pronunciation trainer dutch and you'll be able to find it. I think it's about $12.00 but worth it

[@paulanamorim]

@@caseykilmore Tks! Just googled it but apparently Dutch isn’t among the available languages. Weird, huh?!

[@caseykilmore]

What? I looked it up just yesterday and another student I was speaking with bought it. Plus I've bought it in the past too. It's not the app, I don't think its available on there app that they've made yet. It's simply an anki deck and should be about 12$ as a one off purchase. Let me see if I can get a direct link for you

[@caseykilmore]

fluent-forever.com/product/fluent-forever-pronunciation-trainer/ This link should work. You need to download Anki to read the flashcards but Anki is free

[@paulanamorim]

@@caseykilmore Thank you!!!!

[@Rhombohedral]

I am improvingmy native Dutch with his LOL

[@mariacaracante]

This is so useful! Thank you!!

[@caseykilmore]

So glad these tips helped you! :)

[@weiareinboud6990]

De eu is geen tweeklank/diphtong maar een digraaf/digraph. Twee letters worden gebruikt om 1 klank weer te geven. Eu kan je ook zo lang aanhouden als je maar wilt, met een echte tweeklank als ui kan dat niet, die glijdt altijd van het een naar het ander.

[@arendsmit3617]

Als ik naar mezelf luister is elke eu die ik zojuist tegen kwam een glijdende klank van [ø] naar een i/j waarbij de kaak dicht gaat en de voorkant v/d tong extra omhooog komt dus ik kan me voorstellen dat dit een regionaal verschil is of een misklassificatie. Die beweging onderdrukken is voor mij onnatuurlijk. Ik kan de [ø] aan het begin aanhouden. Kan ik die identificeren als eu? Geen idee. Blijkbaar is het geklassificeerd als eenklank, ik ben het daar duidelijk niet mee eens. En er zijn meerdere tegenstrijdige dbnl, wikipedia en andere referenties die elkaar tegenspreken. (@Marlies Philippa?)

[@weiareinboud6990]

@@arendsmit3617 Wat jij beschrijft is ook juist, voor een deel van de sprekers. Dat is (zwakke) diftongering van oo naar oow, eu naar eeuj, ee naar eej. In het oosten vinden ze dat lelijk!

[@chrislaarman7532]

Yes, you can stay in the EU as long as you want. Some native English speakers opted out... ;-)

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

If you like pitch, listen to some one from the town of Urk :) Or one of the other old fishermantowns..

[@chrislaarman7532]

It comes to me that some Dutch ways of speaking seem to complement each other: Rotterdam and surroundings: "Ke'je't niet howre dân?" Weert and further southeast: "Wieërt!" Twente and surroundings: "Hej roep'n op 'n moos?" Fryslân in Dutch: "Ach... er staat weinig wind... misschien mòrgen..."

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

My accent is probably the accent of the Hague mixed with Low-Saxon :) And Than is there is the leiden accent of my wife, which i pick up......You should hear my Ingrish :)

[@loukalicious]

So very interesting! This video!!

[@caseykilmore]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@GerHanssen]

That's odd. For me the stress in the word "interessant"is on the last syllable, like in French, where it comes from. I can also stress the first, but that is really awkward.

[@GerHanssen]

As a matter of fact in English "interesting" is stressed on the first syllable.

[@caseykilmore]

Maybe that's where I get my stress from when I place it on the first syllable because I've dragged my english pronunciation across with me. Regardless I hope people realise to listen to stresses in words and how to replicate them

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

only word I never learned was the word gordijn...I always say goedijn...lol... But than again, I'm Dutch..

[@juanfran579]

I just find the large amount of vowel sounds confusing and their spelling doesn't make it easier. I don't know yet how much It has to do with the pronunciation itself. Anyway, thank you for your advice but I think this requires real interaction. Learning by doing.

[@forkless]

Goedemorgen!

[@vanpeethovenstudio]

mogguh

[@rasmusvanwerkhoven1962]

Goeiemorgen

[@DeSaxofoonVanPeter]

Goeiemorgen luitjes

[@MusicJunky3]

Mogge !

[@DoeNormaalJayce]

Step 3: I could have the audio at 0.5x speed and my speed will be too slow, I cant speak as fast as some Dutch people in English, I have no chance haha

[@baskoning9896]

TBH, I dont think anyone can become 'native speaker' in a language they did not grow up with. Sure, there will be some polyglots that can do it, but they only underline my main premise: you have to be in the top 1 percent of language learners, to be able to speak Dutch (or any language, Chinese, Finnish, Swedish) on a level that native speakers can no longer hear it. When young (under 5), you learn and pick up most of the language skills from the people around you. If you dont get exposed to native Dutch in those years: you are f'ed. Even if you 'start late', say in your 20s, you wont be a native speaker 10 years later, your brain cannot learn languages that easy anymore at that age: most pathways in the brain are already fixed at that point. We speak English pretty well, because we got exposed to it as a child: music, movies, school. But even then: we dont speak without thick Dutch accent. If you did not get exposed to Dutch as a child, how on earth are you ever going to speak it fluently in a way a native cannot pick you out as non-native? I appreciate the effort, though. Its nice to be able to understand what people say in Dutch when you are in the Netherlands or live with a Dutch partner. I just think its a mammoth task, and people could imho better put their energy in things that are feasible, and communicate in English with us. Unless you have children in the Netherlands, then you should try and speak (mostly) Dutch with them, to not give them a handicap at school.

[@chrislaarman7532]

How about Drs P.?

[@caseykilmore]

I don't think the point is to sound like a native. I love my accent, I can speak clearly and people understand me but I also understand that feeling of not speaking at all because your embarrassed by how you sound. You are right though, to sound like a native if you haven't grown up in the country is a mammoth task and in my opinion not necessary and would be a waste of time, however you do need to be using native speakers and natural texts from your target language to learn how to assimilate with the people around you and pronounce your words better. Great feedback I love the points you've made.

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

Interresant you could pronounce like mumble'sant", and people would still understand sant is where the accent lays..

I want to impove my English so I would listen to English people speaking Dutch, so I know which sounds.

[@baskoning9896]

I dont get why SCH is such a problem, just say SG, and you are fine, no? SGeveningen, lol SGip, SGubbekutteveen, etc

[@chrislaarman7532]

... and Schaesberg, of course. (Shawsburch?)

[@Kikkerv11]

This only works if you have a hard G. If you have a soft G, then sch is pronounced s+ch, not s+g.

[@chrislaarman7532]

@@Kikkerv11 Actually, Schubbekutteveen is likely to be pronounced as an area code. ;-)

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqbHXn1sfraggqs Here are some nice accents, except for her Utrechtian au..., as in "vertrouwen", which slides too much into a car wreck of an au..., to far too the back of the mouth.. is what she did there.. Utrecht dialect...has a Frisian - substratum too.. For the rest these singers sing using clear and nice sounding Dutch..

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

Nurse did I come here to die? No you got here the day before yesterday..

[@MusicJunky3]

Go on I dare you...go on then say "Scheveningen "! Wow, that's not bad ! Are..are you from Stralia ?

[@davidi171]

Even better: Schravenhagen

[@gbsccfig]

@@davidi171 say this fast several times "ik heb zeven maal scheef in mijn schuitje gezeten"

[@nourahnielson6204]

Woef woef woef... 🤣😂. Knap hoe je dit allemaal uitlegt.

[@chrislaarman7532]

Those trees have an irritating bark, don't they? ;-)

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

All these sliding vowels, the less they slide the better, in official dutch, nice round ooos are the best... for example same with eee and iiii... The homeless/amsterdam accent.., is not nice to listen to even.. interresant , only bit important in the word is the "sant" with a nice open AAA not pronounced like oh, like you just did... , but as a reall Ah...you could say mumble-sant and people would still here interresant :)

[@SIG442]

Frisian: In aksint hat spitigernôch gjin direkt effekt asto de Fryske taal brûkt yn plak fan de Nederlânske taal. Ja, do hast dialekten yn it Frysk. Mar dat oerset him net yn it Nederlânsk. Dutch: Een accent heeft helaas geen direct effect als je de Friese taal gebruikt in plaats van de Nederlandse taal. Ja, je hebt dialecten in het Fries. Maar dat vertaald zich niet in het Nederlands. English: Unfortunately, an accent has no direct effect if you use the Frisian language instead of the Dutch language. Yes, you have dialects in Frisian. But that does not translate into Dutch.

[@tjerrysteenhuisen8332]

I miss the lip reading! You can learn the pronouncement of words by lip reading the native speakers.

[@andyhoward1811]

The sleepy study fundamentally sound because antelope symptomatically whirl aboard a mute frame. pretty, stimulating storm

[@adrianvazquez6127]

Too vague of a video, basically common sense. Could you make sure to elaborate on the technic with concise examples?

[@Rutteopvakantie]

Accent is overrated, it's the worst enemy when it comes to "any" language learning.

[@Abihef]

Yay and nay

[@billkastelein]

eight hundred eighty-eight