Why are we using this weird system of exceptions over rule of thumb? Why can't we standardise writing what you hear (-d or -t) in past perfect tense and call it a day? Why would you even need -dt to make sense of a sentence?

The situation. I’m a native Dutch speaker, my wife isn’t, our children grew up abroad with us. My daughter is at uni in the Netherlands doing an English-speaking programme. But despite her strong personal experience and profile, the best opportunities are there for those who speak Dutch as well.

She is quite advanced in her vocabulary and understanding. Definitely can’t have secret conversations. But totally lacks confidence to speak Dutch. She has no need for official certificates to a certain level, but want to be able to confidently converse in Dutch.

I was thinking to help her (finally, I should have done that like 16 years ago 🤣🤷‍♂️), and de nonnetjes van Vught is an option.

Are they truly renowned, or is it a myth? Are there other options to get this sorted in the next six month?

What are some ways to make efficient progress in Dutch, and most importantly, FEEL that progress? My husband in the position of needing more Dutch language to move up positions at work. He interviewed but is just left feeling more anxious. He is sadly a monolingual English speaker so this feels like a giant task. I think understanding will be even more important than speaking, but of course speaking will also be necessary. I'm just trying to think about if he got the job offer, what should he say he needs? Would "the nuns" even be useful at such a beginning level? I recently did the Bart de Pau summer school and thought it was quite good, and he could do the same. Anything else I'm not thinking of?

I've learned languages and know there's no magic fix. I'm just hoping my husband can figure out an efficient way to learn quickly while building confidence that this is a language that CAN be learned.

I'm a native speaker of Dutch, a linguist, and an experienced Dutch teacher in the U.S. As a service to the larger Internet community, I'll be offering a free Zoom class on the basics of Dutch pronunciation. Learn how to pronounce Dutch words confidently! This 2½-hour class will be geared mostly to American English speakers, but others will likely also benefit.

I'll be teaching this class twice to reach people across many time zones:

• Wednesday, September 17 at 6 pm PDT / 9 pm EDT / Thu 10 am JST / Thu 11 am EDST, which works best for folks in the U.S., Asia, and Australia.
• Sunday, September 21 at 9 am PDT / 5 pm GMT / 6 pm CET, which should work for most folks in Europe.

You can now register for this class using this Google form. You'll get a registration confirmation email. You'll receive a separate email to confirm your spot, along with the Zoom meeting information. To ensure that everyone can actively participate, there will be a 25-person limit for each session. Registrations are taken in the order in which they're received. If you sign up past that limit, you'll be added to a wait list. Depending on the number of people on that list, I may add more sessions.

I'm excited to introduce you to the basics of Dutch pronunciation on September 17 and 21!

--Ron

I will use Leeuwarden as an example. While on the train, the recorded announcements will say Leeuwarden so that the en sound at the end in clearly audible. The end sounds something like din from dinner.

However, when the staff make announcements, and when some people in general say Leeuwarden, the en sound gets buried and becomes more of an uh sound. So Leeuwar-din becomes Leeuwar-duh. I have noticed this often with other words and names, but not with all words ending in en and not with all Dutch speakers. If I say it like this, some people know what I am saying right away, while others do not.

Is this a regional thing? Am I imagining it? Or do people do this just to confuse me?

I came across this blog post: How I Passed My Dutch A2 Exams in 45 Days: A Guide for Busy Professionals I am curious if anyone thinks this is really realistic and possible. The writer claims to have been here for six years but "knew only few dutch words (maybe 3,4) before the preparation." While I suspect they actually knew more words than this, I am curious if it is it really possible to go from 0 to A2 in 45 days.

I have been doing Duolingo for 574 days now, with some previous starts and stops before my current run. Currently I think I will do fine at the Knowledge of Dutch Society (KNM) exam, probably OK in reading, and just OK enough in listening. Writing and speaking are the ones I am most stressed about, especially the speaking one. I do plan to do each test on different days/weeks to make preparation easier.

My work really wants me to have this all done by the end of the year, so today is the start of my knuckle down time.

Any suggestions or words of encouragement are appreciated. :-)

Fun note: I previously tried playing Dutch language lessons on repeat while I slept, or at least tried to sleep. I really cannot recommend this method. I remember *alsjeblieft* appearing in one of my dreams, but otherwise I don't think it had any lasting impact.

So I’ve started off with Busuu, I found it’s really helpful but I would like to go a bit more in depth. I’ve been looking into online courses but I don’t want to join a virtual classroom. I’m open to books and online courses, paid or not. I was considering TaalThuis as an option. I also use NPO to watch shows. Are there any sites or books you can suggest that will help me?

Good morning all!

I'm coming to the end of my final B1 course in East Flanders and so am starting to get conversational, as I hope to finish B2 by next year. My vocabulary is quite good but where I get stuck is sentence structure with longer and more complex sentences.

Does anyone have any tips and tricks (or even games) to help with sentences that contain : - Separable verbs with different tenses or modal verbs thrown in - different tenses that also use "er" (ervan, ertegen, ermee etc) - negations with both of the above

I realise there may be no easy answer but would be grateful for any "formula" nonetheless.