Learn Dutch, or how I might have done it differently

I learned Dutch well enough to pass (just about) the NT2 II exam in about three years. While I am not sure if I could have done this any quicker in the circumstances, these are some thoughts and tips I would like to share.

The most important element is the motivation. You need to set yourself up to want to learn this language. While you may able to pick it up just like that, especially if you already know german for example, for someone like myself, motivation was crucial. I remember my first live encounter with the language and for me it was the challenge of the impossible; that and the fact that it sounded really cool. Deciding to learn Dutch however is not a straightforward choice, given that you will get by with English in most circumstances and you may well decide to invest your time and effort elsewhere.

Once decided and motivated, it helps to keep a positive outlook on everything dutch, despite while the others may say or what you may encounter in online forums. I set myself up to discover what is good and beautiful around me, the country, the people, this entire space called Netherlands.

Immersion in the language can also speed things up and this happens in more ways that can be described and itemised. Especially if you live here (and frankly I would have found it a lot harder have I not lived in the country) absorb Dutch in a welcoming, positive way. Start with whatever you see around: signs, adverts, logos etc. It started for me as an almost total mistery that gradually began to reveal itself.

I used online tools such Memrise and  Duolingo extensively, more than I should have in my opinion. Neither will make you fluent and might prove a dead end sooner than you think. Memrise in particular is useful at the very beginning as it will give you a bit of confidence to start expanding your basic linguistic horizon. Use both tools with caution, as they are not very good at adapting to your pace and way of learning. You may find yourself spending a lot of time with these tools, not realising that you perhaps reached a stage in your learning where other methods may be more efficient. What those other methods might be, is subjective of course, but you might want to consider LingQ. While you can used it for free with some limitations, I find the premium version good value and very effective in driving you faster towards fluency, once a certain size vocabulary (few hunderd words) has been achieved.

There are a number of stages in the road to fluency in a language, as I see it. One of the first ones is the stage of ‘getting by’, being able to ask for things in shops, ordering food in restaurants and generally interacting on the high street. This can be achieved by learning a number of ready made expressions. While Memrise  may help with that, you could also build up an expression toolset in your own language and then perhaps get a native (or the internet) to translate it for you in Dutch. You can then memorize the toolset and practice it with your confidence level set to: “I am one cool Dutch speaking lass/lad”. Then it is time for live “deployment” and why not, enjoyment.

I talk about learning expressions and phrases as opposed to words for a number of reasons:

• spoken Dutch will bear little resemblance to what the manuals teach you. Dutch people will sound like they say a long word, which when written down would in fact be an entire sentence. You need to learn those parrot fashion. For example “even kijken” sounds like this  Longer sentences are normally said in one breath like in this example: Can I make an appointment?
• you won’t have a consistent set of rules to apply (even worse than in English). While this of course might be challenged, it reflects my opinion and impression of the language.
• learning entire phrases will allow to get immersed faster in the language, as it will provide context, not to mention the immediate street cred points in front of your expat friends.

Remainig on the theme of discovery, find music that you like. I am particularly fond of a musician from Antwerp (although someone should perhaps take care of setting up an ssl certifcate on his website). This is his youtube channel. There are also a number of movies that are very good, especially those aimed at young people. Many are very well made, funny and carry a heartfelt, strong positive message.

Dutch people are very encouranging when they hear that you are learning their language. You will often hear how good your Dutch is, even you can hardly put two words together. They are also quite funny people and love a good talk. All in all, you have a lot to discover.