Watching foreign language YouTube videos is a great way to learn. You can see and hear what the clip is about, plus read comments about a clip that will most likely be in the colloquial form of the target language. You will also, undoubtedly, learn some good swear words as well. Here is some motivation for learning Dutch; understanding one of the funniest videos I have ever seen on YouTube. This one includes the English subtitles:
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Dutch - Nederlands
Believe it or not Dutch is the language that most resembles English. Funny thing is, most English speakers have no clue about this. Dutch also holds the distinction of having a hard "R" sound as in English, and is considered by some to be even uglier sounding than English. This is due mainly to a guttural "G" sound, which is similar to "Ach" in German or Arabic's harsh KH sound.
Dutch is spoken not only in the Netherlands (Holland is not the official name, but a region) but in Belgium as well, where it is called Flemish or Vlaams in-country. I also found this odd, because Belgian Dutch, er... sorry, Flemish has a much softer loogie hawking "G" sound than Dutch. It's somewhat ironic that Flemish - think "phlegmish" - produces less phlegm than its counterpart.
Dutch is also spoken in Aruba (remember that pimpin' loser Joran van der Sloot?), Suriname, and serves as the base language for some other Pidgin languages in Africa. Another somewhat archaic form of Dutch is spoken in South Africa, where it is called Afrikaans. The two are similar, but nowhere near as close as Flemish and Dutch, which are practically the same language.
Some may wonder why Dutch is called Dutch in English, when they themselves call it Nederlands (meaning language of the low-country). This is most likely due to the German word Deutsch, which sounds like "dutch." This explains calling the Amish people Pennsylvania Dutch, when in fact they are German. I once spoke to some Amish people I met at a bus station in Cleveland, Ohio in German; their German was rather archaic sounding and not necessarily mutually understandable.
Motivation:
Simple, the Netherlands is home to the tallest people in the world, and some of the prettiest women. I have only been to Holland a couple of times; girls there are nice but a bit cold if they don't know you. If you speak German, the greatest motivation in learning is the simple fact that by knowing German and English you will know MANY Dutch words, plus the grammar will seem refreshingly easy compared to German's. while I would not consider myself fluent in Dutch, per se, I can read it and understand it pretty well. My last trip to Holland I picked up the original Anne Frank's Diary, which is called "Het Achterhuis." I always wanted to read the original, and I am happy to say it is not a difficult read in the original language.
Pros:
- It's basically German light
- Fun place to visit, although if you are inclined to smoke pot in Amsterdam, you will probably trip out when you hear the language.
- the Netherlands offers a boatload of books for foreign learners; they are really proud of their language.
Cons:
- Many Dutch people speak English, and many of those speak it better than you do. Damn them!
- German speakers will find a hard time with the way Dutch has its word order. It is closer to word order in English, but sounds wrong to my ears, which are more accustomed to German word order; strange, I know.
- Finding an abundant supply of Dutch learning books and CDs in the States could is tough, but like I said, they have a lot of good materials in The Netherlands.
Tips (same word in Dutch, see? Told ya it was close):
- If you don't know the gender, just say "de", most nouns take it. The other is "het", which is, unfortunately, hard to BS.
If you are just starting out, check out the dictionary I included for Dutch on the widgit wheel. And you might want to skip Teach Yourself Beginner's Dutch and go straight for this one:
Yes, I know I promote alot of "Teach Yourself Books", that is because in most cases, it is the best deal and most comprehensive. The "Colloquial" Language books are great too. In fact, I find the Colloquial Chinese, Japanese, Icelandic, and Persian/Farsi books and CDs to be better than their Teach Yourself counterparts, but they are usually a bit more expensive and harder to find. Here is the Dutch one:
Dutch is spoken not only in the Netherlands (Holland is not the official name, but a region) but in Belgium as well, where it is called Flemish or Vlaams in-country. I also found this odd, because Belgian Dutch, er... sorry, Flemish has a much softer loogie hawking "G" sound than Dutch. It's somewhat ironic that Flemish - think "phlegmish" - produces less phlegm than its counterpart.
Dutch is also spoken in Aruba (remember that pimpin' loser Joran van der Sloot?), Suriname, and serves as the base language for some other Pidgin languages in Africa. Another somewhat archaic form of Dutch is spoken in South Africa, where it is called Afrikaans. The two are similar, but nowhere near as close as Flemish and Dutch, which are practically the same language.
Some may wonder why Dutch is called Dutch in English, when they themselves call it Nederlands (meaning language of the low-country). This is most likely due to the German word Deutsch, which sounds like "dutch." This explains calling the Amish people Pennsylvania Dutch, when in fact they are German. I once spoke to some Amish people I met at a bus station in Cleveland, Ohio in German; their German was rather archaic sounding and not necessarily mutually understandable.
Motivation:
Simple, the Netherlands is home to the tallest people in the world, and some of the prettiest women. I have only been to Holland a couple of times; girls there are nice but a bit cold if they don't know you. If you speak German, the greatest motivation in learning is the simple fact that by knowing German and English you will know MANY Dutch words, plus the grammar will seem refreshingly easy compared to German's. while I would not consider myself fluent in Dutch, per se, I can read it and understand it pretty well. My last trip to Holland I picked up the original Anne Frank's Diary, which is called "Het Achterhuis." I always wanted to read the original, and I am happy to say it is not a difficult read in the original language.
Pros:
- It's basically German light
- Fun place to visit, although if you are inclined to smoke pot in Amsterdam, you will probably trip out when you hear the language.
- the Netherlands offers a boatload of books for foreign learners; they are really proud of their language.
Cons:
- Many Dutch people speak English, and many of those speak it better than you do. Damn them!
- German speakers will find a hard time with the way Dutch has its word order. It is closer to word order in English, but sounds wrong to my ears, which are more accustomed to German word order; strange, I know.
- Finding an abundant supply of Dutch learning books and CDs in the States could is tough, but like I said, they have a lot of good materials in The Netherlands.
Tips (same word in Dutch, see? Told ya it was close):
- If you don't know the gender, just say "de", most nouns take it. The other is "het", which is, unfortunately, hard to BS.
If you are just starting out, check out the dictionary I included for Dutch on the widgit wheel. And you might want to skip Teach Yourself Beginner's Dutch and go straight for this one:
Yes, I know I promote alot of "Teach Yourself Books", that is because in most cases, it is the best deal and most comprehensive. The "Colloquial" Language books are great too. In fact, I find the Colloquial Chinese, Japanese, Icelandic, and Persian/Farsi books and CDs to be better than their Teach Yourself counterparts, but they are usually a bit more expensive and harder to find. Here is the Dutch one:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
