Dutch Class

Het is nuttig de Nederlandse woorden voor de namen van landen te weten.

Er zijn veel landen in de wereld. Er zijn grote landen en kleine landen, rijke landen en arme landen. De namen van sommige landen zijn hetzelfde in het Nederlands als in het Engels. Voorbeelden van deze zijn: Botswana, Canada, Ghana en Japan.

De onderstaande woordenlijst omvat landen in Europa, Amerika, Afrika en Azië. Deze lijst omvat alle landen in de wereld niet. Wanneer de woorden hetzelfde in het Nederlands en in het Engels zijn deze in de lijst in bruine letters geschreven.

De kaarten toonden boven niet naar de zelfde schaal getekend.
(Canada is veel groter dan Ierland) !

Woordenlijst

In case you would like to print this posting we have made it available to download easily. Just click here: Print the page “Landen”.

The concept of learning new words by making mental associations with familiar words, sounds, or even pictures, is not new. This approach can be used in many creative ways.

One teaching aid that relies on the idea of learning by word association is Linkword Languages. This fun and easy approach involves making mental associations based on sometimes hilarious connections between words! The idea is that to help you remember a new word in the language you are learning (e.g. Dutch) you are shown an interesting “connection” between that new word and its meaning in the language you already know (e.g. English). This helps the learner to visualise the new word in a way that makes it easier to recall its meaning. The software presents a series of words displayed on the screen together with their translations and a suggested “connection” through which to remember the new word. These words are also clearly pronounced and repeated as often as required (in response to the user pressing the “play” button again). After presenting a set of words one at a time, the system tests the student via a screen into which one must type simple answers. The correct answers are then displayed. Then one can then proceed to the next section that introduces more words and/or complexity.

Linkword Languages’ website offers software and audio courses that claim to help students to learn a new language quickly. Free demonstrations are available online. Click on the banner link on the left of this text to try the online demos, including the demo for learning Dutch.

This looks promising but relies on one ordering online as we haven’t seen this material for sale anywhere on the high street, at least not yet!

It’s great to see so many Dutch language teaching aids available. We’ll feature some more vocabulary-building products soon.

Heeft u een tuin?
Wat is in uw tuin?
Wie woont er in uw tuin?

Wij hebben een kleine tuin voor het huis en een grotere tuin achter het huis.

De kleine voortuin heeft een haag aan de voorkant en een hek aan de zijkant. Er is een kleine poort in het hek. Er is geen gras in de voorttuin. In plaats daarvan zijn er veel planten in potten. Er zijn veel kleurrijke bloemen in de potten. Er zijn narcissen in de lente. Soms zie ik mieren, kevers, rupsen, vlinders of bijen in de voortuin. Er zijn veel ook spinnen in de tuin. Zij spinnen reusachtige webben.

De achtertuin heeft een hoge muur met een poort in de muur. Er zijn veel bloemen en planten in de tuin. Er is een boom en een klein lapje gras. Mijn favoriete deel van de tuin is de vijver. Er zijn planten in de vijver. Er zijn ook vissen in de vijver, en kikkers. Soms zie ik libellen dichtbij de vijver, maar enkel in de zomer. Er is een schuur in de tuin, maar er is geen garage. Ik heb geen slangen of hagedissen nabij de vijver gezien. Er zijn veel vogels. Soms bezoeken egels en eekhoorns de tuin.

Woordenlijst

In case you would like to print this posting we have made it available to download easily. Just click here: Print the page “De Tuin”

Although there is no substitute for a really good language teacher (preferably a native speaker), sometimes that isn’t possible or one would like additional practice between lessons.

Many years ago the Berlitz Travel Pack (which consisted of a phrase book and audio cassette in the 1980s) was my introduction to another European language not taught at school, or even at many universities. After learning the cassette almost “parrot fashion” I was immediately understood at my first attempts to use the material in remote travel situations including train stations, bus stations, and small towns. Bravo Berlitz ! I was delighted and greatly encouraged.

Not surprisingly therefore, I searched out the Dutch Berlitz Travel Pack to use together with the Dutch course I joined recently. It didn’t disappoint. The cover illustrated above is from the 1991 version. This is rather dated now, with mention of Dutch Guilders and Belgian Francs – both of which have since been replaced with the Euro. I don’t just love this teaching material for its considerable nostalgic value, but also because it is stuffed full of really practical expressions. Learn these and you won’t have to work out what to say in travel situations – the phrases will just spring to mind. Fantastic !

The downside is that this format is rather limited. Once you’ve learned all the phrases and want to move on to something more advanced, or to understand the grammar, it’s back to the bookshop to search all over again! (I’ve had fun with that step too and will include more suggestions next time.)

The up-to-date version of this Berlitz Phrase Book and CD set is available from Amazon.co.uk (priced £9.02 at the time of adding this post). You can go straight to the Dutch Berlitz Travel Pack on Amazon by clicking here: Dutch Berlitz Travel Pack.

Wat is uw baan ?
Wat is uw beroep ?
Wat voor werk doet u ?
Wat zijn uw werkzaamheden ?

Er zijn vele verschillende banen en beroepen. Sommige mensen hebben meerdere banen. Het is nuttig om te begrijpen wat mensen op het werk doen. Hier zijn sommige lijsten van banen en beroepen.

Dit is de langste woordenlijst op DutchClass.co.uk tot nog toe.
Er zijn veel meer beroepen. Dit zijn slechts enkele voorbeelden.

Woordenlijst

In case you would like to print this posting we have made it available to download easily. Just click here: Print the page “Banen en Beroepen”

Inspired by the earlier entry on DutchClass.co.uk featuring “YouTube as a Dutch Learning Aid ?”, I’ve been back to YouTube in search of more (slightly more advanced!) entries to follow that introduction.

After trying the obvious search terms, such as “learn Dutch”, “Dutch language”, “teach Dutch” etc. without finding anything outstanding, it was time to get a bit frivolous! I was surprised to find that “Dutch cartoons” generated a list of Danish cartoons. Eventually persistence paid off. If you’re willing to dig them out YouTube will reward you with a fair few fun kids’ cartoons in Dutch.

This one seems especially cheerful:

As a beginner learning Dutch I’ll have to watch it a few more times to catch all the words. They are pronounced clearly so that shouldn’t be too difficult.

There are many more similar cartoons linked to this one. (If you play this cartoon and watch it to the end, a menu including more cartoons in Dutch follows.)