Archive for 'Dutch Language'
Fries – a language for itself! Posted by Sten on Nov 2, 2015
Fryslân – it will probably not tell you a lot. It is a word not from the Dutch, but the Frysian language, het Fries. Fryslân is the name of the Dutch province in which Fries is spoken: Friesland. Now, yes, there are many different dialects, and versions of Fries. But in this post, I mean Westerlauers Fries, or Standaardfries when I mention Fries. This is the…
Selling Yourself Posted by Karoly Molina on Oct 21, 2015
Every week, we receive the local newspaper filled with articles about local people and events as well as ads for local businesses. One of my favorite sections in this newspaper is the personal ads or advertenties because there is always something funny or interesting to read. To start, the ads are limited in the words they…
The Super Scary Dutch G Posted by Sten on Oct 17, 2015
If you are learning Dutch at the moment, you are undoubtedly trying to pronounce the words too – and one thing I found many people find very difficult is the pronounciation of the letter G in most cases. Now, I am referring to the Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands (ABN), in which the G is not soft…
TV on the Web: How to Learn Dutch on TV this Fall Posted by Jakob Gibbons on Oct 8, 2015
Dutch language learners often have a harder life than learners of other languages: Dutch isn’t spoken in many countries, and the people who live in those countries usually want to speak English to you anyways. But when it comes to improving your luistervaardigheid (listening skills), you’re in luck with Dutch: there are thousands of hours of…
Getting Creative in Dutch Posted by Karoly Molina on Sep 16, 2015
One of my favourite activities to use with language learners is creative writing. Although not many students will enjoy creative writing assignments at first, the benefits make the effort worthwhile. With creative writing activities, language learners make use of the language in a more precise and thoughtful way because they must carefully select their words…
How to Sound Dutch in Dutch Posted by Karoly Molina on Aug 19, 2015
Even after learning grammar and enough vocabulary to hold conversations, language learners can always be spotted in conversation. What separates us learners from the native speakers are expressions that we rarely learn in the classroom.These expressions we pick up slowly because sometimes they do not make sense when we translate them to our own language and…
Dutch Afkortingen (Abbreviations)! Posted by Sten on Mar 25, 2015
Every language has many afkortingen (abbreviations) to make… well, everything shorter! But what means what? Below some valuable abbreviations of Dutch words and expressions! Alstublieft – a.u.b. (also s.v.p.) – please Afbeelding – afb. – picture Aanstaande – a.s. – upcoming Bijvoorbeeld – bijv. – for example Circa – ca. – approximately Door middel van – d.m.v. – by means of Dat wil zeggen – d.w.z. – … which means En andere –…