In my last post I introduced you to all the major Dutch newspapers to help with your reading comprehension.  In this post I will provide you with plenty of resources to help with your listening skills.  Listening skills are important for two reasons.  The first is obvious: you need to know what people are saying to you!  That is obvious.  But the second is that you need to hear the language spoken by a native speaker in order to produce all those sounds yourself.  You need a reference point, and you need to copy what those people are saying and try as best as possible to make those sounds yourself.  Dutch is a language with a heavy focus on the vowel sounds, and those vowel sounds can be rather tricky.  So use these resources as a way to hear the rhythm and the sounds produced by a native Dutch speaker, and copy those sounds as best as possible, even if you have no idea what they mean.

Television

Uitzending Gemist  http://www.uitzendinggemist.nl/

Uitzending Gemist is the place to see all Dutch television shows.  And I do mean all.  So if you are interested in watching Dutch reality tv, there is plenty of that for you.  There are also movies, documentaries, home improvement shows, sports…anything you can think of, this is the link for real Dutch television.  Now, I am leaving you with this link assuming that it should work, but it is also possible that you can’t connect to it outside of the Netherlands.  If this is the case, please let me know via the comments section.

NOS Journaal  http://nos.nl/nieuws/

This is the nightly Dutch news, the one that everyone all around the country watches.  It’s generally stays pretty politically neutral, and on a Sunday night you’ll see more human interest stories than anything, but this is the place to see real Dutch news reporting.  There are other news broadcasts for the different local regions, so if you have an interest in a particular area, hunt around a bit and I’m sure you will find something you’ll like.

Jeugd Journaal: http://static.nos.nl/jeugdjournaal/voorpagina/index.html

Jeugd Journaal is a great way to start listening to news, especially if you are just starting to learn Dutch.  It’s the news geared towards a slightly younger audience and because of this it’s actually a bit more fun than the regular nightly news.  The vocabulary and sentence structure is simpler and easier to understand, and the Dutch is pronounced a bit clearer.

Het Gesprek http://www.hetgesprek.nl/

Het Gesprek is a network that airs conversations and discussions.  On this station you will find discussions on anything from a current news item of interest to an interview with an author or politician, to a debate on the environment or philosophy.

Pauw en Witteman http://pauwenwitteman.vara.nl/

Pauw en Witteman is a nightly news talk show, in a way similar to Larry King Live, or something of that nature.  If you’ve seen something on Dutch nightly news involving a political party, the guest of the night might be someone from that political party answering questions.  It’s a very popular show, and covers a variety of topics from news to pop culture.

Radio

Nederland.FM  http://www.nederland.fm/

This site is very comprehensive.  It is a website where you can listen to all of the Dutch radio stations live, whether it’s pop music or talk radio.  Some of the major stations include:

Radio 1: news

Radio 2: Dutch language music

Radio 3: pop music

Radio 4: classical music

Radio Netherlands Worldwide  http://www.rnw.nl/nederlands

Just like with newspapers, there are plenty of ways to use Dutch radio and television to actually learn Dutch.  In my next blog, I’ll share with you some tips and pointers that I’ve used to get the most out of Dutch television and radio.

If you think I’ve left out something that should be added, leave us a comment below!  And while you’re at it, tell us all about your favorite Dutch television program or radio station.