Have you been looking for a way to improve your Dutch? Maybe you were looking for a way to increase your vocabulary, or to improve your comprehension skills or you just wanted some real-world examples of Dutch in use. Well, perhaps online newspapers/news sites are something for you.
Not only do online newspapers/new sites provide you with an almost endless supply of material to practise your Dutch on, they also keep you up-to-date on what is going on in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Here’s a selection of four online newspapers/news sites to help get you started.
- Nu.nl – Founded in 1999, Nu.nl (nu = now) is one of the most visited news sites in the Netherlands. You’ll find a regular dose of current news, economy (economie), sport, health (gezondheid), culture and media (cultuur en media). You can also get the weather (weer) and traffic (verkeer). Nu.nl is really good at isolating current events on their homepage, for example there is currently a section for news relating to the situation in Greece (Griekenland). Don’t miss the NUfoto and NUtvgids either.
- AD.nl – AD.nl is the web component of the popular newspaper, the Algemeen Dagblad. Here you’ll find a daily dose of news as well as puzzles, videos and even your horoscope (horoscoop).
- De Telegraaf – Based in Amsterdam, this online element of the national newspaper contains many sensational and sports related stories. Don’t miss the comics (strips) and travel (reizen) sections.
- De Standard Online – De Standard Online is a combination of an online news portal for the Belgium newspaper, De Standaard and a news portal where you can view domestic, foreign, culture, media, economy, sports, fashion, food and drink, film and travel stories. You will need a paid subscription to access the portal but there is plenty available in the free portion to keep you busy for quite some time.
Where Else to Look
If you are interested in finding more newspapers in Dutch, why not check out the website, Paperboy. Filling in a few search boxes and clicking search will bring up a whole list of newspapers from Belgium and the Netherlands that are available online. You’ll even be provided with click through links and information on which language the newspaper is written in.
What Dutch language online newspapers and news sites do you follow? Have you recently read an interesting news story online? Tell us about it in the comments or over on the Transparent Language Facebook page.
