{"id":3553,"date":"2015-10-08T15:16:53","date_gmt":"2015-10-08T15:16:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=3553"},"modified":"2015-10-08T15:16:53","modified_gmt":"2015-10-08T15:16:53","slug":"how-to-learn-dutch-on-tv-this-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/how-to-learn-dutch-on-tv-this-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"TV on the Web: How to Learn Dutch on TV this Fall"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a>. But when it comes to improving your\u00a0luistervaardigheid <\/em>(listening skills), you’re in luck with Dutch: there are thousands of hours of terrific television available online, and the Fall TV season means that many more new reasons to turn on the tube and learn some Dutch.<\/p>\n

TV is absolutely my favorite language learning tool<\/a> for so many reasons. It’s the closest you can get to having organic conversations with native speakers without the added stress of actually conversing with native speakers. This means you can pay more attention to what you’re hearing and how it’s being said, instead of scrambling to form your next sentence while the other person speaks. Even more importantly, it’s jam-packed and dripping with culture, especially in the case of small ethnic languages like Dutch. When you watch Dutch television, you’re not only hearing the Dutch language, but you’re immersing yourself in the culture communicated by that language.<\/p>\n

\"NPO<\/a><\/p>\n

Five years ago on this blog we shared this post<\/a> on television and radio resources for learning Dutch, but the game has changed since then. Back then we had\u00a0Uitzending Gemist<\/em>, the Netherlands’ online repository of missed episodes of your favorite shows. Now we have the NPO or\u00a0Nederlandse Publieke Omroep<\/a><\/em>, your one-stop shop for Dutch Public Broadcasting. From live public channels to past episodes of most shows airing on Dutch television, NPO is one of the most sophisticated tools for Dutch learners, and nearly all of its content is\u00a0completely\u00a0gratis\u00a0<\/em>— even brand new episodes of the most popular shows and series!<\/p>\n

My number one favorite show in any language right now is Penoza<\/a><\/em>, the massively popular Dutch crime drama. In season one, Carmen van Walraven’s husband is shockingly murdered in the midst of a drug war in the Amsterdam underground. Carmen suddenly finds herself a widow and single mother to three children, and now has to pay off hundreds of thousands of euros her husband owed to local druglords.\u00a0By season 4, which just started last month, Carmen and her family have evolved into permanent fixtures in the Dutch mafia\u00a0world. The suspense and frequent sudden deaths of main characters will have you swearing in Dutch.<\/p>\n

\"penoza<\/a><\/p>\n

Other classic series\u00a0include the ever-popular and long-running Flikken Maastricht<\/a><\/i>, a lighter crime series, and of course the fixture of Dutch fout<\/a><\/i> culture, the guilty pleasure of millions of tall blonde folks, Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden<\/a><\/i>. Other honorable mentions for entertaining TV series\u00a0include the so far four seasons-long Divorce<\/a><\/i> and the promising new 2015 series De Fractie<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n

If you’re more of a globally-inclined current events junkie, you’ll have just as much luck. The\u00a0NOS Journaal<\/a><\/i> is like the BBC of the Netherlands, and you can find it aired in many short, several-minute segments throughout the day. If you’re looking for something longer,\u00a0my personal favorite is Nieuwsuur<\/a><\/i>, the nightly hour-long news program that reviews the day’s events through a global, European, and Dutch lens. Sometimes you might have trouble viewing it outside the Netherlands, but any simple VPN<\/a> should do the trick of unblocking it.<\/p>\n

If you want a less serious approach, try one of the talk shows like De Wereld Draait Door<\/a><\/i> or\u00a0Pauw<\/a><\/i>. Talk shows might be\u00a0the best genre for advanced language learning, as you’ll be watching small groups of adults sitting around talking to each other. Even more so than scripted fictional series, talk shows can expose you to a lot of the natural, normal, native ways that speakers use their language. Below you can watch a short clip of one of the most popular segments of\u00a0De Wereld Draait Door<\/em>, called\u00a0De TV Draait Door<\/em>, in which host Matthijs van Nieuwkerk assembles some of the most nonsensical moments of Dutch and international television:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sTR91Quh0pw<\/a><\/p>\n

For those of us not quite as far along in learning Dutch yet, there are still some great options. Documentaries are perfect for beginning language learners: narrators normally speak clearly, articulately, and more slowly than in natural speech. This in combination with the constant use of film and images will help beginning language learners make connections between words and meanings. Tegenlicht<\/a><\/i> is my go-to Dutch documentary series, with episodes\u00a0like De Tax Free Tour<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>and Gratis Geld<\/a> <\/i>becoming so popular they’ve been\u00a0translated into English as well (but don’t cheat!). 2Doc<\/a><\/em> is another option, and for travel-specific documentaries, 3 op Reis<\/a><\/i> is the absolute best. Their website is full of complete\u00a0half-hour episodes, and under the\u00a0bestemmingen\u00a0<\/em>menu, you can find shorter clips on specific destinations.<\/p>\n

You may think your Dutch isn’t yet good enough to watch and follow a TV show, but there’s more. Het Klokhuis<\/a><\/i> is an educational program for youths, and it may have been my #1 handiest\u00a0tool when I learned Dutch myself. Each episode centers around a topic or question\u00a0— from delicious mussels<\/a> to what you can do to prevent bullying<\/a> —\u00a0and a presentor narrates and guides you through the exploration of it. The show is set up in such a way that much of the vocabulary is easily discernible from its context.<\/p>\n

And for total beginners, you can always start out with Zappelin<\/a>, the network and website for toddlers. The programs you’ll find here aren’t afraid to ask the hard-hitting questions, like\u00a0welke kleur is de appel?<\/em> and\u00a0wat zegt een hond?\u00a0<\/em>As tedious as it seems to watch children’s shows about colors and numbers, you’ve gotta start somewhere, and it’s important to soak your brain in as much spoken Dutch as you can from day one<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you can get over the fact that there seem to be about three actors in the Netherlands playing every role on every show, TV can be one of the most enjoyable ways of learning Dutch, and the fall TV season is bringing you plenty of new material. If you’re already in the Netherlands then turn on that TV, and if not then explore the links in this post to find your new favorite show!<\/p>\n

Already tuning in to Dutch television? Tell us about your favorite shows and how they’ve helped your language learning in the comments below!<\/big><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

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\u00a0luistervaardigheid (listening skills), you’re in luck with Dutch: there are thousands of hours of…<\/p>\n

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