Anybody learning Dutch?

LoganRice

Hi guys, learning Dutch independently and with the help of a friend for nearly 1 month now I was wondering if anyone else is learning Dutch too? It would be great if we could discuss learning Dutch together

galson

Hi there! I used to learn actually for a while some time ago, but stopped mainly due to lack of motivation caused by no opportunity to use the language, even though I know a few Dutch people but they don't live here and I only contact them occasionally now (plus, the strange thing about the Dutch people, they only want to speak English with foreigners even though they speak Dutch too :>). How do you learn it, beside getting the help from a friend?

Lingua Franca

I am, using Babbel at the moment while I save for a more professional course.

I'm finding it really tough to learn due to the lack of practice, what with the aforementioned "Dutch people only want to speak in English to you" problem. Worst of it is that it's the people I have short encounters with in day to day life, shop assistants and the like, who will only speak to me in English even if I address them in Dutch. When it comes to new friends and acquaintances if I speak to them in English they say "Oh, why can't you speak Dutch?" and when I respond that I'm trying to learn but having troubles getting practice they then start nattering away at top speed in full, fluent, idiom laden Dutch (and in a couple of cases, the Brabantse dialect!) that leaves me absolutely baffled and feeling really stupid when I have to admit that I didn't catch a word or have time to process what they said. It's really becoming an unpleasant struggle for me.

Anyway, I'd be delighted to talk about learning Dutch with you.

irelandrover

Lingua Franca wrote: »

I am, using Babbel at the moment while I save for a more professional course.

I'm finding it really tough to learn due to the lack of practice, what with the aforementioned "Dutch people only want to speak in English to you" problem. Worst of it is that it's the people I have short encounters with in day to day life, shop assistants and the like, who will only speak to me in English even if I address them in Dutch. When it comes to new friends and acquaintances if I speak to them in English they say "Oh, why can't you speak Dutch?" and when I respond that I'm trying to learn but having troubles getting practice they then start nattering away at top speed in full, fluent, idiom laden Dutch (and in a couple of cases, the Brabantse dialect!) that leaves me absolutely baffled and feeling really stupid when I have to admit that I didn't catch a word or have time to process what they said. It's really becoming an unpleasant struggle for me.

Anyway, I'd be delighted to talk about learning Dutch with you.

I am in the exact same situation. It gets really frustrating. Really puts you off trying to learn the language.

However I am in the stage of being determined to learn Dutch again so would be very happy to discuss it here.

Lingua Franca

I have to say, I enjoy the Babbel course. It's very easy and runs at a decent pace as well as giving plenty of opportunity for review. The voice recognition part is terrible at picking up on my accent, though.

If anyone else is considering getting it I can tell you that expressing an interest and then leaving it for a few days will result in them emailing you with better and better offers until they offer you all of their language courses for the price of one!

galson

Lingua Franca wrote: »

I am, using Babbel at the moment while I save for a more professional course.

I'm finding it really tough to learn due to the lack of practice, what with the aforementioned "Dutch people only want to speak in English to you" problem. Worst of it is that it's the people I have short encounters with in day to day life, shop assistants and the like, who will only speak to me in English even if I address them in Dutch. When it comes to new friends and acquaintances if I speak to them in English they say "Oh, why can't you speak Dutch?" and when I respond that I'm trying to learn but having troubles getting practice they then start nattering away at top speed in full, fluent, idiom laden Dutch (and in a couple of cases, the Brabantse dialect!) that leaves me absolutely baffled and feeling really stupid when I have to admit that I didn't catch a word or have time to process what they said. It's really becoming an unpleasant struggle for me.

Anyway, I'd be delighted to talk about learning Dutch with you.

That's the Dutch thing, I know, they just love speaking English and most of them do it very well. Lack of practice is the main setback for me as well and the motivation killer. If you're being thrown at the speedy fluent language you just started to learn, that doesn't help either and it's rather best to try and use it among people you know well.

I used to learn German at school, which I didn't like at the time, but knowing the basics of German helps in Dutch tremendously. Also, I used to have a girlfriend who's fluent Dutch (she studied it), too bad I didn't have interest in learning it then

Learning a language by yourself is a difficult task, it demands consistency and constant practice. Doable though, I did learn English myself after all...

Looking forward to discussions, if more people join so much the better too!

Manach

Anyone have feedback on the Dutch course on Duolingo?
https://www.duolingo.com/course/nl-NL/en/Learn-Dutch-(Netherlands)-Online

galson

Hmm, seems simple enough although I'd use it more for testing and improving and remembering words than the sole learning tool. Trying Irish there