any one learning dutch?

Question

im moving to holland soon and could do with a hand learning the lingo.

Answer 1

nope

Answer 2

I disagree with both of the answerers so far.

a) It is true that the majority of Dutch people speak English and that, as a tourist, you can manage very easily with English. However, if you are actually moving to Holland, you WILL be expected to try at least to attempt to learn Dutch, as a matter of courtesy.

b) Dutch is NOT a difficult language to learn. Some of the sounds are unfamiliar to the ears of an English-speaker, such as the diphthongs ij and ui, and the very guttural ch, g and r sounds. To describe the sound of ij, the word 'ijs' sounds a bit like the English word 'ace'. I'm afraid I can't think of any way of describing the sound ui: you'll have to ask a Dutchman. The consonants ch and g, as far as I can make out, produce the identical sound - a bit like someone trying to get a fish-bone out of his throat. The consonant r is the corresponding voiced sound, but in some parts of the country, they roll it, like the Scots do, so you may find it easier to pronounce it that way. Then, you have to remember that w is pronounced like our v and v is pronounced a bit like our f. There is, apparently, a difference between v and f in Dutch, but I can't hear it. Apart from the diphthongs, the pure vowels can be either long or short. They are short in closed syllables (i.e. syllables ending in a consonant) and long in open syllables (i.e. not ending in a consonant). The only thing that is not strictly phonetic about Dutch spelling is the position of the stressed syllable: this is something that you have to learn from experience.

Once you've learnt the spelling rules, you'll find that it's not difficult at all to read a passage of Dutch out aloud, even if you don't understand what you are saying.

I've never lived in Holland, but have been there quite a few times on holiday, so my Dutch isn't good. And anyway, we're allowed a maximum of 800 words, so there wouldn't be much point in trying to teach you here the little that I know. But I think it would be good, for starters, to buy a Dutch phrase book and a simple Dutch grammar book before you leave for Holland. If you find it difficult to remember new words, try concentrating on the very large number of Dutch words that resemble their English counterparts. But remember to pronounce them in Dutch, e.g. is = is (pronounced 'iss'), glass = glas (pronounced with the Dutch guttural g and short a). And, once you get there, buy yourself a children's book, such as 'My First 1000 Words'. (I can't remember the Dutch title.)

Answer 3

a brother of a friend of mine lived in holland and the locals told him not to bother learning the language as 80% of people in holland speak english.. but there's no harm in trying.... good luck and lucky you holland is a lovely country....

Answer 4

It is not an easy language.

Go to this link: http://www.learndutch.org/

and start learning. Good luck in the Netherlands.