4 ms·

And how about Dutch podcast for beginners to improve listening skills? Any suggestions?

stevesimmons 9y ago
Check out the Dutch Broadcast Service (http://www.nos.nl http://www.nos.nl). Quite a few of their stories have text and video. NOS Radio 1 also has a daily podcast 'De Dag' (https://www.nporadio1.nl/homepage/8030-podcast-dedag-quote https://www.nporadio1.nl/homepage/8030-podcast-dedag-quote). These are not really for beginners though. Another general news site is http://www.nu.nl http://www.nu.nl. Lots of short news articles, often from press bureaux. Easy to dip into for a few minutes. When I started learning Dutch, I initially found it very hard to relate the sounds vs written words. My approach for listening comprehension was find a short news story with accompanying written text, and simply listen to it over and over again, alternating with the text and without, gradually getting used to the sound and flow of the language. My approach for speaking was careful repetition of sentences from language courses. Good luck!
- sAbakumoff 9y ago
  Thanks! OOC - what level do you have and how long did it take to achieve it? I am expecting to reach A2 by the EOY.
  - stevesimmons 9y ago
    My progress was pretty quick due to forced immersion. Essentially: Year #1 - Self-study with books/audio courses. Got me up to reading simple newspaper articles, struggling with TV news. Year #2 - Started with a week-long residential Dutch course. It felt like I didn't learn much new grammar or vocab, but suddenly I was thinking in Dutch, no longer mentally translating. Very expensive but definitely worth it. - Then my company (management consultants) decided I was ready to work full time in Dutch with Dutch clients. The first month was very tiring: I felt 20% IQ points dumber, and could either listen or speak in meetings, not fast enough to do both at once :) Year 3 - After that, I was ok working in Dutch and speaking it socially. Year 4 - By the time I left the Netherlands, I was managing a team of 25 Dutch people, doing meetings, performance reviews in Dutch. I subsequently ended up marrying a Dutch guy. While we left the Netherlands 7 years ago and now live in London, at home we speak probably 30% Dutch/70% English. Dutch was never a language I expected to learn. But I am very glad I did. The sounds of the language still make me smile :)

Check out the Dutch Broadcast Service (http://www.nos.nl http://www.nos.nl). Quite a few of their stories have text and video. NOS Radio 1 also has a daily podcast 'De Dag' (https://www.nporadio1.nl/homepage/8030-podcast-dedag-quote https://www.nporadio1.nl/homepage/8030-podcast-dedag-quote). These are not really for beginners though. Another general news site is http://www.nu.nl http://www.nu.nl. Lots of short news articles, often from press bureaux. Easy to dip into for a few minutes. When I started learning Dutch, I initially found it very hard to relate the sounds vs written words. My approach for listening comprehension was find a short news story with accompanying written text, and simply listen to it over and over again, alternating with the text and without, gradually getting used to the sound and flow of the language. My approach for speaking was careful repetition of sentences from language courses. Good luck!

sAbakumoff 9y ago
Thanks! OOC - what level do you have and how long did it take to achieve it? I am expecting to reach A2 by the EOY.
- stevesimmons 9y ago
  My progress was pretty quick due to forced immersion. Essentially: Year #1 - Self-study with books/audio courses. Got me up to reading simple newspaper articles, struggling with TV news. Year #2 - Started with a week-long residential Dutch course. It felt like I didn't learn much new grammar or vocab, but suddenly I was thinking in Dutch, no longer mentally translating. Very expensive but definitely worth it. - Then my company (management consultants) decided I was ready to work full time in Dutch with Dutch clients. The first month was very tiring: I felt 20% IQ points dumber, and could either listen or speak in meetings, not fast enough to do both at once :) Year 3 - After that, I was ok working in Dutch and speaking it socially. Year 4 - By the time I left the Netherlands, I was managing a team of 25 Dutch people, doing meetings, performance reviews in Dutch. I subsequently ended up marrying a Dutch guy. While we left the Netherlands 7 years ago and now live in London, at home we speak probably 30% Dutch/70% English. Dutch was never a language I expected to learn. But I am very glad I did. The sounds of the language still make me smile :)