nic learns languages

chinese | spanish | dutch

[wonderful-language-sounds]

Hi! My native language is English and I'm fluent it french. For the past few years, I have been I am learning spanish (and have completely fallen in love with it!), and I was wondering, as spanish is your native language, if you knew any (good?) spanish-speaking youtubers or any movies/tv-shows in spanish. I just really want more exposure to my favourite language! <3

I would be happy to tell you. I went on youtube to look around since most of the youtubers I watch aren’t in Spanish.

Youtubers: 

AlexXxStrecci (Mexico): Comedy & vlogs 

benshortstuff (Mexico):  Vlogs 

Big Van Científicos Sobre Ruedas : Science channel

CaELiKe (Mexico): Beauty channel

Date un Voltio : Science channel

El Robot de Platón : Science topics and questions

elrubiusOMG (Spain): Gaming

ElSmosh : Smosh videos in Spanish

enchufetv (Ecuador): Sketch comedy channel

focusingsvlogs (Spain): Vlogs

Geek Furioso de la Literatura (Spain): Literature topics (more in a casual/ranty way).

Gisselle Kuri (Mexico): Vlogs 

heyitspriscila (US): Food, beauty & fashion 

HolaSoyGerman (Chile): He is hilarious and might speak a bit fast for you but definitely watch :)

JavierRuescas (Spain): Writer & book lover

Laura M Buitrago : She covers songs in Spanish

LuzuyLana (Spain): Vlogs 

MinutoDeFisica : Minute physics in Spanish

No Corras Con Tijeras  (Mexico): Sketches

Sebastián Villalobos (Colombia) : A variety channel

NoMeRevientes : Comedy & vlogs 

Paperpop  (Mexico): DIY and crafts

PepeProblemas (Mexico): Variety 

Rawvana (Mexico): Health blog

Ruti Beauty&Vlogs (from Mexico but in Japan): This is a mixed language channel but I think it is a cute vlog channel.

Sebas G Mouret (Spain): Vlogs and skits

vanfunfun (Spain): Educational channel by a philologist.

YosStoP (Mexico): Comedy 

Mextalki DE (Mexico): A channel focused on getting you to talk like a native.   

Easy Languages: The Spanish segment is great and I enjoy it.

FLAMA : Also not in entirely in Spanish, but a great channel about the quirks of the Spanish language / Latin America.

TV Shows:

I have watched at least 100 novelas (soaps), so I will avoid recommending most of them since they are 200+ episodes each. You can find a lot of shows on Netflix/Hulu/Viki with subs.

¿Dónde Está Elisa?: A girl goes missing and you try to figure out who in her family did it.

Allí abajo: Comedy

El Clon: Nice Spanish adaptation to the Brazilian one that is about star-crossed lovers.

El Señor de los Cielos: Show about a powerful drug lord

Gran Hotel: Like Downton Abbey 

If you want trashy tv, 12 Corazones is it.

Isabel: Like the Tudors

Juana Inez: Historical drama

La Familia P.Luche: Funny show about a dysfunctional family

Maria la del Barrio: Where the “___ you in Spanish” meme came from. 

Otro Rollo: Comedy show

Rebelde: High school drama that was all the rage when it came out.

Sin senos no hay paraiso: Novela about a girl that wants to get fake boobs so that she can escape poverty. 

Velvet: Romantic comedy

XHDRbZ: Sketch comedy show. I love it, but it has a lot of puns/slang.

Movies:

Most of the movies on this list are good so I will mention some not on there.

En el tiempo de las mariposas 

Fresa y chocolate

Ice Age in Spanish. The translated version was funnier 

Instructions Not Included 

No eres tú, soy yo

Pelo malo 

Te presento a Laura 

The Motorcycle Diaries

[somestudy]

¡hola! this post is dedicated to the anon who asked me for a spanish masterpost all those moons ago (sorry it took so long OTL). this is a mixture of things i use for spanish class and things i’ve found on the internet, and hopefully they’re all of some help!!

basics

spanish verbs and essential grammar review pdf

duolingo

lots of grammar notes

resources from stanford’s spanish language program!!

dictionaries & conjugations

spanishdict + conjugator

oxford spanish dictionary

more verb conjugation

conjuguemos (practice conjugating verbs!!)

vocabulary building

basic spanish words and phrases

basic adjectives

more vocab

50 spanish phrases for essays

reading practice

la opinión 

big list of spanish online newspapers

wikipedia in SPANISH

a random wikipedia page in spanish!

harry potter y la piedra filosofal pdf

comprehension practice w/ quizzes

cultural readings

listening practice

news in slow spanish

netflix has some movies from latin america and spain you could check out

podcasts!! (also has lots of audio clips to go along w/ vocab)

spanish radio

explore spanish music on 8tracks

please add more links & tips if you’d like!! + here’s another masterpost by @alcyonien if you’re looking for more resources! ¡¡buena suerte!!

[productivebuddy]

Spanish resources: Oxford Dictionaries

HEY, GUYS! I just read through all the Spanish Resources on the Oxford Dictionaries site, and they’re all really useful, so I decided to link them here. This way, all you Spanish learners can check them out!

Spanish language resources

Grammar A-Z:

Grammar Notes for English speakers translating into Spanish

Grammar Notes for Spanish speakers translating into English

Usage Notes for English speakers translating into Spanish

Usage Notes for Spanish speakers translating into Spanish

Grammar glossary in English

Grammar glossary in Spanish

Spanish verb tables

Guide to Spanish pronunciation

Guide to English pronunciation

On the OxfordWords blog:

Habla usted Spanglish?

Spanish internet terms

Loving Latin America

Origins of currencies: from jagged edges to flowers

Colourful language: colours in international idioms

Light, bright, and sparkling: the language of light

False Friends between English and Spanish

All the posts tagged as ‘Spanish’

Improve your Spanish:

Know more about the Spanish language

Calendar of traditions, festivals, and holidays in Spanish-speaking countries

Useful phrases

Spanish language social survival tips

Buying train tickets online

Applying for an online bank account

Varieties of present-day Spanish

Variedades del inglés actual

Spanish language social survival tips

Writing in Spanish:

Writing letters in Spanish

Spanish sample letters

The Internet and Email vocabulary

Capitals and lower-case letters

Genders

Punctuation

Spelling

Useful expressions

Effective Spanish

Difficulties in Spanish

Dificultades del inglés  [This is in Spanish, but it mentions some false friends.]

Pay close attention to some of this stuff because it will make a difference in the way you speak Spanish!

[katlearnslanguages]

best apps for learning spanish!!

lots of people ask me which apps I use for teaching myself spanish and there’s a ton of them to choose from. here are my favorites:

1. hellotalk: language exchange app that lets you have conversations with native speakers. it has text chatting, voice messages, and you can even call people if you want to. it’s so awesome, I use it all the time.  

2. mindsnacks spanish: super fun vocab learning app! you basically get to play really cute games to memorize vocabulary. it really makes it fun. 

3. duolingo: if you’re a langblr you probably already use this. basically it’s a full spanish course that goes up to the advanced level online, for free. tbh it’s such a gift.  

3. wordreference: a really great dictionary and such a lifesaver. it also has a conjugator which is so useful. this dictionary is way more accurate and grammatically correct than just using google translate. 

4. spanishdict: another dictionary and translator that also saves my life on a daily basis. it also has grammar and cultural lessons!

5. noticias univision: a spanish-language news app from univision. even though this app might have some technical problems, it is really great for getting reading material and just learning about the news.  

[studyinding]

In summer, most people don’t take classes. What better time to learn a language? Here are a bunch of tips, tricks, and resources for learning languages!

When picking which language to learn, you should consider a couple factors. First, consider availability. Are there classes nearby you can take? You should also consider how useful it will be. Is it commonly spoken where you live? Do you frequently travel to countries where it’s spoken? You should also consider difficulty, or how easy your chosen language will be to learn. Finally, if you work, you should keep in mind that employers might like if if you spoke certain languages. This quiz can also help, and the following diagram shows where the most commonly spoken languages are spoken.

Web resources:

Duolingo makes language learning game-like, and has a large user community as well as a variety of languages to learn. It’s great for structured learners.

Memrise also offers a ton of languages, and strives to make learning fun. It’s great for visual learners.

Busuu doesn’t have as many languages, but is to-the-point and useful. It’s great for audio learners.

Reverso is a translator, conjugator, dictionary, and grammar aide in one!

Wordreference is a dictionary, translator, and conjugator (and recommended by nearly every language teacher I’ve met)!

Cooljugator is an AMAZING conjugator!

App resources (all free):

Duolingo, memrise, and busuu all have app versions that work well.

MindSnacks has puzzles and games relating to languages.

Conjuverb (only for Spanish) conjugates verbs.

FluentU turns real-world things into a language learning opportunity.

Printable: conjugation sheets!

Music:

German music playlist

Spanish music playlist

French music

Spotify has a ton more if you just search for it!

Other helpful posts/masterposts:

Japanese masterpost

Hindi masterpost

How to learn a new language

French masterpost

Ukrainian masterpost

Spanish masterpost

Good luck, and have fun!

[languagessi-deactivated20210423]

2017 is almost over so here’s a masterlist of all the Finnish posts I’ve made so far. You may like/reblog this post if you want to, but I would really appreciate if you liked/reblogged individual posts instead! Please note that some posts are from my old blogs, I’m not stealing/claiming other people’s posts as mine! 10 reasons to learn Finnish Is Finnish really that difficult? Finnish resources Resources for Finno-Ugric languages Alphabet and pronunciation Learn Finnish with ~300 words Discord server for Finnish Finnish music playlist Finnish greetings Finnish phrases Slowing down a conversation Introducing yourself and getting to know each other Name vocabulary How are you? Personal pronouns (genitive, accusative) Basic adjectives Question words Colour vocabulary Numbers and counting Family vocabulary Daily routine vocabulary Household chores vocabulary Birthday vocabulary Time vocabulary Spring vocabulary Summer vocabulary Autumn vocabulary Winter vocabulary Valentine’s day vocabulary Walpurgis day vocabulary Shrove Tuesday vocabulary Easter vocabulary Midsummer vocabulary All Saints’ Day vocabulary Halloween vocabulary Kekri vocabulary Thanksgiving vocabulary Independence day vocabulary Christmas vocabulary Christmas songs in Finnish New year vocabulary Suomi100 vocabulary Finnish Swedish heritage day vocabulary Friday the 13th vocabulary Father’s day vocabulary Mother’s day vocabulary Runeberg’s day vocabulary Aleksis Kivi’s day vocabulary Jean Sibelius’ day vocabulary Ramadan vocabulary Eid al-Adha vocabulary Eurovision vocabulary Hanukkah vocabulary Kwanzaa vocabulary Air guitar world championships vocabulary European day of languages vocabulary Around the house vocabulary Sauna vocabulary Places and buildings vocabulary Asking for and giving directions Compass points Countries and continents vocabulary Transportation vocabulary Finland vocabulary Oulu vocabulary Body parts vocabulary Physical appearance vocabulary Clothes and accessories vocabulary Makeup vocabulary Feelings and emotions vocabulary Nature vocabulary Flower vocabulary Tree vocabulary Weather vocabulary Snow vocabulary Rainy day vocabulary Space vocabulary Star vocabulary Astrology and horoscopes vocabulary Northern lights vocabulary Rainbow vocabulary Animal vocabulary Dog vocabulary Cat vocabulary Rabbit vocabulary Bird vocabulary Insect vocabulary Bee vocabulary Farm vocabulary Food and drink vocabulary Fast food vocabulary Dietary requirements vocabulary Ice cream vocabulary Tea vocabulary Bar & alcohol vocabulary Traveling vocabulary Work vocabulary Occupation vocabulary School vocabulary Stationery vocabulary Bullet journal vocabulary Writing a diary vocabulary Tumblr vocabulary Langblr community vocabulary Languages & linguistics vocabulary part 1 Languages & linguistics vocabulary part 2 Post vocabulary Hobby vocabulary Knitting and crocheting vocabulary Playing cards vocabulary Sports vocabulary Camping vocabulary Fishing vocabulary Berry-picking vocabulary Gardening vocabulary Cooking vocabulary Baking vocabulary Car racing vocabulary Shopping vocabulary Beach vocabulary Café vocabulary Library vocabulary Circus vocabulary Phone vocabulary Art vocabulary Music vocabulary TV vocabulary News vocabulary Movie vocabulary Book vocabulary Fairytale vocabulary Santa Claus vocabulary Cryptid vocabulary Moomin vocabulary Harry Potter vocabulary Hogwarts houses vocabulary Studio Ghibli vocabulary Pokémon vocabulary Disney vocabulary James Bond vocabulary Steven Universe vocabulary Animal crossing: pocket camp vocabulary Personality trait vocabulary Friendship vocabulary Love and relationship vocabulary Long distance relationship vocabulary Proposal and engagement vocabulary Wedding vocabulary Sexual orientation and gender identity vocabulary Sex vocabulary Menstruation vocabulary Mental health and mental disorders vocabulary Cold and flu vocabulary Intoxicants and drugs vocabulary Sleeping vocabulary Money vocabulary Religion vocabulary Candle vocabulary Royal vocabulary Sami vocabulary Elections vocabulary Military and war vocabulary Terrorism vocabulary Refugee vocabulary Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki vocabulary 11.3.2011 vocabulary Catalan referendum vocabulary Death vocabulary Bullying vocabulary Profanities and insults Apologizing and forgiving Nice things to say I miss you Cute vocabulary Cozy vocabulary Salutations in emails or letters Consonant gradation List of irregular verbs To be To have

[polyglotgal]

Finnish

[travellingual]

DUTCH (NEDERLANDS)

Learning:

Duolingo’s Dutch Course

Taalthuis - Lessons and more

DutchGrammar.com - Comprehensive grammar notes

Memrise | Dutch - The 1,001 Most Common Words

Tumblogs | citywordhunt, dailydutchword, stuffindutch (more culture)

YouTube | DutchWithRozemarijn (vocab, grammar), LearnDutch.org (vocab, cultural)

E-books & PDFs:

Google Drive folder of e-books

Tools:

/r/learndutch - Help, discussions and resource sharing

Mijnwoordenboek - EN<=>NL dictionary

Dict.cc - EN<=>NL dictionary

Verbix - Conjugate verbs

Verbuga - Practise conjugating verbs

Forvo - Listen to native pronunciation of words

Media:

Audio | Harry Potter Audiobooks (uploader has posted first four books, part of fifth)

News | Algemeen Dagblad, De Telegraaf, NU

Radio | NPO (group of stations), Sky Radio (group of stations)

TV (On Demand) | Uitzending Gemist (site for many TV shows), Nijntje (Miffy & Friends), Sesamstraat (Sesame Street), Spongebob

AFRIKAANS

Learning:

Easy Afrikaans - Collection of words in vocab and grammar categories

Memrise | Beginner Afrikaans for Humans

Tumblogs | learnafrikaans

YouTube | Learn Afrikaans (vocab, pronunciation)

E-books & PDFs:

Colloquial Afrikaans - Link to download PDF

Teach Yourself Afrikaans - Link to download PDF

Grammar of Afrikaans

Tools:

Rieme.co.za - EN<=>AF dictionary

Forvo - Listen to native pronunciation of words

Media:

News | Netwerk24 (South Africa), Republikein (Namibia)

Radio | OFM (top 40, local pop)

TV (On Demand) | KykNET (segments)

WEST FRISIAN (FRYSK)

Allezhop Frisian Course - Basic course with 15 lessons

Fun With Frisian - Blog on language use

Memrise | Basic West Frisian

Frisian Reference Grammar - Link to download PDF

Glosbe - EN<=>FY dictionary

Forvo - Listen to native pronunciation of words

ensafh - Poetry and other texts

News | It Nijs

Radio | Omrop Fryslân

TV (Live) | Omrop Fryslân

LIMBURGISH (LÈMBÖRGS)

Memrise | Basic Limburgish

EN<=>LI & LI<=>EN dictionaries

Forvo - Listen to native pronunciation of words

Dialect in Genk - Texts with audio (Velkede dialect)

Mestreechs - Playlist of songs in the Maastrichtian dialect (YouTube)

Radio | L1 Plat-eweg (Limburgish music)

If you know of any good free online resources - for any language - message me! Any updates will be announced on my blog.

Celtic: Irish · Welsh · Breton · Scottish Gaelic · Cornish · Manx

Finnish & Estonian + Sami · Võro

North Germanic: Swedish · Norwegian · Danish · Icelandic · Faroese

[languagessi-deactivated20210423]

What every langblr wants for Christmas:

language books

cute stationery

flight ticket to the country where target language is spoken

[niclearnslanguages]

omg it was my dream last night that my mom bought me tons of language books

[studiousbees]

Direct quotations

Sometimes when we’re talking to someone, we need or want to reference what someone else said, or when we want to say that someone thought something. In English, we would just say “X said…” or “X thought…” or something along those lines. How would we quote someone or a thought in Korean? Let’s take a look!

There are five direct quotation endings, one for each of the four sentence types and one for 이다/아니다. If you’re familiar with 하십시오체 conjugation, you are already aware of the four sentence types because you cannot properly conjugate that high-formality form without knowing what type of sentence it is. The four sentence types are:

Declarative (statement)— 학교에 갑니다. (I go/am going to school.)

Interrogative (question)— 학교에 갑니까? (Do you go/are you going to school?)

Imperative (command)— 학교에 가십시오. (Go to school.)

Propositive (suggestion)— 학교에 갑시다. (Let’s go to school.)

Now, let’s see how we can make direct quotations with the different sentence types.

이다 / 아니다 — ~(이)라고

I’ll start with 이다 and 아니다 since they’re a bit of a special case! When they are used in the present tense, which includes their being used to make the future tense, you use ~(이)라고 to mark the quotation. ~이라고 is for when the noun it attaches to ends with a consonant, and ~라고 is used when the noun ends with a vowel. 이다 and 아니다 in the past tense are quoted using the normal declarative form.

한비 씨의 필통이라고 했어요. ([Subject] said it’s Hanbi’s pencil case.)

선생님은 이게 숙제가 아니라고 하셨어요. (The teacher said that this is not homework.)

제 이름은 스튜디어스비즈라고 합니다. (My name is StudiousBees.)

내일 갈 거라고 (것이라고) 했잖아. (I said I’ll go tomorrow.)

Note that I ended all of these sentences with the verb 하다. Direct quotes are followed by some sort of verb indicating speech, similar to how in English we might see something like, “’I’ll see you later,’ he said”. 하다 and 말하다 are perhaps the most common verbs to follow quotes with, but you can also play around with those and use more descriptive words like 외치다 (to scream/yell), 하품하다 (to sigh), and so on.

Declarative — ~(ㄴ/는)다고

The declarative direct quotation marker has three forms depending on if the verb is in past or present tense and, if it is in present tense, if it’s an action verb or a descriptive verb.

PAST TENSE — ~다고

Regardless of whether the verb is an action or descriptive verb, if it is in past tense, it will simple use ~다고.

그 가방을 어제 샀다고 해요. (She says she bought that bag yesterday.)

꽃이 정말 예뻤다고 했어요. ([Subject] said the flowers were really pretty.)

그 빌딩은 공장이었다고 알려줬어요. ([Subject] told me/let me know that that building was a factory.)

Note how the last example uses 이다, but since it’s past tense, it follows the normal declarative rule!

PRESENT TENSE (action verbs) — ~ㄴ/는다고

Action verbs in present tense declarative sentences will take ~ㄴ다고 if the verb root ends with a vowel and ~는다고 if it ends with a consonant.

커피를 별로 안 마신다고 해요. ([Subject] says they don’t really drink coffee.)

아라 씨는 매년 일본 여행 간다고 해요. (Ara says she travels to Japan once a year.)

어머니는 의사한테 아기가 잘 먹는다고 했어요. (The mother told the doctor that the baby eats well.)

PRESENT TENSE (descriptive verbs) — ~다고

Descriptive verbs are easy! Just slap ~다고 on the end of a descriptive verb root.

오로라가 예쁘다고 들었어요. (I heard that the aurora is beautiful.)

아빠는 저 차가 너무 비싸다고 불평하셨어요. (Dad complained that that car is too expensive.)

고수가 맛없다고 생각해요. (I think cilantro is disgusting.)

Interrogative — ~냐고

To quote a question, just add ~냐고 to the verb root for present tense, or add it after the past tense conjugation for past tense. Action verbs and descriptive verbs are both treated the same way!

선생님은 학생들에게 숙제를 했냐고 물어봤어요. (The teacher asked the students if they did their homework.)

친구는 몇 시에 퇴근하냐고 물어봤어요. (My friend asked, “What time do you get off work?”)

파티가 재미있었냐고 물어봤어요. ([Subject] asked if the party was fun.)

Imperative — ~(으)라고

Only present tense action verbs can be used with the imperative (command) structure. Simply add ~으라고 if the verb root ends with a consonant or ~라고 if it ends with a vowel. It looks similar to the 이다/아니다 quotation form, but since they are used in entirely different ways, you will be able to tell the difference easily.

2시에 오라고 했어요. ([Subject] said, “Come at 2.”)

아버지는 아이에게 채소를 먹으라고 했어요. (The father told the child to eat vegetables.)

만지지 말라고요! (I said don’t touch it!)

Propositive — ~자고

Whew, almost done! Like with the imperative structure, only present tense action verbs can be used with the propositive (suggestion) structure.

규민 씨는 숙제를 같이 하자고 제안했어요. (Gyumin suggested, “Let’s do our homework together.”)

남친은 피자를 먹자고 했어요. (My boyfriend said, “Let’s eat pizza.”)

친구들에게 같이 가자고 했어요. (I said to my friends, “Let’s go together.”)

BONUS—Short forms

We can shorten all of the quotation forms up! This is done in speaking only.

이다/아니다: ~(이)라고 –> ~(이)래

한비 씨의 필통이라고 했어요. –> 한비 씨의 필통이래요.

Declarative: ~(ㄴ/는)다고 –> ~(ㄴ/는)대

꽃이 정말 예뻤다고 했어요. –> 꽃이 정말 예뻤대요.

Interrogative:  ~냐고 –> ~냬

선생님은 학생들에게 숙제를 했냐고 물어봤어요. –> 선생님은 학생들에게 숙제를 했냬요.

Imperative:  ~(으)라고 –> ~(으)래

2시에 오라고 했어요. –> 2시에 오래요.

Propositive: ~자고 –> ~재

규민 씨는 숙제를 같이 하자고 제안했어요. –> 규민 씨는 숙제를 같이 하재요.

This post got pretty long! Quotes are fairly simple to do if you can remember the forms for each of the sentence types. Using these forms in your speech will definitely help you sound more natural, and it will allow you to talk about a greater variety of things :)

Happy studying~

[join-the-dutch-clan]

Hey, I'm going to start trying to learn Dutch by myself, do you have any suggestions on where I should start?

Hi there,

First of all, it’s very important to learn vocabulary. A lot of people use Duolingo or Memrise for this, which is great, but I’ll also give you some other resources. 

Video series: 1000 most common words in Dutch + some of the words from the lessons in a file.

Some random vocabulary files: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Another important thing is the grammar of course. You can find some good resources for Dutch grammar here. I’ve checked out the files in this post and the best books I’ve found are: teach yourself dutch grammar, dutch an essential grammar, dutch reference grammar and dutch a comprehensive grammar. Just choose the grammar book you like and study a new chapter every other day. 

You can also check out some of my grammar posts and a few websites:

Irregular verbs, I’ve also found another list of irregular verbs that might be more useful because of the translations. 

Regular verbs: past

Regular verbs: present

Website for conjugating verbs

Linking words

Articles, and a useful website.

Degrees of comparison

After learning some basic vocabulary and grammar you can start practising your reading, listening and speaking skills. Resources:

Pronouncing vowels: Dutch , Flemish

Pronouncing consonants: Dutch, Flemish

News: 1, 2

Fanfiction and stuff

Articles about science

Youtube videos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

In short, start with basic vocabulary and choose a grammar book to work through. After that, you can practise your reading, listening and speaking skills. It might also be useful to start this free beginners course (it starts 20 November). 

Hope this is helpful ^^

[schoollifeandstuff]

Do you have any advice for student that want to learn dutch?

Hey anon,

How awesome that you are willing to learn dutch. Since our country is quite small, and our language is considered ugly (Which I agree with sometimes ;))

1. First of all, get a hang of the dutch grammar. Dutch grammar can be very confusing even for native speakers. These are the most confusing grammar rules:

word order

Use of er

Dt or D at the end of a past particle

Irregular verbs

Dimunitives

De or het

2. IDIOMS, the dutch language is full of idioms and expressions. They are used very often in conversations and determine our language culture

an idiom dictionary 

some regularly used idioms, explained (x) 

a comprehensive list of expressions

3. You might want to immerse yourself in some dutch culture through media

you can listen to dutch radio here

all public dutch television can be seen live/rewatched on NPO, basically anything from child television to documentaries about dykes etc.

some famous dutch news sites (x) (x) (x), if you select ‘’binnenland’’ you will get lots of news about things that happen inside the netherlands

Dutch music :) I made a list of some of my personal recommendations here, but here (x) (x) are some spotify lists.

4. When you would like to expand your vocab:

Watch the national dictation. Don’t be intimitated by it tho, almost no dutch native makes it without any mistakes. There is also a kid’s version, which may be nice to start with.

Follow ‘’one word a day’’ from Van Dale on twitter. Besides, Van dale is the most famous dictionary brand in the netherlands.

Some dutch slang words

5. And lastly, enjoy!

Dutch people don’t take grammar and spelling to seriously. The Dutch language has adopted a lot of words from other languages. So an English word in a conversation doesn’t bother the Dutch. 

Here are some other tumblr resources to may help you:

a blog dedicated to learning dutch

and another one

a very elaborate masterpost

If you have any questions about dutch grammar/idioms/vocab/culture feel free to contact me :) Or if you are willing to have a chat in Dutch oc.

Good luck with your studies!

X, Kiki

[hotairballoon221]

When do you use DE and HET in Dutch?

DE-words

Occupations and persons De boekhouder (the accountant) De fietser (the cyclist)

Fruits, vegetables, plants, trees De peer (the pear) De bloemkool (the cauliflower) De cactus (the cactus) De eik (the oak) Exeption: Het witloof (the chicory)

Mountains and rivers De Kilimanjaro De Schelde  De Nijl (The Nile)

Words that end in -ing De uitdaging (the challenge) De vergadering (the meeting)

Words that end in –heid, -nis, -st, -de, -te, -ij, -ie, -iek, -schap, -teit De mensheid (the humanity) De geschiedenis (the history) De vangst (the catch) De vrede (the peace) De dikte (the thickness) De bakkerij (the bakery) De radiologie (the radiology) De symboliek (the symbolism) De wetenschap (the science) De kwaliteit (the quality) Exceptions: Het moederschap (the motherhood)                      Het vaderschap (the fatherhood)                      Het ouderschap (the parenthood)

The plural form of nouns De tafel (the table) –> de tafels (the tables) Het bord (the plate) –> de borden (the plates)

HET-words

Words with 2 syllables that start with be-, ge-, ver-, ont- Het begin (the start, the beginning) Het gesprek (the conversation) Het verhaal (the story) Het ontbijt (the breakfast)

Words that end in -isme, -ment, -um Het Boeddhisme (the Buddhism) Het monument (the monument) Het maximum (the maximum)

Collective nouns with ge…te Het gebergte (the mountains) Het gevogelte (the poultry)

Languages, metals, wind directions, sports Het Nederlands (the Dutch language) Het goud (the gold) Het Oosten (the East) Het voetbal (the football)

Nouns that are diverted from a verb Het leven (the living) Het praten (the talking)

Diminutives Het stoeltje (the little chair) Het verhaaltje (the little story)

Keep on learning! x Tamara

[hotairballoon221]

When do you use DE and HET in Dutch?

DE-words

Occupations and persons De boekhouder (the accountant) De fietser (the cyclist)

Fruits, vegetables, plants, trees De peer (the pear) De bloemkool (the cauliflower) De cactus (the cactus) De eik (the oak) Exeption: Het witloof (the chicory)

Mountains and rivers De Kilimanjaro De Schelde  De Nijl (The Nile)

Words that end in -ing De uitdaging (the challenge) De vergadering (the meeting)

Words that end in –heid, -nis, -st, -de, -te, -ij, -ie, -iek, -schap, -teit De mensheid (the humanity) De geschiedenis (the history) De vangst (the catch) De vrede (the peace) De dikte (the thickness) De bakkerij (the bakery) De radiologie (the radiology) De symboliek (the symbolism) De wetenschap (the science) De kwaliteit (the quality) Exceptions: Het moederschap (the motherhood)                      Het vaderschap (the fatherhood)                      Het ouderschap (the parenthood)

The plural form of nouns De tafel (the table) –> de tafels (the tables) Het bord (the plate) –> de borden (the plates)

HET-words

Words with 2 syllables that start with be-, ge-, ver-, ont- Het begin (the start, the beginning) Het gesprek (the conversation) Het verhaal (the story) Het ontbijt (the breakfast)

Words that end in -isme, -ment, -um Het Boeddhisme (the Buddhism) Het monument (the monument) Het maximum (the maximum)

Collective nouns with ge…te Het gebergte (the mountains) Het gevogelte (the poultry)

Languages, metals, wind directions, sports Het Nederlands (the Dutch language) Het goud (the gold) Het Oosten (the East) Het voetbal (the football)

Nouns that are diverted from a verb Het leven (the living) Het praten (the talking)

Diminutives Het stoeltje (the little chair) Het verhaaltje (the little story)

Keep on learning! x Tamara

[hotairballoon221]

Dutch Verbs: D, T, DT, DD or TT?

Even Dutch and Belgian people struggle with this sometimes! 

D, T or DT?

The first thing you are going to do is find the stem of the verb. You do this by removing -en at the end of the verb. 

The stem is the ik-vorm (I-form) of the verb. 

WERKEN –> -EN –> (ik) WERK

BRANDEN – > -EN –> (ik) BRAND

RUSTEN –> -EN –> (ik) RUST

The stem can end on a D or a T, but you can’t hear that when speaking. 

For je/jij (you) and hij, ze/zij, het (he, she, it), you add a T to the verb.

Je/jij werkt

Hij werkt

Ze/zij werkt

Het werkt

But what if the stem already ends on a T? This spelling rule is very important: Dutch verbs NEVER end in two identical consonants! You can just forget about it and keep the stem.

Je/jij rust

Hij rust

Ze/zij rust

Het rust

If the stem ends on a D, you add a T, like “branden” for example.

Jij/je brandt

Hij brandt

Ze/zij brandt

Het brandt

The double D’s & T’s…

These are used in the simple past tense.

The past tense of a verb is formed by adding -te or -de to the stem for the singular persons (I, you, he/she/it) and -ten or -den for the plural persons (we, you, they).

-te(n) is used for all verbs that have a stem ending in one of the consonants in the word ‘pocket fish’ and -de(n) for all other verbs.*

werk –> pocket fish –> t-verb past tense = stam+te(n): ik werkte, we werkten (I worked, we worked) 

brand –> d-verb past tense = stam + de(n): ik brandde, wij brandden (I burned, we burned)

rust –> pocket fish –> t-verb past tense = stam + te(n): ik rustte, we rustten (I rested, we rested)

You cannot hear these double D’s and T’s; “We rusten” (we rest) sounds the same as “we rustten” (we rested).

*: In Dutch, ‘t kofschip is used often instead of pocket fish, but both work. x Tamara

[join-the-dutch-clan]

Dutch grammar: articles

In the Netherlands we have three articles:

🔹de - the 🔹het - the, (it) 🔹een - a/an

‘de’ and 'het’ are definite articles. This means you use them to refer to a specific person/object. On the contrary, 'een’ is used non-specifically (indefinite article). I’m not going to further explain 'een’, because you use it in the same way as 'a/an’. 'De’ and 'het’ on the other hand can be quite a pain in the butt (sometimes even for Dutch people). The difficult thing about those words is that there’re no rules to explain which article comes in front of a particular word. Furthermore, as you can see, the translation for both words is exactly the same. So, unfortunately, it’s just something you need to learn per word. However, there is some light in the dark. You can follow a few 'rules’ (with many exceptions) to decide whether you use 'de’ or 'het’.

Words that are often 'het’-words:

1. All 'het’-words are neuter (onzijdig).

2. Diminutives (Dutch: verkleinwoorden). There are no exceptions. 🔹example: Het meisje ging fietsen. 🔹translation: The (little) girl went cycling.

3.Names of languages, countries and places. 🔹example: Het Nederlands is een mooie taal. (Using an article is optional in this case). 🔹translation: Dutch is a beautiful language. 🔹example: Het rijke Duitsland is erg vrijgevig. 🔹translation: I can’t really translate this. The literal translation is 'The rich Germany is very generous.’, but this sounds a tad weird. I think it sounds a bit more normal if you put the word 'country’ between 'rich’ and 'Germany’.

4. Names of metals.

5.Names of wind directions. 🔹example: Het noorden van Amerika is mooier dan het zuiden. 🔹translation: The north of America is more beautiful than the south. (just an example. I don’t claim it’s true.)

6. Names of sports and boardgames. (side note: you often don’t use any article for these words.)

7. Words that have two syllables starting with be-, ge-, ver- and ont-. 🔹example: Het openbaar vervoer in Londen is verwarrend. 🔹translation: Public transport in London is confusing.

8. Words that end on -isme, -ment, -sel, and -um. There are quite some exceptions though. 🔹example: Het raadsel is onmogelijk om op te lossen. 🔹translation: The riddle is impossible to solve.

Important note: 'het’ is only used for the singular forms of nouns. For all plural forms you use 'de’. 🔹example: De meisjes eten veel kaas. translation: The (little) girls eat a lot of cheese.

Words that are often 'de’-words:

1. All 'de’-words are either masculine (mannelijk) or feminine (vrouwelijk). These two are only important to distinguish when using anaphors. Don’t worry about it though, most Dutch people don’t have a clue whether a word is masculine or feminine, so we often just assume it’s masculine.

2. Names of fruits, trees and plants. 🔹example: De appel valt niet ver van de boom. 🔹literal translation: The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. 🔹normal translation: A chip off the old block.

3. Names of rivers and mountains.

4. Names of numbers and letters.

5. Professions. 🔹example: De boer heeft vandaag veel melk verkocht. 🔹translation: The farmer has sold a lot of milk today.

6. Words that end on -heid and - nis. 🔹example: Ik heb mijn twijfels over de haalbaarheid van dit plan. 🔹translation: I have my doubts about the feasibility of this plan.

7. Words that end on -de and -te. This rule doesn’t apply to collective nouns that start with ge-. 🔹example: De code van de kluis is geheim. 🔹translation: The code of the safe is secret.

8. Words that end on -ij, -erij, -arij, -enij and -ernij. 🔹example: De bakkerij verkocht geen brood. 🔹translation: The bakery didn’t sell any bread.

9. Words that end on -ing and - st. 🔹example: De post wordt vandaag bezorgd. 🔹translation: The mail will be delivered today.

10. Words that end on -ie, -tie, -sie, -logie, -sofie and -agogie. 🔹example: De politie arresteerde de dief. 🔹translation: The police arrested the thief.

11. Words that end on -iek and -ica. 🔹example: De romantiek is ver te zoeken. 🔹translation: Romance is hard to find.

12. Words that end on -theek, -teit and -iteit. 🔹example: De universiteit begeleidt studenten in het vinden van een stage. 🔹translation: The university helps students to find an internship.

13. Words that end on -tuur and -suur. 🔹example: Ik kan niet overweg met deze geavanceerde apparatuur. 🔹translation: I can’t handle this advanced equipment.

14. Words that end on -ade, -ide, -ode and -ude. 🔹example: De lente is de mooiste periode van het jaar. 🔹translation: Spring is the most beautiful time of the year.

15. Words that end on -ine, - se and -age. 🔹example: De benzine is op. 🔹translation: There is no more gasoline./ The tank is empty.

16. Words that end on -sis, -tis and -xis. 🔹example: De economische crisis is eindelijk voorbij. 🔹translation: The economic crisis is finally over.

[dutchisgreat-blog]

‘Hen’ vs. ‘hun’

This is probably one of the most difficult and illogical things in the Dutch language and even a lot of native speakers tend to use them wrong. This is because it is a completely artificial distinction. This means that it didn’t “grow” with the language, but that somebody suddenly decided that this should be the rule.

‘Hen’ and ‘hun’ are both used to refer an object in 3rd person plural. They are the equivalent of ‘them’.

‘Hen’ is used as a direct object. 

Het meisje zag hen spelen. 

The girl saw them play.

‘Hun’ is used as an indirect object.

De juf gaf hun snoepjes. 

The teacher gave them candy.

Understandable right? Now here comes the tricky part.

When there is a preposition (aan, voor, met,…) then we always use ‘hen’, even if it is an indirect object.

De juf gaf snoepjes aan hen.

The teacher gave candy to them.

‘Hun’ is also a possessive pronoun, again, 3rd person plural.

Dat is hun kat.

That is their cat.

But again, when we use a prepostition, ‘hun’ becomes ‘hen’.

De kat is van hen.

The cat is theirs.

[join-the-dutch-clan]

Linking Words (Dutch-English)

     Enumeration

en - and

ook - also, too

verder - furthermore

bovendien - furthermore, in addition, besides, moreover, what’s more

daarnaast - besides, moreover

voorts - furthermore, moreover, and also

niet alleen…..maar ook - not only…..but also

zowel…..als - both…..and

noch….noch - neither….nor

daar komt nog bij dat - on top of that

ten eerste, op de eerste plaats - firstly, first of all

ten tweede, ten derde, etc. - secondly, thirdly, etc.

ten slotte - finally

vervolgens - then, subsequently

     Opposition

maar - but

echter - however

doch - but

natuurlijk - of course

toch - still, yet, even so

daarentegen - conversely

integendeel - on the contrary

evenwel - as well as

enerzijds….anderzijds - on the one hand….on the other hand

aan de ene kant….aan de andere kant - on the one hand….on the other hand

in tegenstelling tot - unlike, as opposed to

desondanks - even so, despite

daar staat tegenover - on the other hand

niettemin, desalniettemin - nevertheless

of(wel)….of - either….or

behalve - besides

eigenlijk - in fact

terwijl - whereas

dan - than

     Reason/argument

want - because, for

omdat - because, as

aangezien - since

immers - after all

namelijk - namely

derhalve - therefore, thus, consequently 

daarom - as a result, therefore, hence

vanwege - due to, because of

op grond van - based on, on account of

    Cause- effect

doordat - because (of)

daardoor - therefore, because of that

waardoor - whereby

hierdoor - because of this

met als gevolg - with the result

ten gevolge van - as a result

dit is te danken/wijten aan - this is due to

de oorzaak hiervan is - the cause of this is

zodat - so that, in order to

bijgevolg - consequently, subsequently

dan ook - therefore

dientengevolge - consequently

want - because

zodoende - hence

    Objective - means

opdat - so that

om - in order to

daartoe - for that purpose, to that end

met de bedoeling (om) - through, with a view to

waarmee - whereby

door middel van - by means of, through

met behulp van - by means of, with help from

is erop gericht - is aimed to 

om te - in order to

daarmee - with that

    Explanation/clarification

dat houdt in - that means

dat wil zeggen - that is, that means, in other words

met andere woorden - in other words

bijvoorbeeld - for example

ter illustratie - to illustrate

zoals - like, such as

onder andere - among other things

    Example

bijvoorbeeld - for example, for instance

ter illustratie - to illustrate

zo - like, such as

zoals - such as, like

stel – for example

    Condition

als - if

indien - if, provided that

wanneer - when 

mits - provided that

op voorwaarde dat – provided that, on condition that

tenzij - unless

aangenomen dat – supposing that

gesteld dat – supposing that

    Relativization

hoewel - although, though

ofschoon - although, though

ondanks dat - in spite of

weliswaar - admittedly, certainly

tenzij - unless

    Comparison

alsof - like, as though, as if

evenals - as well as

eveneens - also, too, as well

evenzeer - equally

in vergelijking met – in comparison to

net als - just like

overeenkomstig – consistent with, in accordance with 

    Summary

samenvattend - thus

kortom - in short

al met al - all in all

terugblikkend - in retrospect

oftewel – in other words

samengevat – in summary

    Conclusion

dus - so

concluderend – in conclusion

dat betekent – that means

hieruit volgt dat – it follows that

    Period in time

eerst - at first

dan - then  

daarna - after that, afterwards, next

toen - once, back then, when

zodra - once

vroeger - earlier, in the past

voordat - before 

tot nu toe - up till now, so far

plots, plotseling - suddenly

reeds - already

al - already

wanneer - when

terwijl - while, whilst 

nadat - after

aanvankelijk - initially

intussen/ondertussen - meanwhile