Tag: Dutch

Jun262018 by Language MagNo Comments

Duolingo

Duolingo is the "go to" language learning app of many a language learner because of its fun and intuitive design and its ability to turn language learning into a game. Over the years, Duolingo has expanded its selection of languages so that it now teaches many languages. A common question with Duolingo is what level somebody will be at when they finish the course. You should expect to be around an A2 level in reading and lower in the other skills. A typical Duolingo course will teach you about 2000 words, along with a variety of sentences. Unlike traditional courses, these sentences often don't have much relation to anything you'd use in real life. The idea is to make them fun and for you to absorb the grammar naturally. The natural grammar absorption isn't that effective and whil...

Jun232018 by Language MagNo Comments

Babbel

App Reviews

I've used Babbel before, but almost exclusively the desktop app version. As I'm learning Spanish now, it was time to try the App version. Babbel is one of the few apps that teaches grammar alongside the other elements of a language and teaches it well. It's broken into little chunks that are brought up when needed, just as the lessons are broken into chunks that make it feel like you can squeeze a lesson in here and there without it becoming a huge commitment. The app has a variety of exercises that you can carry out, from typing in words, selecting the correct one, to following along and filling in the blanks in conversations. The latter doesn't hold back from presenting words and sentences that you haven't seen before but that you can guess from the context, which is a great method...

Jun202018 by Language MagNo Comments

Language Drops

App Reviews

It's hard to imagine a more beautiful app for learning words in a foreign language than drops. From lovely gradient backgrounds, to intuitively designed exercises, the Language Drops App is what other apps should've been in terms of design. Despite it's undeniable good looks, it has its problems. The content, for example, consists of a single list of words that is divided into categories and translated into all of the 30 languages that Drops currently supports. That means that the amount of content is much smaller than some competitors (for example, Memrise). Whether you consider that a problem though, is a matter of personal decision - you could well take the opinion that by the time you've learnt all the words in Drops then you could start learning new words through reading books rath...

Jun52018 by Language MagNo Comments

Say it in Dutch Podcast

Language Specific

Something that I originally found on Apple Podcasts, but that is also available here on Soundcloud, is the "Zeg het in het Nederlands" podcast. This is a podcast spoken in slow Dutch. It also includes clips from the radio and TV that are played at normal speed and then explained in slow Dutch. This is often by repetition and use of synonyms to help you understand words. Because of this there is, in my opinion, a certain level requirement. I feel you should be around a B1 to listen to this. But because of the inclusion of and explanation of natural content from TV and radio, it's also very useful for people of higher levels.

Jun52018 by Language MagNo Comments

Babbel Dutch Review [For Beginners]

Language Specific, Reviews

In my quest to learn Dutch I have paid for precisely two pieces of software. The first was memrise, which is perfectly fine in it’s free version but I felt like supporting it. The second is Babbel. Babbel cost me around about £50 for the year. Babbel divides it’s course into lessons. For Dutch, Babbel has a limited amount of content. To be honest, this means that if I was signing up just for Babble Dutch then I could have got away with signing up for just 6 months. But that's one of the things that I didn't know at the time, but you do now! Babbel content is well organised and easy to understand. It also teaches you the grammar and basics as you go on. Babbel provides a more realistic learning environment than the likes of Duolingo, by which I mean that the things you are learning w

Jun42018 by Language MagNo Comments

Taking the Staatsexamens Nederlands als Tweede Taal

General

You've worked hard. U kunt wat Nederlands spreken. And you want a certificate to prove it. There are three possible official exams offered by DUO (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs) in the Netherlands. The inburgering exam is the first exam and is on an A2 level. This exam tends to be taken by those who need to inburger in order to meet the language requirements of the inburgering process (as it's the lowest level). The chances are that you're going to be looking at one of the two Staatsexamens Nederlands als Tweede Taal. There's "Programma I" at approximately a B1 level and "Programma II" at approximately a B2 level. This article is going to focus on information about these exams, and my advice and experience of taking the Staatsexamens Nederlands als Tweede Taal. The exam is broken into th

Jun22018 by Language MagNo Comments

List of Free Dutch Language Learning Resources

Language Specific

Learning Dutch doesn’t have to be expensive. There are many resources available for free. I thought it’d be useful to create a big list of the ones I use, used, or like, right here. Language Learning Websites Duolingo – In my opinion this is the number one free language learning site for learning Dutch. At the end of the course you can expect to be around about an A2 level in Reading/Writing (Listening and Speaking, unfortunately, much lower). Lingq – Ample opportunity to practice reading and translation. I have to say that this isn’t really a site I enjoy, I’d rather use Duolingo, but it might suit some people so I’m mentioning it here anyway oefenen.nl – a variety of online language lessons, resources, and videos. Best used in conjunction with other resources. Memrise