Hallo allemaal, ik kom uit Oekraïne en ik ben erg benieuwd wat jullie van ons vinden. Als jullie geïnteresseerd zijn in wat wij van jullie vinden, laat ik het weten in de reacties.

Ik ben ook erg geïnteresseerd in jouw cultuur. En ik zou nog steeds graag jouw mening over ons willen weten.

Hoi! I’m looking for someone I can talk daily in Dutch with in order to improve my level. I’m level A1. 26 years old. 🌸
Serious and dedicated!

I know most people complain that in Amsterdam, Dutch people will usually switch to English, and they do, especially if they see the “deer in headlights” expression on our faces.

well, today i was so exhausted when i went to CoolBlue to pick up my item. I just resigned myself to using Dutch like it was no big deal and had some sentences planned to ask to stay in Dutch, especially if it wasn’t very busy.

I‘m happy to report that despite the busyness of the store, the young guy who helped me stayed in Dutch!! I asked a few questions, he answered. I didn’t get 100% of what he was saying but I inferred the rest from context. And I’m especially proud I used a “nog even” sentence at the end :)

I wanted to thank him at the end for staying in Dutch with me, but I got too shy. So keep trying! If you’re struggling and frustrated, I really believe this will happen eventually to you too. :)

i’m seeing a lot of dutch people mention that they don’t understand why people would learn their language since a lot of them speak english anyways. so, what’s your reason to?

Little bit of a vent here, sorry.

I'm sure this has been discussed to death, but oh my God. You barely get one type of word order down - despite it being *very* bizarre - and then it just...changes. And then it changes again. And again. And again.

PICK A LANE, DUTCH. Sheesh. It feels like one of those instances where there are no real rules, but you're always doing it wrong. It's also why I don't attempt anything beyond a simple "thank you" or "please/enjoy/you're welcome" with people. I know I'll just come off sounding like an idiot.

For those who don't speak German or at least not for a long time, isn't there a certain Germanyness just when looking at words. Doesn't a word such as "Überraschung" or "Kugelschreiber" just look so German? Well, I get the Dutch version of this when looking at Dutch-looking words such as "zijn", "natuurlijk", "graag", "uur", "vrouw", "nieuw" or "poëzie". Unlike German words which look to me like they belong in traditional looking places or French words which look like they belong in places with a lot of cursive curly shapes, Dutch words look like they belong in some cool modernistic and artistic poster or website or painting. To test this theory I went to the Dutch iPhone 16 Pro webpage and just because of the language, the website looks better. The words look like they belong in the website, somehow.

Do you get the same feeling, by any chance?

I like to immerse myself in a language as much as possible, and that includes the content I consume. While I was in the Netherlands, I tried watching shows on HBO, but everything I usually watch was only available in English.

Recently, I found a website where I can watch SpongeBob SquarePants in Dutch, but unfortunately it doesn't have subtitles. Does anyone know where I can find shows like SpongeBob or The Simpsons dubbed in Dutch with English, Spanish, or French subtitles? Or maybe other cartoons or TV shows from the '90s and 2000s?

Today, I went to the apotheek to pick up my medicine and a pharmacist that I’ve seen multiple times over the past two years helped me. I spoke Dutch the entire conversation and she told me that my speaking ability has gotten much better. I’m so proud!

What has helped me become more comfortable and confident in speaking is studying more vocabulary, practicing with native speakers at the dog park, my neighbors and my in-laws. I’m also listening and watching Dutch kids shows on YouTube to get better at the accent.

Hoi!

I'm currently learning Dutch but of course, using Duolingo and reading/translating newspapers can only help so much, so I would like to find someone to talk to (either via chat or in person; I'm based in Leiden) that can correct me when I make a mistake or teach me some useful phrases or even slang.

Would anyone be interested? In exchange, I can offer Spanish and Catalan, which are my two native languages, but also some Italian (I've lived in Italy and have a C1 level), as well as some niche languages like Sardinian (not sure if anyone would be interested but just in case hahahah).

If you're not interested but do know about some places/courses which could be useful for me, like a language café or similar stuff, I'd also be very thankful for any relevant info!

Hope that this post goes with the sub's rules.
Thanks in advance! 😊

Hey everyone, as I'm currently learning Dutch, I've noticed the truly extreme linguistic relationship. I already knew that Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch and is therefore very similar, and that Flemish is a Dutch dialect—I think most people know that, too. However, I believe far fewer people are aware of the interesting similarity between Dutch (Nederlands) and Low German (Plattdüütsch/Niederdeutsch).

Dutch and Low German (colloquially known as Plattdeutsch) stem from the same languages and share the same root: Low Franconian-Low Saxon. Both languages belong to this category, forming a huge historical dialect continuum. The minimal difference is that Dutch has more Low Franconian components, and Low German has more Low Saxon components. Theoretically, however, they are actually almost the same language with the same core root. Dutch was also heavily influenced by Middle Low German, which was the lingua franca (common trade language) during the Hanseatic period. The North Germans and Dutch were heavily involved in trade back then; the people at that time often saw themselves as a single cultural group. This kinship is why many Dutch people and Flemings joined the German East Settlement into the Prussian territories, where the shared language made communication possible (leading to so-called 'Hollander Villages').

The division occurred after the Hanseatic period when Dutch developed its own official standard writing system, and Low German was subsequently displaced by High German due to the dominant influence of the Church, the state, and schools. Nevertheless, both languages are among the most closely related languages in Europe and are North Sea Germanic Ingvaeonic sister languages (along with Frisian and English). This close relationship is also evidenced by the fact that neither language participated in the High German Consonant Shift (the \bm{p \rightarrow pf} and \bm{d \rightarrow t} shift), which is why words in NL/ND often resemble English more closely than High German. While Frisian and English are often considered the most closely related pair, this deep kinship is also true for Low German and Dutch (and Afrikaans of course). Scientists estimate the shared basic vocabulary to be up to 85%, sometimes even over 90%! To demonstrate just how similar the languages truly are, here are a few words, sentences, and numbers in both languages: I. Basic Vocabulary & Everyday Phrases (50+ Examples)

English : Water/ Dutch :Water/ Low German : Water/ High German: Wasser

English: House / Dutch: Huis / LowGerman :Huus / German: Haus

English: Good day/Hello / Dutch: Goedendag / LowGerman: Goeiden Dag / German: Guten Tag

English: Good morning / Dutch: Goedemorgen / LowGerman: Goeide Mörgen / German: Guten Morgen

English: To drink / Dutch: Drinken / LowGerman: Drink'n / German:Trinken

English: To eat / Dutch: Eten / LowGerman: Eet'n / German: Essen

English:To sleep / Dutch: Slapen / LowGerman: Slap'n / German: Schlafen

English: Day / Dutch: Dag / LowGerman: Dag / German:Tag English: Night / Dutch: Nacht / Lowgerman: Nacht / German: Nacht

English: Woman / Dutch: Vrouw / LowGerman: Froo / German: Frau

English: Big/Great / Dutch: Groot / LowGerman: Groot / German: Groß

English: I / Dutch: Ik / LowGerman: Ik / German: Ich

English: We / Dutch: Wij/We / LowGerman: Wi / German: Wir

English: Ship / Dutch: Schip / LowGerman: Schipp / German: Schiff

English: Foot / Dutch: Voet / LowGerman: Foet / German: Fuß

English: Time / Dutch: Tijd / LowGerman: Tiet / German: Zeit

English: To write / Dutch: Schrijven / LowGerman: Schrieven / German: Schreiben

English: To know / Dutch: Weten / Low German: Wet'n / German: Wissen

English: Thank you / Dutch: Bedankt/Dank u wel / LowGerman: Dank/Bedank/Dank je wel/ German: Danke

English: How are you? / Dutch: Hoe gaat het? / LowGerman: Wo geiht dat? / German: Wie geht es dir?

II. Numbers (1-10) English / Dutch / Low German One / Een / Een Two / Twee / Twee Three / Drie / Dree Four / Vier / Veer Five / Vijf / Fief Six / Zes / Söss Seven / Zeven / Söven Eight / Acht / Acht Nine / Negen / Negen Ten / Tien / Teihn

III. Sentences (10 Examples)

1. English: The old man lives in this big house. Dutch: De oude man woont in dit grote huis. Low German: De ole Mann woont in dit groote Huus.

2. English: We saw a ship on the water yesterday. Dutch: Wij zagen gisteren een schip op het water. Low German: Wi sagen güstern een Schipp op dat Water.

3. English: Can you tell me what time it is now? Dutch: Kun je me vertellen hoe laat het nu is? Low German: Kannst du mi vertell'n, wo laat dat nu is?

4. English: I would like to drink a glass of milk. Dutch: Ik wil graag een glas melk drinken. Low German: Ik will geern een Glas Melk drink'n.

5. English: The book is on the table, not on the chair. Dutch: Het boek ligt op de tafel, niet op de stoel. Low German: Dat Book liggt op den Disch, niek op den Stoehl.

6. English: My father drives a new, red car. Dutch: Mijn vader rijdt in een nieuwe, rode auto. Low German: Mien Vadder föhrt/ridt in een nieg, roodes Auto.

7. English: She goes to the garden every morning. Dutch: Zij gaat elke morgen naar de tuin. Low German: Se geiht elken Mörgen na den Goorn.

8. English: The children are sleeping quietly now. Dutch: De kinderen slapen nu rustig. Low German: De Kinner slaapt nu sach/ruhig.

9. English: It is five o'clock and the sun is shining. Dutch: Het is vijf uur en de zon schijnt. Low German: Dat is fief Klock un de Sünn schient.

10. English: They come home from work in the evening. Dutch: Zij komen 's avonds thuis van het werk. Low German: Se koomt Avonds vun de Arbeit/Werk na Huus.

Unfortunately, the Low German language (Plattdeutsch) is severely endangered and already in steep decline. While official estimates sometimes mention larger numbers, the actual number of fluid, daily speakers—the people who use it actively at home and in public—is much lower, highly scattered, and almost entirely concentrated in the older generations. Even in historic strongholds genuinely fluent speakers are rare. The majority of people in Northern Germany who claim to speak it sadly only use a heavily High German-influenced Low German dialect, mere fragments, or none at all. This means that in the next generation, the number of fluent, active speakers will likely be minimal, leading to a near-total loss of the language as a genuine living form. A similar fate is also likely to befall North Frisian, East Frisian Low Saxon (which has largely replaced the original East Frisian language), and the last remaining Frisian variety in Germany, Saterland Frisian. Consequently, many who remain interested in the languages of their ancestors will have to resort to learning Dutch (or West Frisian for The Frisian people). This is because Dutch will remain the most closely related language that is still actively spoken, standardized, and nationally supported, making it the most direct linguistic gateway to their shared Ingvaeonic heritage.

I hope you found this text interesting!

Heyyy,
I‘m from germany, my name is Celine and I traveled to the Netherlands couple of times this year but i don’t know the language yet. I want to learn Dutch so i can move there in the future

Hi Guys,

I’ve been trying to learn Dutch for 5 years. During the 4 of the 5 years i’ve had a very good Dutch Tutor on Preply. He’s considered the best and he really helped me get at A2 level because it’s been very difficult for me to go beyond A2 due to my ASD and ADHD. (well anything i try to learn in my life has been a struggle for me)…. :(

But i can’t afford to pay him anymore and i’m on my own… :( However… since 2017 i’ve been watching Dutch TV via Satellite here in the UK to help me with my Dutch. It has helped a bit but there are many words i still do not understand…

I genuinely try my hardest and best to learn Dutch but i’ve always struggled. I blame my conditions on this and i don’t know what else i can do to become Fluent in Dutch. i’m aiming for B2 level and i think perhaps that would be enough?

I still have my ‘InZicht A2 naar B1’ and my ‘Link 0 naar A1’ books… But i still cannot grasp the basic of Dutch, let alone the advance Dutch

I don’t know what else i can do… i can’t afford my private tutor anymore and all i have is my Dutch TV channels. Can anyone suggest anything i can do for me to advance my Dutch? :(

Hoi ! 🌸

I created a discord server today where we can learn and practice Dutch together!
Beginner friendly, let’s improve💪

I’m level A1-A2 and I need people I can talk with… so feel free to join ☺️ https://discord.gg/4WG6YEk2P

Hallo, Ik ben een Turkse middelbareschool scholier. Ik wil mijn situatie even uitleggen. Ik ben geboren en getogen in Nederland. Toen ik 10 was verhuisden mijn familie en ik naar Turkije (2018). sindsdien studeer en woon ik in Turkije en ik ga naar Nederland ongeveer twee keer per jaar. Vanwege de huidige omstandigheden in Turkije (Economie, mensen, corruptie, tekort aan water en elektriciteit enzovoort) wil ik een opleiding volgen aan een Nederlandse universiteit. Om dit te doen heb ik twee dingen nodig: wiskunde (ben ik al goed in) en goed Nederlands taalvaardigheid. Het tweede stuk is waar ik mezelf moet ontwikkelen en daarvoor heb ik een gesprekspartner nodig. Op dit moment spreek ik met gemini maar ik vind AI niet leuk vanwege het energieverbruik van datacenters. Ik heb niet veel aan te bieden maar mocht u een beetje turks willen leren dan kan ik graag helpen. Alvast bedankt.

Hoi allemaal,

Momenteel neem ik een Nederlands cursus en ben ik beginner. Ik wil vragen op iemand praten met me toe oefenen. Ik oefenen elke dag woorden, grammar en luisteren, maar ik heb meer praten nodig.

Kunnen jullie met me praten?

Dank u wel

Make sure your willing to speak! I have these 4 apps we can talk on: Reddit, Discord, Whatsapp, and Hellotalk!

Can’t wait to practice Dutch with you!

My level: Low B1

I did writing exam but im not sure if im gonna pass it
In the first question i give my details name addres city number etc but in the end i give wrong answer and just to get some point i write some extra sentences but in not sure if i will get some point from 1st question.
And in the question 3and 4 i did some small grammar mistakes
So guys can you tell me your experience also?

Hallo! Ik heen Gwennaël, ik ben een student en ik ben zoeken voor Dutch sprekend penvriend!

Ik ben Frans en ik wowen in Nantes. Ik ben een amateur in Dutch, ik hebben niveau 0 in Dutch, ik net beginnen leerproces.

Uitzenden een bericht als u bent geïnteresserd!

Hallo mensen,

This post is for people who are learning Dutch in private, I want you to just write a story in Dutch about literally anything you want (aslong as it follows the subreddit rules) as a little exercise, won’t take long and it’s good for your brain

I’ll give a topic anyway for people who want to reply but can’t think of anything: write a story about a duck going to the store

No googling, showing off mistakes are encouraged, it’s the best way to learn anything :)

Ik probeer zoveel mogelijk Nederlands te leren tegen het einde van het jaar.

Een paar dingen over mij:

• Ik schrijf over onderwerpen op het gebeid van de geestelijke gezondheid van mannen.

• Ik schrijf een boek. (Ik gaat over daten, voor mannen)

• Ik woon in Amerika.

• Ik hou van wetenschap. (Vooral kwantumfysica en microbiologie)

• Ik hou ook van geschiedenis. (Voornamelijk de twee wereldoorlogen, Mesopotamië, en het oude Rome).

• Ik wil graag meer leren over de Nederlandse cultuur!!

• Ik zou graag een penvriend(in) willen ontmoeten waarmee ik alledaagse gesprekken kan voeren.

Ik hoop dat jullie allemaal een geweldige dag hebben!! ❣️

If anyone wants to practice dutch i volunteer i am fluent dutch

Is the Netherlands + the Dutch language anyone else’s hyperfixation 😅😅 coz it’s mine, and I feel like it’s not exactly a standard thing to obsess over lmao

To anyone who’s second language is Dutch, and is self taught, when reading or listening to Dutch stuff, does it auto-translate in your brain, or do you just know what it means? I don’t know how to explain this, but at the moment I only speak English, and I can understand the basics of Dutch, but I wanna understand what it feels like to be fluent in a language iykwim?

Hello everyone, frankly I wish to have some Dutch speaking friends. I started learning Dutch 2 years ago and I often find myself losing motivation because I feel a bit aimless and I hope that if I make Dutch speaking friends it will keep me learning. I initially started learning for myself and possibly work but I have no one to talk to and I won't work in the Netherlands within the next decade but I do live close-ish to the Dutch border.

I am too shy to just go up to people and start a conversation, I do not wish to be bothersome to anyone. If anyone is open to it I would be very grateful. Thank you!

Mijn naam is Tom. Ik studeer nu al bijna 2 jaar Nederlands, ik weet niet precies tot welk niveau ik behoor, maar ik heb onlangs een boek gelezen, ik lees nederlandse nieuws elke dag, ik kijk naar allerei video's en probeer in het algemeen het Nederlands zoveel mogelijk in mijn dagelijks leven te integreren.

Maar, ik miss gesprekken met moedertaalsprekers... Niet moeilijk om te merken dat mijn spreekvaardigheid tamelijk slechter is dan mijn andere taalvaardigheden...

Dus ik ben op zoek naar een Nederlander die wellicht contact wil opnemen! Hier zijn enkele details over me:

Ik ben een 23M, studeer scheikunde, ik ben geïnteresseerd in meerdere onderwerpen, in mijn vrije tijd doe ik gewichtheffen, bieren, filosofische gesprekken, en mogelijk gaming, als iemamd hier dat zou in het nederlands willen doen. Ik ben van plan om in 2026 naar NL te verhuizen, omdat ik vind het een prachtige land.

Hit me up!

EDIT: Ik kom vanuit Israël en ik ben een Hebreeuws spreker.