Is learning Dutch really that difficult? Most Dutch people would say yes, and it even seems that, in secret, they love this idea. Many people who try to learn Dutch as a foreign language complain about it. But is it true? Albert Both from Talencoach has the answer!
The answer? Yes, learning Dutch can almost seem impossible. That is, if you don’t know how to do it. The good news is that if you learn to think in a new way, then, all of a sudden, speaking Dutch can be relatively easy. Here are some tips to put you on the right track:
Good news for multilinguals
You may have heard many times from many different people that speaking Dutch is extremely difficult. Even linguistically talented people who speak three or four other languages somehow encounter some real challenges when they try to speak Dutch. Therefore, it is easy to believe that something about the language must be extremely tough.
However, if you look at the Dutch language, you will soon discover that it is actually one of the closest languages to English. And, although Dutch people don’t always like to admit this, you could actually see it as a kind of German-light.
Many Dutch words look like English words. If you know other languages such as French, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese, you’ll discover that many more words will look familiar to you. For example, words like “triest” (sad) or “duren” (to take time) make perfect sense if you speak one of these languages.
