Learning Dutch

Many people I've spoken to, some of them linguists who speak 3 or 4 languages, say that Dutch is an especially difficult language to learn. A lot of Dutch people speak very good English. 

Why would an English speaker learn Dutch?

Personally, I have a number of reasons.

1. My children go to a Dutch basisschool (primary school). Their friends won't be learning English until they're 10 or 11 years old. As I like to volunteer to help at the school and would like other children to feel comfortable in our home when they come to play with my children, learning basic Dutch is essential for me.

2. I drive. There are lots of sign posts in Dutch and I really need to understand what they mean to be safe on the roads.

3. I like to be sociable. Although a lot of Dutch people do speak English, I have noticed that if you can speak a bit of Dutch in the supermarket or to other parents at school, or to the children's teachers, they really appreciate it. You can almost see people's faces soften as you make a bit of effort to speak Dutch.

4. Culturally, I feel it is important. There are words and expressions in Dutch, which I'm sure, just don't translate well into English and which speak volumes about the Dutch culture. I also like to understand the radio, the news headlines and what people are saying to around me.

5. Tax. Unfortunately, as a small business, I pay tax. The tax office only communicate in Dutch. It may be a while before I can discuss my taxes in Dutch, but hopefully, I can try if need be.

What is the best way to learn Dutch?

I tried learning using CDs and I did learn a bit. My method was to just spend 20 minutes each night learning Dutch. However, my enthusiasm soon waned and I got to a point where I didn't understand the lessons and went over the first two CDs a number of times.

Figuring out learning on my own wasn't that much fun, I thought I'd find a group of like-minded people who were willing to learn Dutch during the daytime. I set up a group of mum's with children to learn Dutch one hour a week. There was a lot of enthusiasm from the international community. However, I found it hard to concentrate with my two year old in the room though, and I didn't really learn that much. 

Then I found out about a free course, put on my our local council. I signed up for it, which was a long process. I did two Dutch language assessments and had two or three interviews.  It took six months, but I managed to be placed on a Dutch language course for two evenings a week, over a year. I've completed two months so far and I think it's a going well. I know I should spend more time practicing as this will be key to learning. I'll also be happy if I can just get by in Dutch, I'm not expecting to be fluent by the end of it.