Are you currently on the lookout for some tips to help you learn Dutch? Of course you are – this is one of the easiest languages for an English speaker to learn, and when you’re armed with some tips, the language can get even easier to learn. To help you learn the language, we are going to give you some tips. 

Don’t Run Away from the Scary Pronunciation

We all know about it – that infamous Dutch G. This is a guttural sound that many run away from, but you shouldn’t, it’s not going to hurt your throat or anything else on your body. In fact, there are different levels of pronouncing the famous G. In Amsterdam, it sounds harsh, while in the south, it’s softly spoken. So, don’t let yourself down if you’re not able to do it perfectly.

There are numerous ways to combine consonants in the Dutch language, and some of those ways can be hard to pronounce, such as the “SCH” sounds. The reason why SCH is such a tricky sound to pronounce is because of that guttural sound, which basically combines the S in “salt” with the “ch” sound that is not found in English, similar to the G sound. If you want to go ahead and give it some practice, the most famous example we can give you comes from the sound in “Scheveningen,” which is in the district of Hague and is a popular beach.

Singing Can Help Those Vowels

If you’re familiar with the Dutch language, you probably already know that it is full of vowel sounds and combos within 1 syllable, which is referred to as diphthongs. Some good examples of the sliding sounds would be the IJ, UI, and EI, and OU and AU. Go ahead and practice pronouncing these sounds aloud. By listening to music, it can help you pronounce some of the sounds. For example, we have a friend who used a song from Marco Borsato, who is a Dutch Singer – Rood is the song – in this son, he sings “ …en de tv gaat uit” and stretched the UI for numerous seconds.  If you don’t  have the voice to win America’s Got Talent, don’t worry about it, because you don’ have to have an audience.  All you’re doing here is practicing your pronunciation, which is important. 

A Little Trick for You

IN Dutch, you have Het-words and Diminutived. Diminutgives are used to make words sound smaller (and cuter). So, if you aren’t exactly sure if the word is a de-or het-words, just form the diminutive. This means that you’d be adding the -je suffix or the, pje, etji, kje to the end of the word. Example:

• De straat/ het straatje (the street)
• De tuin/ het tuinje (the yard)
• Het king/ het kindje (the child)
• De flex/het flesje (the bottle)

You can choose to use the diminutive form when something is negative, something is positive, or when something Is small, e.g een leuk cadeautje (a nice present) or een boompje (a tree). Using the diminutive form doesn’t mean that something is small.