Customer Reviews

Dutch: Learn to Speak and Understand Dutch with Pimsleur Language Programs

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This is a short introduction to useful phrases in Dutch. It was very helpful as far as it went, but it would be great if Pimsleur were to do a full 3 course series for this language. I've used Pimsleur for one other language and they are the best tapes I've used. Pronunciation is very clear and unmistakable. This course was worth the money, but I wish it would have gone further.

I used this course intensively prior to a trip to the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium, and found it very useful. Like all the Pimsleur abridged sets, this course is tantalizingly brief -- it leaves you wanting more. Nonetheless, what these courses do, they do well, and that is to inspire your confidence to open your mouth and speak the language. I was comfortable exchanging polite pleasantries in Dutch and ordering meals and drinks in restaurants -- no mean feat where people are only too happy to speak to you in English!

I recently moved to Belgium for my wife and I used this course to get me familiar with the basics of the Dutch language and it does an excellent job of that. It won't by any means make you fleunt, but it covers enough "survival" Dutch to get you by. I do wish they had had a comprehensive 3-level course, but I was very happy with what I learned and the ease of doing so. I would recommend going through this course before continuing with the more expensive Rosetta Stone.
(Since I've moved to Belgium, I've taken 6 months of classes 5 days a week for 3 hours a day and though my Dutch has vastly improved, I'm still nowhere near fluency yet.)

I don't know how they do it, but Pimsleur make learning a language effortless. It's such a pleasure to listen to the tapes and speak with them, and pretty soon you can do it without even thinking. I kept the tapes in my car and listened to each one over and over until I knew it so well it became boring- then I went on to the next tape. I wish so much they had more tapes to continue with, because now I'm finished with these.

I keep my boat in Holland and want to equip myself initially with some basic Dutch.

I started with Bruce Donald's Conversational Dutch and CD - but concluded that, while this might be useful for some, it would not do what I was looking for (see my review on this).

Pinsleur, however, completely fills the bill.

The course is made up of 30 half hour sessions (apparently the optimal learning period) entirely based on listening, repeating and participating in conversations using vocabulary and expressions that you have been introduced to. Initially, you repeat what you have heard, then you use it to answer questions; new material is introduced but the material you have already learned is also used again. Speaking aloud appears to hard wire into your brain what you have learned. Grammar is not taught formally, the Pimsleur method assumes that adults learn as children do - by usage.

This is predominantly a "listening and speaking" approach - you need to reach lesson 12 before any reading material appears! The course notes urge you NOT to use dictionaries etc or to write anything down while listening and participating in the lessons. Only Dutch speakers are used, and the words initially are broken down by syllable to ensure that you have every chance of acquiring a near native accent. The Dutch speakers are well chosen. Many courses use speakers that are so gutteral that it is very difficult for beginners to follow. The woman has a particularly clear speaking voice; the man is more gutteral but it is still completely possible to follow him.

And it works!

After the first couple of lessons, I found I could say confidently a few words that were actually useful. (Good morning. Excuse me. I don't speak Dutch. Do you speak English. etc). And the hardwiring worked - they came automatically, I didn't really have to think at all.

I am nearing the end of the course (30 lessons) and continue to be delighted. Right from the beginning, I have spoken confidently and have used what I have learnt (not true of my French, even though I have a much better command of French grammar and a bigger vocabulary). Dutch speakers tell me that they have been pleasantly surprised by my accent - I have not been taken automatically for English. I've also found Pimsleur's vocabulary and situations relate well to everyday usage.

But fairly early on, I slightly departed from Pimsleur principles. After about lesson 6, I got a small dictionary - but I only use it AFTER lessons. I find that difficult words and phrases are better locked if I can see them as well as hear them.

From about lesson 10, I have consciously started to acquire some additional relevant vocabulary using phrase books etc (but ignoring their suggestions for phonetic pronounciation)and a better dictionary. And as my vocabulary improves using the course, I feel more confident that anything else that I acquire will also have a "good" accent - though I do check with native speakers where I am doubtful about stress etc.

Yes, there are a couple of problems about this approach.

Initially, I could speak a little but when confronted with written Dutch, street names, supermarket labels, I had absolutely no idea what the words should sound like. Nor could I write down what I COULD say!! But this is a shortlived problem - and the advantages for me completely outweighed the initial difficulty.

The lack of formal grammar will be also be a bit of a problem for some people. But this is something that I plan to address separately when I get to the end of this course.

And that's the third problem. So far, there is only this one introductory basic course as Dutch is seen as a minority language - and, of course, it is. The more mainstream languages go automatically to 3 courses - 90 lessons. And Italian further still.Please, please Pimsleur, get cracking on an Intermediate Dutch Course!

If what you want to do is to start SPEAKING, I couldn't recommend it more highly than I do. It's given me confidence and a desire to move on.

Pimsleur Dutch I, 30 lessons is TOP NOTCH, you will learn how to speak Dutch on a basic level, but you will be speaking and understanding others around you. Hopefully Pimsleur is working on levels II and III.

It comes with a booklet so that you can learn how to read Dutch. This proved very helpful.

It is a beautiful language and at times it seems as if people are actually singing.

Have fun!

I love these tapes. If you follow instruction and really follow through, you're sure to learn!

After checking out Pimsleur's Basic Dutch from the library, I decided to purchase the full course.

I am a native speaker of Dutch, but came to America when I was three and have spoken very little Dutch for more than 40 years. I decided it was time to brush up on my native tongue, and after trying another course which was very disappointing, I came upon this one.

While some have complained that this course is too slow, I believe that the slow pace, and one lesson per day, increases overall retention of the lessons. Having said that, I discovered that once I hit my stride, I was able to do two lessons per day for the final discs.

This course builds on a solid foundation of vocabulary that would be used on a visit to the Netherlands. As the lessons develop, the learner is allowed to anticipate what a sentence might be, enhancing the ability to encode in Dutch.

I highly recommend this as an introduction. Then if you want more depth, go on to other lessons, such as Spoken World Dutch.

Hello! i just want to say that this language course is the best i have ever encountered! my native language is English and i am reasonably fluent in Spanish and French, but the Pimsleur method is truly remarkable at building fluency and confidence with their proprietary techniques. although i had to do some lessons a couple of times and the last ten i did 3 times each, by the end of the 30 lessons i am able to speak and understand enough to participate in social conversations and can easily navigate in Dutch society... this is an excellent course and method! Highly Recommended!

I would like to add that one of the things I have found most interesting and rewarding in the Pimsleur technique is the effortless transition from first thinking in English and then translating into Dutch to just automatically `knowing' the correct Dutch. In my other language studies this process took much longer and usually only came after an `immersive' experience in the countries where those languages are spoken. With Pimsleur's proprietary technology the ability to just know the proper Dutch was just there!

I did a study semester in The Hague, but honestly didn't learn much dutch there, as it is so easy to speak English to get around. But, it's just been a fun hobby now for me to learn. And I bought Pimsleur and did the 30 courses, however that's as far as it goes. I know Dutch is an unpopular language, but would be nice to have more, because it IS so easy to just pop it in your car's stereo and absorb it! I've gone now with Rosetta Stone, just so I can advance. Great product though. I am now doing Pimsleur French.