Product Description

Dutch is the name of the official language spoken in the Netherlands and in the Dutch-speaking northern part of Belgium, Flanders. This whole area is sometimes referred to as the Low Countries. Over 20 million people speak Dutch as their first language and it is studied worldwide by many people.

‘Teach Yourself Beginner’s Dutch’ is the right course for you if you really want to learn Dutch but are daunted by the prospect of complicated grammar, classes and coursebooks. This book starts right from the beginning and explains everything in simple English. There are hints throughout to make learning easy and you can learn at your own pace with plenty of practice of each new point. It is a friendly introduction to the language which will help you to understand and speak Dutch sufficiently well to function effectively in basic everyday situations, both social and business. The course will also offer you an insight into Dutch culture.

The book consists of 13 graded units and a special section on pronunciation and spelling. New language is introduced through short dialogues and texts which are also on the accompanying recording. There are plenty of exercises to practise each new point as it is introduced. Culture notes avoid the typical tourist information that you’ll find in any tourist guide and instead concentrate on conventions and trends in topics such as eating, holidays, or values in general in the Low Countries. In the latter part of the book you will also find some longer reading texts to help you deal with newspapers, advertisements and street signs. By the end of the course you’ll be able to communicate in a wide range of real-life situations and have all the practical information you need to enjoy your next trip to the Netherlands or Flanders.

Two accompanying cassettes or CDs are available separately or in a pack with the book.

The leader in self-learning with more than 300 titles, covering all subjects.
Be where you want to be with Teach Yourself.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #197616 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

About the Author
Gerdi Quist is co-author of the current edition of Teach Yourself Beginner's Dutch, Teach Yourself Dutch and Teach Yourself Beginner's Dutch Grammar, a native Dutch speaker, and lecturer at University College, London. Dennis Strik is a part-time lecturer at the University of Kent at Canterbury and part-time post-graduate language assistant at University College, London. His previous publications include Teach Yourself Beginner's Dutch Grammar, Teach Yourself Beginner's Dutch Grammar, Dutch on the move (Hugo) and Just enough Dutch (Hugo).

Customer Reviews

Fairly Good
This was bought for me by my partner at christmas, with the accompanying c.d's. I had no experience of dutch before i got this, and i was a bit confused when i first opened it up.

It starts well with a pronunciation guide, very helpful, especially with the c.d's to listen to alongside it.

However, the first chapter begins a bit strangely.
Normally in a language book, you are introduced slowly with a few greetings, simple sentences, or a short, easy to grasp dialogue.
This book begins with describing occupations! Obviously helpful, but this IS the 'teach yourself BEGINNERS dutch'! It isnt that it's hard to grasp, it just feels confusing to the first time learner.

It does move on from this to the greetings etc, then things like party dialogues and suchlike.

The format of the book continues to be a little bit jumbled, and so while the actual content is good, it's just the bizarre structure which lets it down.

I like this book as it is a handy backup for what i can't glean from other textbooks. One good thing i can say about this book is that it does cover a lot, just not in a great order. Still i wouldnt say i could form a good comprehension of the language from it without first having got some idea from another book.

Dutch is a great language to learn, it's really fun and i find it relatively easy. For those who want to learn a germanic type language without the nightmare that is declension, this is your language!!

The vocab following each dialogue is very handy, which is something other books do miss out on (they expect you to keep flicking to the back of the textbook or have your dictionary at all times!) and the small dictionary unit at the back is also quite extensive. The exercises are okay, they help you to establish the rules and vocab you've learned etc and they are relatively fun to do.

Having been bought this book, i went and got the colloquial dutch textbook which i found to be a lot clearer, and is well worth the purchase. I would say 'teach yourself beginners dutch' is a good acompaniment to a more clearly laid out book, purely because you'll save yourself some confusion. If you're happy to just step in and learn from whatever point, and are not phased by the slight jumpiness of the layout, then i can't say it's a bad book! You'll learn what you need to in a fun way and will be able to move on.

As a final note, this book also has cultural points which are very helpful to note, they do help you to engage with the language better as a result, this seems to be the same in a lot of dutch textbooks, but it is handy nontheless!

great book for language beginners
I just bought this for my partner who is learning Dutch. A few years ago I used it myself for the same purpose.
Its fun and moves at a slow pace, explaining things clearly. No big words or grammatical terms. Maybe it would be too simplistic for linguists but I found it great

it's a pity
I didn't really like this book, because on the audio CD you can find only some of the tasks and conversations - so if you are a real beginner when doing some tasks you have completely no idea how to pronounce some words - so you may stop learning. If you had a teacher or someone around you who speaks dutch, it could be useful but for learning alone this is not the best choice.