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Conversational Dutch Dialogues: Over 100 Dutch Conversations and Short Stories
Is conversational Dutch turning a little too tricky for you? Do you have no idea how to order a meal or book a room at a hotel?
If your answer to any of the previous questions was ‘Yes’, then this book is for you!
If there’s even been something tougher than learning the grammar rules of a new language, it’s finding the way to speak with other people in that tongue. Any student knows this – we can try our best at practicing, but you always want to avoid making embarrassing mistakes or not getting your message through correctly.
‘How do I get out of this situation?’ many students ask themselves, to no avail, but no answer is forthcoming.
Until now.
We have compiled MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED conversational Dutch stories for beginners along with their translations, allowing new Dutch speakers to have the necessary tools to begin studying how to set a meeting, rent a car or tell a doctor that they don’t feel well. We’re not wasting time here with conversations that don’t go if you want to know how to solve problems (while learning a ton of Dutch along the way, obviously), this book is for you!
How Conversational Dutch Dialogues
Each new chapter will have a fresh, new story between two people who wish to solve a common, day-to-day issue that you will surely encounter in real life.An Dutch version of the conversation will take place first, followed by an English translation. This ensures that you fully understood just what it was that they were saying.Before and after the main section of the book, we shall provide you with an introduction and conclusion that will offer you important strategies, tips and tricks to allow you to get the absolute most out of this learning material.That’s about it! Simple, useful and incredibly helpful; you will NOT need another conversational Dutch book once you have begun reading and studying this one!We want you to feel comfortable while learning the tongue; after all, no language should be a barrier for you to travel around the world and expand your social circles!
So look no further! Pick up your copy of Conversational Dutch Dialogues and start learning Dutch right now!
If your answer to any of the previous questions was ‘Yes’, then this book is for you!
If there’s even been something tougher than learning the grammar rules of a new language, it’s finding the way to speak with other people in that tongue. Any student knows this – we can try our best at practicing, but you always want to avoid making embarrassing mistakes or not getting your message through correctly.
‘How do I get out of this situation?’ many students ask themselves, to no avail, but no answer is forthcoming.
Until now.
We have compiled MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED conversational Dutch stories for beginners along with their translations, allowing new Dutch speakers to have the necessary tools to begin studying how to set a meeting, rent a car or tell a doctor that they don’t feel well. We’re not wasting time here with conversations that don’t go if you want to know how to solve problems (while learning a ton of Dutch along the way, obviously), this book is for you!
How Conversational Dutch Dialogues
Each new chapter will have a fresh, new story between two people who wish to solve a common, day-to-day issue that you will surely encounter in real life.An Dutch version of the conversation will take place first, followed by an English translation. This ensures that you fully understood just what it was that they were saying.Before and after the main section of the book, we shall provide you with an introduction and conclusion that will offer you important strategies, tips and tricks to allow you to get the absolute most out of this learning material.That’s about it! Simple, useful and incredibly helpful; you will NOT need another conversational Dutch book once you have begun reading and studying this one!We want you to feel comfortable while learning the tongue; after all, no language should be a barrier for you to travel around the world and expand your social circles!
So look no further! Pick up your copy of Conversational Dutch Dialogues and start learning Dutch right now!
- GenresLanguage
335 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 18, 2020
55 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 5, 2020
Peculiar Way to Do It
I found the introduction to this linguistic book fascinating. The publishers strongly affirm that they worked with both native Dutch and English speakers to create this book. As this book is meant to teach the nuances of Dutch conversation to native English speakers, I imagine that the natural way to go about it would be to have the native Dutch speakers come up with Dutch conversations and then translate those into English. Instead, the publisher states that they do it the opposite way: conversations are written in English and then translated into Dutch. My fear is that doing it this way would lead to some cultural elements being lost in translation. If you're trying to help the people be more fluent in Dutch, shouldn't the initial story and conversation be in Dutch? The 105 brief conversations all have a similar format. First, we see a page or two of conversation in Dutch, and then we see the same conversation in English. I did find some English awkward in the book's introduction; the English versions of the conversations often seemed stilted and unnatural to my ear, perhaps more formal than would typically be spoken in those situations. I don't know enough Dutch to know if the translations are good ones or not. I wonder if the Dutch sections have similar problems to the English ones. In any event, if you're trying to learn Dutch, reading and trying to pick apart these conversations could help your learning process.
I found the introduction to this linguistic book fascinating. The publishers strongly affirm that they worked with both native Dutch and English speakers to create this book. As this book is meant to teach the nuances of Dutch conversation to native English speakers, I imagine that the natural way to go about it would be to have the native Dutch speakers come up with Dutch conversations and then translate those into English. Instead, the publisher states that they do it the opposite way: conversations are written in English and then translated into Dutch. My fear is that doing it this way would lead to some cultural elements being lost in translation. If you're trying to help the people be more fluent in Dutch, shouldn't the initial story and conversation be in Dutch? The 105 brief conversations all have a similar format. First, we see a page or two of conversation in Dutch, and then we see the same conversation in English. I did find some English awkward in the book's introduction; the English versions of the conversations often seemed stilted and unnatural to my ear, perhaps more formal than would typically be spoken in those situations. I don't know enough Dutch to know if the translations are good ones or not. I wonder if the Dutch sections have similar problems to the English ones. In any event, if you're trying to learn Dutch, reading and trying to pick apart these conversations could help your learning process.
March 30, 2021
I picked this up based on the strength of the Short Stories for Beginners collection by the same company and found it a little disappointing. First of all, it lacks a glossary and if you rely solely on the translations provided, you may get a partial or distorted picture. For example, *the first three lines of the book* are translated like this:
Ober: Goedenavond mevrouw. (Waiter: Hi, how are you?)
Amira: Goedenavond. Mag ik de menukaart? (Amira: I'm good, thanks. How are you?)
Ober: Natuurlijk. Wilt u al iets drinken? (Waiter: I'm great. Thanks for asking. What would you like to drink?)
Huh?? This might be the most egregious example, but right out of the gate??
I was also irked with the formatting/typesetting of the book. Several pages at the ends of the dialogues are just one or two sentences long. With just a little effort, they could have halved the length of the book, saving both money and materials.
It's not terrible, but it could have been so much better. The Short Stories for Beginners collection offers quizzes, summaries and glossaries for each. Why not here?
Ober: Goedenavond mevrouw. (Waiter: Hi, how are you?)
Amira: Goedenavond. Mag ik de menukaart? (Amira: I'm good, thanks. How are you?)
Ober: Natuurlijk. Wilt u al iets drinken? (Waiter: I'm great. Thanks for asking. What would you like to drink?)
Huh?? This might be the most egregious example, but right out of the gate??
I was also irked with the formatting/typesetting of the book. Several pages at the ends of the dialogues are just one or two sentences long. With just a little effort, they could have halved the length of the book, saving both money and materials.
It's not terrible, but it could have been so much better. The Short Stories for Beginners collection offers quizzes, summaries and glossaries for each. Why not here?
October 19, 2020
Some bits were useful, but the sentences being translated from English into Dutch instead of the other way around was a big issue, as the Dutch language is far too complicated for that to work. I went through these as practice exercises with my daughter, who is now fluent after Dutch immersion school, and she said the Dutch translations were incorrect and that you wouldn't use those verbs or phrases that way in every day speak, so it's obvious you're memorizing from a translator and not actually learning Dutch. There is also no phonetic pronunciation for anything, which makes it difficult if you aren't already a good 6 months into your language studies in a classroom- basically the only way to learn Dutch is from the Dutch because you can't guess at pronunciation just by looking at the word because you'd be wrong every time.
June 30, 2021
This book helped me immensely with learning Dutch. The short stories are entertaining and useful. I made sure to read at least a few of them each day. The English version of every story helped a lot, too. To sum up, it's a great book for people who already know a little bit of Dutch and want to improve their language skills.
The only downside for me regarding this book was the fact that in many dialogues places, holidays and cultural aspects aren't Dutch, but American. So, I believe it would be more interesting to focus more on The Netherlands (and other Dutch speaking countries, like Belgium and Suriname) instead, since we are also learning the culture of the country when we are learning a foreign language.
The only downside for me regarding this book was the fact that in many dialogues places, holidays and cultural aspects aren't Dutch, but American. So, I believe it would be more interesting to focus more on The Netherlands (and other Dutch speaking countries, like Belgium and Suriname) instead, since we are also learning the culture of the country when we are learning a foreign language.
May 31, 2022
It's a good book to improve your Dutch skills. Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews