NickJS Senior Member United Kingdom flickr.com/photos/sg Joined 4959 days ago 264 posts - 334 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese
| Message 9 of 15 18 January 2012 at 1:59am | IP Logged |
Snap all your cigarettes up and throw away all your lighters...That's all I did, no gum
or patches needed :P, then you can invest that extra money in learning materials.
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Hekje Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4703 days ago 842 posts - 1330 votes Speaks: English*, Dutch Studies: French, Indonesian
| Message 10 of 15 26 February 2012 at 3:32am | IP Logged |
Hey, I saw from another thread that you're also learning Dutch! Just wanted to drop by.
It's a rad language and I hope you are progressing quickly. :)
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B_Hutt Newbie United States Joined 4956 days ago 32 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean
| Message 11 of 15 26 February 2012 at 3:35am | IP Logged |
I am doing sooo poorly haha. In my opinion, at least! :) I have some resources but most of what I have been doing is just asking my boyfriend how to say things, and parroting them back. With him though, I'm so insecure at mispronouncing things and sounding stupid that if I don't think I can do it right, I panic. :(
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Hekje Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4703 days ago 842 posts - 1330 votes Speaks: English*, Dutch Studies: French, Indonesian
| Message 12 of 15 27 February 2012 at 4:56am | IP Logged |
Hey, congratulations on all the progress you've done so far! Any progress is great. I bet
your boyfriend is more than happy to help you - like, whenever I get nervous, I just
imagine how it'd be the other way around, and I know I'd be thrilled if my significant
other were trying to learn my language, you know?
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B_Hutt Newbie United States Joined 4956 days ago 32 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean
| Message 13 of 15 02 March 2012 at 2:03am | IP Logged |
I am getting very discouraged and am debating giving up. My mouth appears not physically able to make some of the Dutch sounds. For example, an 'r' right after a 'g', I simply cannot do. I have always rolled my r's from the top of my mouth, and with a word like groen, for example, that's like, impossible. To make it flow, you have to push the 'g' up the throat and roll your tongue off the bottom of your palette to make the 'r'. Ughhhh. My SO tried to show me how his is positioned when he does it, and we tried to figure it out, but I am just...not able. :( Also, 'au', I can't do. For the life of me, I can't say 'haus'. If someone told me to say 'green house', I would be ruined.
As much as I LOVE it and love listening to it, I really don't know if I can do it. The other language I'm interested in is French, maybe I should just go back and focus on that instead. :(
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Hekje Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4703 days ago 842 posts - 1330 votes Speaks: English*, Dutch Studies: French, Indonesian
| Message 14 of 15 02 March 2012 at 9:24pm | IP Logged |
Keep going, B_Hutt!
The "gr" will come with practice. There's really nothing but to keep saying the component parts very slowly and
distinctly and persistently slurring them together faster and faster. I promise, you will get it eventually if you
keep working at it.
By "au", I assume you mean "ui"? Maybe this will help you. I met a really nice graphic design student who had
been teaching Dutch to his French girlfriend and he explained it to me as an "ahh", as in father, quickly turning
into the French "u". Try saying them first separately, then slurring them together into a diphthong. Ahhhh uuu.
Ahhhhhuu. Ui. You should feel all the action happening in the front of your mouth.
The same, by the way, happens with "eu" as in the word leuk. It's really just "ohh" and the French "u" slurred
together. Ohhh uuuu, ohhhuu, eu.
Remember that your boyfriend has had his whole life to practice these sounds. You've only had a few months and
you've already come so far. You should give yourself a pat on the back!
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B_Hutt Newbie United States Joined 4956 days ago 32 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean
| Message 15 of 15 03 March 2012 at 10:12pm | IP Logged |
Thanks for the advice! And yes, 'ui'. Sorry. I was writing it like it sounds in my head, haha.
I am not going to give up, but I may take a break and work on French a little bit during times when I get stressed out/ overwhelmed with Dutch. I can say some things decently, but others just...don't come,at ALL. It's so frustrating!
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