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Started Dutch from scratch with Rosetta | ||
Tags: Rosetta Stone | Dutch | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Dibbles Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4866 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch | Message 1 of 8 31 July 2011 at 8:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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Evening everyone,
I began studying Dutch a couple weeks ago and, so far, I am enjoying it. I've started my journey with Rosetta Stone. It is a very useful source, but I feel it is very limited, as the language and method it is using is too 'structured', in the sense that I feel I would only be able to hold a very basic conversation (I am still on the first level) if the other person provided a very direct answer; basically, I am getting the impression I'm being trained to talk to a robot, rather than a human. Since the program is also limited to 3 levels in the package it looks very underwhelming, which has resulted in me reaching the conclusion that it should serve as a supplement, rather than as my main source of education. To those who are learning, or have learnt, the language, what sources (books, websites, audios, computer programs etc) did you consult? Thanks 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| osu_shredder21 Triglot Newbie United States Joined 4902 days ago 6 posts - 8 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Turkish | Message 2 of 8 31 July 2011 at 9:16pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thankfully I was able to get all of my Rosetta resources from my brother via the military,
so I didn't have to pay for it but have used it quite a bit as a supplement. It's not great as a standalone, you're right about that, it's far too limited, but I felt like it provides a solid base. If you complete the program you will retain the knowledge. It did a great job of pounding the information into my head and helped with pronunciation quite a bit. I didn't find it too useful with Turkish or Arabic however, because those languages are sufficiently different from the languages that I know that I struggled to make sense of it. I knew what the pictures were referring to, but had trouble understanding each word that was given. It was frustrating and I later abandoned it in favor of textbooks for those languages. I can't comment on Dutch, but that's more or less been my experience with Rosetta Stone. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| mrpootys Groupie United States Joined 5611 days ago 62 posts - 69 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 3 of 8 31 July 2011 at 11:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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Theres an English-based assimil program for dutch that i would recommend. Also the michel thomas method dutch course was one of the only post michel thomas courses that I actually liked. So, I can also recommend that. After Assimil I would suggest something like Donaldson's Dutch grammar, which is very manageable in covering every relevant grammar topic, but doesnt cover much at all of colloquial language .Just a warning if you do plan on vistiting the country- Dutch is not a language that you can half learn and actually expect to use extensively in the Netherlands. If you dont speak it well, and with a manageable pronunciation, then you wont have much chance to speak it at all.
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| egill Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5696 days ago 418 posts - 791 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 4 of 8 01 August 2011 at 2:52am | IP Logged | ||
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I went through and can second the recommendation for Michel Thomas and Assimil. Though I
must admit I'm a bit perplexed at characterizing RS as 'structured'. When I last did it, which is a admittedly many years ago, there was no structure whatsover. Just a grab bag of random pictures and sentences. I can also second the recommendation for the Routledge comprehensive grammar, it's quite thorough. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Dibbles Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4866 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch | Message 5 of 8 06 August 2011 at 2:54am | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks for the responses.
Which packs would you recommend for Michel Thomas and Assimil? Looking on Amazon.co.uk, there are many different packs available and all at a wide range of prices. Assimil http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3D stripbooks&field-keywords=assimil+dutch&x=0&y=0 Michel Thomas http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_9_13?url=search-ali as%3Daps&field-keywords=michel+thomas+dutch&sprefix=michel+t homas&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Amichel+thomas+dutch&ajr=0 If I bought the 'Total' version of Michel Thomas, would it be worth getting the 'Start' pack also? Routledge - should I go for the 'Routledge Intensive Dutch Course, or The New Routledge Dutch Dictionary Dutch-English/English-Dutch; or both? http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3D stripbooks&field-keywords=assimil+dutch&x=0&y=0#/ref=nb_sb_n oss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=routledge+d utch&rh=n%3A266239%2Ck%3Aroutledge+dutch Really sorry to be asking so much on this. Edited by Dibbles on 06 August 2011 at 2:54am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| doviende Diglot Senior Member Canada languagefixatio Joined 5986 days ago 533 posts - 1245 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Hindi, Swedish, Portuguese | Message 6 of 8 06 August 2011 at 7:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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I started right from the beginning with Harry Potter translated into Dutch, along with Harry Potter Dutch audiobooks. You may find it useful to consult the English versions of the books occasionally, to remind yourself of the story, but a lot can be figured out by reading and listening. Another option is to listen to the Dutch audio while reading the English text, but I find it takes a bit of concentration to focus on the Dutch audio and not get swept away by reading the English.
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| egill Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5696 days ago 418 posts - 791 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 7 of 8 07 August 2011 at 11:02am | IP Logged | ||
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I might also add, that for some reason or another there is a massive amount of Dutch
material, specifically ebooks and movie subtitles, compared with materials for, say, German. I know that the latter can be explained by less use of dubbing in Dutch-speaking areas, but it doesn't explain why there are so many ebooks. Or perhaps I'm just really bad at finding such things! In any case, when you want to start using those, I think you shall certainly have no trouble getting enough. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6011 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 8 of 8 07 August 2011 at 2:33pm | IP Logged | ||
With Assimil, you need to make sure you're getting the CDs with the book. RRP in the region of £60. A version at around £40 may be the CDs only, so check the item description carefully. As for which edition, I couldn't say whether the current one (2008) is any better than the 1980s version (with various republished editions since) or not. Michel Thomas: Get either the Foundation course or the Total course. Foundation is discontinued and has recently been replaced by Total. The Total course also has some computery gimmicks added in, but they don't look like they're worth shelling out extra for if you can get a copy of Foundation cheaper elsewhere. "Start" is not required, and it doesn't seem worth it. I don't believe there's anything in it that isn't available in the Total course -- it's just a ploy to get cash off people who're scared of buying the bigger box. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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