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Learning a language by watching TV? | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Music, Movies, TV & Radio |  | |
| tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7025 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes  Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish | Message 25 of 134 07 June 2006 at 3:30am | IP Logged | ||
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Ah prima, dan kan ik dus voortaan in het Nederlands schrijven, lekker makkelijk voor mij :-)
But interesting, then learning Dutch must be very easy for English speakers. And it may get easier and easier too since we Dutch adopt more and more English in our language. When I look at the tv guide for instance, it's full of English words. So that is why some people prefer to learn Dutch before learning German? At least I've read that some people do that? Then Dutch must be in the middle between English and German and thus be able to function as a bridge between the two? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sir Nigel Senior Member United States Joined 7095 days ago 1126 posts - 1102 votes 2 sounds | Message 26 of 134 07 June 2006 at 12:59pm | IP Logged | ||
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They're definitely related, but I must say when I was on holiday in Belgium I couldn't figure out a large share of the Dutch. In fact my mum and I were trying to cancel a load of clothing in a washing machine that was only in Dutch and let's just say that was really difficult!
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| tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7025 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish | Message 27 of 134 08 June 2006 at 5:06am | IP Logged | ||
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I can imagine a little :)
I guess even though they're simular, there will still be a few thousand words and some grammar rules that are different and need to be learned. Especially when you deal with specific area's and topics. About a year ago I read an English book that showed me that in English too there are many gradations and 'area's'. I can read modern English quite well but this one was a bit more difficult at times. It was an interesting book by the way (Brave new world by Aldous Huxley). When reading you also take a deeper look at the language, then you get to see it's beauty I think (by hearing too but by reading perhaps even more). Normaly I take English for granted as an 'easy' language almost everybody knows. But when you look at it, it's also a beautiful language! (I don't like Dutch very much by the way :) Edited by tuffy on 08 June 2006 at 5:18am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| pentatonic Senior Member United States Joined 7238 days ago 221 posts - 245 votes | Message 28 of 134 08 June 2006 at 11:11am | IP Logged | ||
While Barry Farber says that Dutch is the closest language to English, I'd say that Dutch is much closer to German and that's what I use to try to figure it out. In the sentence you give above, prima is even spelled same as in German. Then it's easy to figure out what are the pronouns are and most of the other words. Schrijven looks like schreiben, etc. Then you can try to guess the other words by context. It wasn't perfect though. I had no clue what voortaan meant and I got hung up on lekker because it's so close to the German lecker and I couldn't figure out what was so yummy :) I did get the overall meaning of the sentence. I don't know if Dutch would be so easy for English speakers. I don't think it's close enough for that. I don't find learning any foreign language particularly easy, but I'm still trying to master my first. You're right about the word adoption and it's the same in German. Sometimes I wonder what the language will look like in 20 years. You see English constantly in articles, ads, etc. If they can't find a word that rhymes in German they'll use an English one that does. I actually saw a German self-help book that had a completely English title. Just shows you how chic the use of English is over there. The situation is probably very similar in Holland. Edited by pentatonic on 08 June 2006 at 9:39pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sir Nigel Senior Member United States Joined 7095 days ago 1126 posts - 1102 votes 2 sounds | Message 29 of 134 08 June 2006 at 9:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well either I read it somewhere of I just concluded it in my mind, but learning French or Spanish would be easier than Dutch. Despite the complex grammar you would get serious discounts on the vocabulary.
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| Frisco Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6847 days ago 380 posts - 398 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Italian, Turkish, Mandarin | Message 30 of 134 08 June 2006 at 9:43pm | IP Logged | ||
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English shares quite a bit of basic vocabulary (numbers, body parts, frequently used verbs) with other Germanic languages, but the more sophisticated the topic--the more English has in common with Romance languages.
Grammatically, English is very much Germanic (with a few borrowed Latin rules thrown in for good measure). If grammar is one's weakpoint, an "easy" language would most likely be from the Scandinavian group. I think Dutch still retains a few old complexities, but not as many as German. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Thuan Triglot Senior Member GermanyRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6921 days ago 133 posts - 156 votes Speaks: Vietnamese, German*, English Studies: French, Japanese, Romanian, Swedish, Mandarin | Message 31 of 134 09 June 2006 at 4:54am | IP Logged | ||
voortan probably means "fortan" (from now on). But I can't figure out what lekker means. Guess I'll have to learn Dutch someday. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Frisco Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6847 days ago 380 posts - 398 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Italian, Turkish, Mandarin | Message 32 of 134 09 June 2006 at 5:16am | IP Logged | ||
Interesting. From a Norwegian learner's perspective, I see "voortan" being similar to "hvordan" (how). As for "lekker", my choices are limited to "delicious" and "leak", neither of which are all that likely. Who else dares to attempt to decode these mysterious inscriptions? :P 1 person has voted this message useful |
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