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Dutch easy reading materials (A1) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| guiguixx1 Octoglot Senior Member Belgium guillaumelp.wordpres Joined 3892 days ago 163 posts - 207 votes  Speaks: French*, English, Dutch, Portuguese, Esperanto, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Polish, Mandarin | Message 1 of 8 09 October 2015 at 7:59pm | IP Logged |
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Hi all,
I teach Dutch to secondary-school students and am frequently faced with the problem of their weak level (they sometimes still can't conjuguate verbs in the present tense). I try to encourage them to read more and improve their vocabulary and grammar with this method, but my problem is that, except for Wablieft, I don't have any newspaper or material to propose them. Their level is very weak, and I can't find anything for them to practice more. They have the same problem for their listening comprehension (they don't even understand "heeft iemand nog een vraag?"...). I was even thinking about writing easy texts myself, even though I am not a native. I nevertheless have around C1 in average, and am in my 4th year of Germanic languages study at the university, so I think my level is good enough 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Speakeasy Senior Member Canada Joined 3852 days ago 507 posts - 1098 votes Studies: German | Message 2 of 8 09 October 2015 at 9:07pm | IP Logged |
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I have studied Dutch, on and off, for the past couple of years. My approach to learning a new language, before moving on to readers, tends toward the initial creation of a "base knowledge", at about the A2 level, through the self-study of fairly standard materials such as Pimsleur, Living Language, Linguaphone, FSI, etcetera. Consequently most of the reading materials that I possess are for students who are on the cusp of the Intermediate level. Thus, I cannot offer you an ideal solution to this problem. However, I do have a few, imperfect, suggestions.
You did not mention the language spoken by your students. If their French is up to the task, you could consider encouraging them to purchase a copy of the Méthode 90 Néerlandais Débutant self-study course book. Yes, I appreciate that the focus is on the spoken language. However, reading the spoken language should help them read simple texts. I can send you the audio recordings in MP3 format, if you wish. The same possibility exists for Assimil le néerlandais Occasionally, whilst working around the A1-A2 level, I work with "fables, folk literature, tales, etcetera " by authors such as Aesop, James Joyce, E.E. Cummings, Upton Sinclair, Ernest Hemmingway, Aldous Huxley, John Updike, Salman Rushdie, Umberto Ecco, T.S. Eliot, Gertrude Stein, James Baldwin, Leo Tolstoy, Hans Christian Andersen, Edgar Allan Poe, the Brothers Grimm, and like. The stories are quite easy to read and translations are available in many languages, including Dutch. In addition, for the earlier authors, you can often locate free copies, with audio recordings, and editions in several languages, including Dutch, on Librivox. As your students are adolescents, you might consider "fantasy and science fiction" collections Dutch Science Fiction. Finally, and this is not a joke, you could consider the collection by Harlequin that are available in numerous languages. Yes, these stories are written for the lovelorn; however, the writing is simple and these short stories might help engage your students. Edited by Speakeasy on 09 October 2015 at 9:13pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| guiguixx1 Octoglot Senior Member Belgium guillaumelp.wordpres Joined 3892 days ago 163 posts - 207 votes Speaks: French*, English, Dutch, Portuguese, Esperanto, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Polish, Mandarin | Message 3 of 8 10 October 2015 at 10:24am | IP Logged |
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I had forgotten to mention that I'm not their official teacher, I'm rather a tutor,
someone who comes to help them once a week for 2 hours, so I'm not supposed to ask them to buy a book and work on it. Only the teacher can ask that. Furthermore, they won't want to use their money for expensive books (even an Assimil book is expensive for them), that's why I would prefer to find something for free And they are indeed French speakers, although some of them speak another language at home ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Speakeasy Senior Member Canada Joined 3852 days ago 507 posts - 1098 votes Studies: German | Message 4 of 8 10 October 2015 at 2:08pm | IP Logged |
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I notice that the Librivox Dutch Section presently contains 255 books. If you searched the Librivox French Section, I am confident that you would find some of the same books. Thus, you would have a Dutch-French Parallel Reader with accompanying audio recordings, free-of-charge! My suggestion is that you consider the works of Hans Christian Anderson; they're fairly easy and quite enjoyable.
I am under the impression that many of the "more active" Forum Members have opened accounts on the "new" HTLAL Forum. You might garner more replies if you open a discussion thread on the "new" Forum, with a link to this one. Good luck! Edited by Speakeasy on 10 October 2015 at 2:12pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| guiguixx1 Octoglot Senior Member Belgium guillaumelp.wordpres Joined 3892 days ago 163 posts - 207 votes Speaks: French*, English, Dutch, Portuguese, Esperanto, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Polish, Mandarin | Message 5 of 8 10 October 2015 at 8:17pm | IP Logged |
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Thank you for the advice, I didn't know this website! :) I just have one problem: these
are audios, and the level is of at last B1, while my students don't even have A1 :/ 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Speakeasy Senior Member Canada Joined 3852 days ago 507 posts - 1098 votes Studies: German | Message 6 of 8 10 October 2015 at 9:29pm | IP Logged |
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If you click on the title of a particular book, such as "Andersens Sproken en vertellingen", and explore the details, you will find that you can download the text via various means.
As to the materials on Librivox, most of them date from the 19th century (the idea being to avoid infringing on copyright laws) and they were destined for native speakers. Consequently, the CEFR Levels would be, for the most part, C1-C2. I assume that the "folk tales" would be in the A2-B2 range. I suggested "Andersens Sproken en vertellingen" because the stories were written for children; hence, they are much easier to understand by a Beginner. I would estimate that the level would be in the neighborhood of A2, but I won't quibble. This was, indeed, my own "First Dutch Reader"; however, when I embarked on my project of reading native materials, I had already completed a couple of Introductory Courses and my level was probably around A2 at the time. Was it easy for me? No, it was not. But I wasn't looking for "easy", I was seeking "improvement". As to your students' ability to comprehend Dutch, if they are not yet at the A1 level, perhaps you could locate some very basic readers at the A0 level in some other language and create your own translations for your students. Alternatively, since Dutch children must learn to read using native materials, perhaps you could purchase a couple of examples of children's books and simply photocopy them for distribution to your students. In both cases, I will let your conscience be your guide with respect to copyright laws! Otherwise, your students might not be ready for reading assignments and they should simply concentrate on developing some basic skills before embarking on Readers. Sorry, I'm all out of ideas! Edited by Speakeasy on 10 October 2015 at 11:44pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| guiguixx1 Octoglot Senior Member Belgium guillaumelp.wordpres Joined 3892 days ago 163 posts - 207 votes Speaks: French*, English, Dutch, Portuguese, Esperanto, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Polish, Mandarin | Message 7 of 8 11 October 2015 at 7:36am | IP Logged |
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I am indeed very restricted because of their level, it's difficilt to find something then
the student's level is SO low. I could maybe recreate a sort of Assimil method, audio and texts, or write myself a story, as simplified as I could try to be. I will also ask them what they think about children book, in case they might like Thank you for your advice! And if new ideas spring to mind, or if somebody else sees another option, I'm all ears! :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| darkwhispersdal Senior Member Wales Joined 5840 days ago 294 posts - 363 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Ancient Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese, Latin | Message 8 of 8 11 October 2015 at 7:38pm | IP Logged |
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There are some beginner Dutch lessons on www.lingq.com that are free to access. They also
come with audio. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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