The use of ‘lekker’ for purposes other than whether food tastes good was really unusual for me when I arrived in Wageningen from Germany to start my Master’s at the WUR. When Dutch friends said: ‘slaap lekker’ or ‘lekkere muziek’, I was sometimes quite confused. ‘Slaap lekker’ means ‘good night’ and ‘lekkere muziek’ means ‘good music’. Lekker is usually used when you find something good. I am used to it, but I still sometimes laugh at Dutch expressions that would be strange in a German formulation, like ‘slim’, which means ‘smart’ and reminds me a lot of the German word ‘schlimm’, which means ‘terrible’ in English. In the beginning, I always mixed up ‘makkelijk’ and ‘moelijk’. If something was very easy, I would accidentally say it was very hard ‘moeilijk’ (hard) and vice versa. The hardest word to pronounce was ‘Alsjeblieft’, which means ‘please’.
I arrived in the Netherlands a year ago, and one of my goals was to learn Dutch as quickly as possible because I wanted to integrate into the Dutch community. So, I started talking to my friends in Dutch during lunch breaks, at the archery club, in the supermarket, and in cafes and restaurants.
Many Dutch-speaking people immediately switched to English because they realised that I was not Dutch. After a year in Wageningen, most of them don’t switch anymore. In the beginning, I was quite insecure and afraid that I might spell something wrong or that people wouldn’t understand me. This was indeed the case, but it was a good way to learn and improve.
In the beginning, I was afraid that I might spell something wrong. This was indeed the case, but it was a good way to learn and improve
In January, I decided to go to a Dutch conversation café, and then I followed up in spring with Social Dutch 4 from the university’s In’to Languages, which brought me to the beginning of a B1 level. Unfortunately, they do not offer a Social Dutch 5 course. As a student, I have to pay almost €600 for the following course. Because I can’t afford that, I had to look for other ways to improve my language skills. I started watching Dutch movies and reading Dutch books. That works quite well. Only writing the Dutch language is challenging. Now, I have online Dutch lessons with a teacher once or twice a week. So far, I am really enjoying learning the language.
As a German, it is quite easy to learn Dutch. At least, that is what I have found with myself and other German friends. Even Germans who did not put much effort into it could understand a lot after a year or two in the Netherlands. German has the advantage of having a similar grammar to Dutch and many similar words. From my point of view, I have noticed more difficulties with students from other countries whose first language is from, for example, Indonesia or India.
I would like to give a tip to all of you who are learning a language: Try to speak the language, and don’t be afraid of spelling mistakes! You will learn much faster.
Resource student editor Sarah (24) is a second year Masterstudent Climate Studies from Germany. She likes to do archery and horseback riding. She volunteers in the Mastercie of her study association Actief Slip and in juFORUM, a young scientists’ network.
