ONE-TO-ONE COURSES WHERE THE LANGUAGE IS SPOKEN

The Dutch of Flanders
or of the Netherlands?

From time to time, people who are interested in our residential Dutch courses ask us if we teach Dutch as spoken in Flanders or in the Netherlands. French speaking Belgians say that they understand the Dutch they hear on the radio or television, but have difficulty understanding their Dutch-speaking colleagues when they speak among themselves.

 Standard Dutch does exist, and, until about fifteen years ago, we were not able to tell which region a speaker of standard Dutch (Standaard Nederlands, SN) came from. But this ‘Standard Dutch’ has evolved, and an accent-free Dutch is no longer the norm. Nowadays there is a greater tolerance and a looser definition of what is supposed to be correct Dutch. The ‘Standaard Nederlands’ of today is more flexible and fluent, closer to the spoken language with shorter and simpler sentences, and is no longer identified with a certain accent.

In the past twenty years, the society in Flanders and also in the Netherlands has become more equalitarian. The idea of authority no longer exists, and the way a certain social class speaks is no longer a criterion. What is important is to be understood. The norm, if we can still speak of one, is the “Algemeen Verstaanbaar Nederlands”, an “understandable” Dutch. Today’s Dutch speakers adapt themselves to their audience. Depending on where they are and who they are speaking to, they speak either a form of regional Dutch or standard Dutch.

Dutch stands out from other Germanic languages because of its sentence construction and its typical melody. Regional differences are essentially limited to slightly varying accents. The pronunciation of ‘r’, for instance, may resemble either the French ‘r’ or the Anglo-Saxon ‘r’. The ‘g’ may sound guttural or soft. The ‘ui’ in ‘huis’ can go from ‘hus’ to ‘hois’. The ‘ij’(ai) in ‘Kijken’(kiken) may also be pronounced as /i/ (Kicken) or /ei/ (kayken).

At DialoguE. you learn to speak Dutch in the same way as you learnt to speak your own language, by speaking about subjects that interest you. These subjects are often linked to the reasons for which you wish to learn Dutch. The vocabulary used is what you need, more specific than everyday vocabulary used at meal or leisure times.

This real dialogue about what truly interests you teaches you, almost unconsciously, to feel the construction of a Dutch sentence. In the same way that you learned your own language, you become familiar with the typical Dutch melody, and you learn, in a most natural way, how to stress the important parts of your words and sentences.

Learning a language through dialogue is the DialoguE method: thanks to complete immersion, you soon stop translating and, instead of learning the grammar, you learn to speak and feel the language. Emphasis is put on specific vocabulary and sentences that you need. You will learn how to familiarise yourself with different accents through audiovisual material coming from the regions where you will be using your Dutch, for instance by watching the news and working on items that interest you.

Through DialoguE, you will learn to speak and to understand today’s standard Dutch. You will be able to communicate effectively in all circumstances, be it in Flanders or in the Netherlands.

Richard Van Egdom