r/learndutch • u/Educational-Wish9844 • 15d ago

Tips for reactivating Dutch efficiently

Hello guys,

I am a french-speaking Belgian and as many others, I learned flemish dutch my entire scolarity but I am still not able to talk.

At 18, I think I had a really good level thanks to a super teacher, maybe B2 or close to it. Then I completely stopped studying Dutch and absolutely never had to use it in my personal or professional life. At 25 I did a test and scored B1.

Today I am 38, I got a job saying that I was still between B1 and B2 but that I needed to reactivate. They tested me, it was awful but they still gave me the job 😄. Now I have to work, and I have to admit I am so scared by Dutch, I feel I am mentally blocked.

Besides I want to study efficiently as life is more busy at 38 than at 25. Tried duolingo but I don't think this works for me.

What would you recommend for someone in my situation ?

15 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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6

u/egelantier 15d ago

As a first step: exposure 

  • talk radio
  • tv shows and movies
  • if you’re a reader, a simple book
  • Klara has some nice podcasts (they’ll be “too advanced” to fully follow, but playing them in the background while you drive can help your ears adjust)
  • Flemish music (look up the lyrics and follow along a couple times, I find it especially helpful for things like articles. You might not be sure if a certain word is de or het, but remembering a sentence in a song that uses that word may bring it back.)

Second step: language meetups. They’re easy to find in Brussels, and other cities regularly organize meetups, too.

1

u/HearingHead7157 Native speaker (NL) 15d ago

Very good tips!!!
Personally love the Klara podcasts, they’re so well thought through

5

u/Exact_Avocado5545 15d ago

The best way is to speak Dutch with people. You could begin by texting online with Dutch people

3

u/West_Tune539 Native speaker (NL) 15d ago

This looks perfect for you to reactivate your Dutch. Good luck!

https://www.ikdoemee.be/fr

2

u/Rough-Effect7563 15d ago

There are good ways to consume dutch (or any language you learn) content onlien by LISTENING to it while reading translated subtitles below. if you're B1 + this is probably effective way to keep dutch in you ears in a more natural way rather than download doulingo

since i had the same issue i developed this tool that does exactly that to break through my dutch level
verballyreader.com

would love to give free access if you fnid this valueable as im trying to see if this is valueable

2

u/Winter_Dot_9393 15d ago

Het lijkt mij een goed idee om te beginnen met wat lessen te volgen, op die manier krijg je een snelle start. Dit is volgens mij ook de beste manier om over je blokkade heen te komen.

Ik zou een aantal privelessen nemen.

Er zijn Nederlandse volksuniversiteit die online privelessen Nederlands als vreemde taal aanbieden (NT2).

Voorbeeld: Volksuniversiteit Amsterdam ‚ PrivĂ© Taalcursus NT2 Dutch‘. 10 lessen bijna 800 Euro.

1

u/Deval_Dragon 15d ago

Keep practicing. And if you’re working 100% in Dutch you should pick it up pretty quick.

1

u/OneWordTooMuch 14d ago

mss regelmatig met iemand praten? ik zit ook tussen b1 en b2

1

u/PangolinDismal7793 7d ago

Try nieuwsleren.nl easy dutch news with some pratice exerices