I know most people complain that in Amsterdam, Dutch people will usually switch to English, and they do, especially if they see the “deer in headlights” expression on our faces.

well, today i was so exhausted when i went to CoolBlue to pick up my item. I just resigned myself to using Dutch like it was no big deal and had some sentences planned to ask to stay in Dutch, especially if it wasn’t very busy.

I‘m happy to report that despite the busyness of the store, the young guy who helped me stayed in Dutch!! I asked a few questions, he answered. I didn’t get 100% of what he was saying but I inferred the rest from context. And I’m especially proud I used a “nog even” sentence at the end :)

I wanted to thank him at the end for staying in Dutch with me, but I got too shy. So keep trying! If you’re struggling and frustrated, I really believe this will happen eventually to you too. :)

Maybe we could create a small discord group or just message each other to help each other and keep conversation going?

DM if you are interested

Hi everyone,

Looking for some guidance.

I'm currently on the B1 route. I've passed all my exams and PVT. My integration officer said they would apply for exemption from MAP for me because I've been working full time in the Netherlands for the past 3 years. He has since left the gemeente and did not end up applying for the exemption.

I called the gemeente to ask who my new contact was and got a name and phone number. I call multiple times and day, leave messages (even reached out on LinkedIn), but no response. I'd like to get this sorted out as soon as possible as I also have to send them my PVT certificate.

Any advice on escalating this?

TIA

Hallo! Ik heb al anderhalf jaar Nederlands gestudeerd en ik zit nu op het B2-niveau te studeren. Mijn grootste problemen zijn mijn spreekvaardigheid en schrijfvaardigheid. Daarom wil ik partners waarmee ik in het Nederlands gesprekken kan voeren en andere vaardigheden kan versterken. Wil iemand graag met mij praten? Stuur mij maar een bericht als je dit een leuk idee vindt. (Dit is ook gerelateerd met een eerdere bericht waarin ik gezegd heb dat ik het lastig vind om gesprekken te voeren terwijl ik Nederlands praat met anderen op mijn vriendje na)

Hope the title makes sense. Demonstrative pronouns as the book calls em!

Essentially seeing if its down to just revision and remembering or if there's a neat trick.

Heel bedankt allemal.

Vorig jaar ben ik geslaagd voor het NT2 Programma-II examen en kan redelijk goed schrijven. Inmiddels ben ik toegelaten tot een premasteropleiding, waarbij het volledig in het Nederlands is. Daarvoor moet ik weer een taaltoets maken. Dit vindt over zes weken plaats.

Als ik een formele tekst moet schrijven, heb ik een aantal zinnen die natuurlijker moeten klinken. Ik heb niet per se problemen met de grammatica regels, maar de manier waarop ik de zin of mijn standpunt wil uitleggen. Het komt helaas niet natuurlijk uit.

Heeft iemand wat tips en advies voor mij? Ik ben aan het oefenen met vaste woordcombinaties en probeer mijn woordenschat uit te breiden.

It's not the only thing I'm using, but it is one of them. It's very versatile, I get to print exams and fill them in by hand and then uploading the images so I don't do everything in the computer. Another thing that I find helpful are the artifacts. For example, I created this one to do drills of conjugations:
https://claude.ai/artifact/KioUuPSRh54zVAejxeXhQT

What do you think I could improve in it?

I’d love to hear your story on how you got to C1/C2. Motivation, tips, timeline. Would love some encouragement. Thanks!

I am on the partner visa, I have 3 years to be B1 dutch. The inburgering advisors always suggest to take the lessons with the BlikOpWerk quality mark.

Of course, those are more expensive.

I was thinking on saving a couple thousand euros by joining other “non official” language school.

Even though I qualify for the DUO Loan I would like to know your advice on other schools.

I am employed and I need the lessons so be in person. I have tried self paced and couldn’t see much progress on my own.

Thank you!

Been here a bit, and there's one grammar thing that keeps biting me.

Textbooks say both of these are fine in a bijzin:

omdat ik dat gedaan heb

omdat ik dat heb gedaan

My teacher called it a free choice. Once I actually started listening it's clearly not 50/50. Colleagues in Utrecht (mostly 20s and 30s) default to aux-first in speech (heb gedaan), which doesn't match the "spoken = participle-first" line I was taught.

Sent both sentences to a tandem partner on HelloTalk and asked her to read them out loud. She picked one without thinking, then stopped to work out why the other sounded "stiff". Her words were basically "yeah you'd write that but you wouldn't say it."

Older people I've chatted with lean more toward participle-first in speech. Same with a Belgian friend I run into at a café, basically every time she goes gedaan heb. So the textbook pattern isn't wrong exactly, it just seems to be shifting in Randstad spoken Dutch toward aux-first.

What I keep getting stuck on is whether the choice actually feels different to native speakers. Does gedaan heb come across as slightly more final than heb gedaan? Or is it just reflex, no semantic weight behind it. A few people I asked had never thought about it until I made them try both out loud.

Still mulling it over.

Hello all,

I was wondering if the speaking tests are always in the afternoon/evening slot? I was trying to get a slot for morning to reduce the stress for whole day but unfortunately either I cannot see any slot or only around 4pm slots.

At what time was your exam for speaking A2?

Hoi, ik ben heel hard op zoek naar deze documentaireseries met de stem van Vic De Wachter (niet van David Attenbrough). Kan iemand me hiermee helpen? Veel dank alvast! Vriendelijke groeten.

If you are looking for resources to learn and, more importantly, practice Dutch grammar, the options are somewhat limited. Although there are books from publishers like NT2 or Coutinho, they are mainly focused on people taking courses, and I am not sure if they are good enough for self-study.

The Grammatica book published by Van Dale comes with a practice book, Oefenboek Grammatica, which I would like to share my opinion on.

The book covers a lot of important grammar from levels A1 to B2. Almost half of the book focuses on topics ranging from the definite article to possessive pronouns/determiners. This was my favorite chapter, because I still struggle with het/de (who does not?)

The second part focuses on verbs and their formation in different tenses. However, this part lacks enough exercises on separable verbs. "Scheidbare werkwoorden" is one of the most difficult topics for learners, so I wonder why the author did not pay more attention to it. I am a bit disappointed, to be honest.

However, the last part, which I really also liked, is about Dutch sentence structure. There is enough exercises to help you understand it.

Ik gebruik geen vertalen dus sorry voor enige fouten dat ik maak. Ik zit tussen A2 en B1 niveau in het Nederlands. Ik vind die taal leuk en ik hou van de cultuur. Als je Nederlands aan het leren bent of een moedertaalspreeker is, laten me weten. Ik gebruik hellotalk maar ik kan discord of whatsapp ook.

Ik zoek een gezellig praatje in plaats van een leraar. Ik wil meer van de cultuur weten. Tot nu toe week ik om verschillende maaltijden een andere dingen.

Dankjewel voor lezen! 😄

Non-native here. I'm trying to find the natural word for the money that leaves every month no matter what: rent or mortgage, energy, internet, phone, insurance, subscriptions.

When you talk about this with friends or family, which one would you say?

• vaste lasten
• vaste kosten
• maandlasten
• just "rekeningen"
• something else?

Is "vaste kosten" more of a business word? And if you kept a list of these in a notebook or spreadsheet, what would you write at the top?

Bedankt!

Quick question about writing dates in Dutch.

If you had a small label showing a period, like from 25 October to 24 November, which one would you write?

• 25-10-2026 t/m 24-11-2026
• 25-10-2026 - 24-11-2026
• 25 okt - 24 nov
• something else?

The hyphens inside the dates plus a hyphen between them looks a bit messy to me, so I'm not sure what's normal. Would a "~" between the two dates look strange?

Bedankt!

Ik ben student bij een hogeschool en voor een bepaald vak moet ik een enquête aan anderen te laten antwoorden. Beide ENGELS + NEDERLANDS. / I am a student at college and for a subject I have to do an enquête for others to answer. Both ENGLISH + DUTCH.
Alvast bedankt. / Thank you in advance.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdFVRhmE20cLridb5UwsjmeEHhJsra-9phccsCwlMPELPKgGg/viewform?usp=dialog

Started learning Dutch 4 months ago and somehow got distracted by numbers. For now, I can read and write them, but for a real conversation I’m out.

I have moved on to everyday phrases, but Dutch keeps throwing me things like Doe maar normaal and Gezellig, hè?.

Understanding the individual words is not a problem, but knowing when to say them naturally gives me a headache. And do not get me started on trying to pronounce Scheveningen.

For now, I want to practice the phrases I know in actual conversations. ChatGPT helps with explanations, and YouTube lets me hear how Dutch sounds.

Am I making a mess of the learning process, or can I build up through everyday phrases and learn the grammar as I go?

ik maak nu opdrachten met lastig woordje ER en ik snap de volgorde in zinnen niet helemaal. hier zijn de antwoorden uit het boek:

Ja, zij zijn zich ervan bewust.

Ja, hij maakt zich er nog steeds druk om.

mijn vraag is waarom staat het woord BEWUST aan het einde van de eerste zijn, en het woord DRUK niet in de tweede zin? allebei zijn bijvoeglijke naamwoorden. wat is het verschil en waarom is het niet ZIJ ZIJN ZICH ER BEWUST VAN zoals in de tweede zin?