Dutch Proverbs and Sayings – Introduction
Transcript:
Hi, this is an introduction to my video course “250 Dutch Proverbs”. I made a selection of proverbs and sayings that any foreigner who learns Dutch should know. The course consists of 25 lessons. In each lesson I explain the meaning of 10 proverbs or sayings.
You can do this course on any level from just above beginner level up to fluent level.
I stress the importance of knowing proverbs, because the Dutch use them a lot.
The reason for me to make this course is that I noticed there are too many students who reached fluency level, a rich vocabulary, but never paid attention to proverbs. And I have to admit myself. When I was learning other languages, I did not put effort in studying this part. As a result, you take part in conversations with natives, and you just need to ask again and again, what do they mean.
Ok, let’s say you’re convinced of the importance of knowing proberbs. But if you look for ways to study Dutch proverbs as a foreigner – it is very difficult to understand WHAT proverbs are important to know. There are many books on the market, which contain 1000’s of proverbs – of which 95% an average Dutch person doesn’t know. So that is WHY I made a selection. I bought some proverbs collection books, I read all the proverbs, and I marked those that I think you should know.
It’s not that a big effort to learn. I am not just giving you a translation – I tell something about the origin of the proverb and in which situation you can use it. Simply watch the video lessons. Because once you understand the meaning, you easily will remember when you hear it.
If your goal is to speak Dutch well in the end. You can’t skip this.
Not only because of getting to know the meaning, it is interesting to do this course. The proverbs will also tell you a lot about the Dutch population, our history and the way in which we think.
I would like to mention, that subtitles are available for each lesson. You just push the CC button in YouTube. So, you can do the course on a device without speakers, or simply when you don’t want to disturb the rest of the family or your colleagues. The transcript of the lesson you find on Learndutch.org.
If you are ready for it, you can start with lesson 1.