2000 Most Common Dutch Words in Context: Get Fluent & Increase Your Dutch Vocabulary with 2000 Dutch Phrases (Dutch Language Lessons)

Lingo Mastery continues on its important mission – to make Dutch more accessible to a wider population. In the Introductory Note the goal is stated well: ‘Dutch is spoken by 17 million people in the Netherlands, 6.5 million people in Belgium, and approximately another million people living around the world. Whether you’re living in the Netherlands or Belgium right now, moving there soon, or just want to learn the language to speak to your Dutch-speaking friends and family: this phrase book is an excellent tool for beginners, as well as intermediate learners, to support their language learning journey. Vocabulary is the foundation to learning a foreign language. Being able to recognize words in the language you’re learning, both written and spoken, is the basis of eventually mastering the language, even if you don’t understand the grammar constructions being used in the sentence…Context is the key…the four best skills – listening, reading, speaking and writing.’ After their success teaching Spanish, French, Italian, German, Chinese, Japanese and Russian, now they turn to teaching Dutch! And it works. After some valuable grammar notes, the vocabulary is presented from articles, to nouns, to verbs, pronouns, prepositions, etc. The phrases that follow highlight the intended words and place them in context – a very easy way to remember the new Dutch words. Taking it slowly, step by step with practice, Dutch words become accessible! The technique is solid and the lessons well taught. This is a very fine introduction to Dutch vocabulary that may arise when you visit the Netherlands or Belgium, appropriate for all age levels. Grady Harp, May 20

I'm listening to the audio in the car whenever I'm going more than 10-15 minutes away, and I have noticed a big difference in how well I can understand my tutor, in just one week (which admittedly included a couple of 1- to 2-hour drives). I can now hear the separate words in his sentences, even when I don't recognize them. I'm not letting it distract me from driving, so part of this learning seems to be subliminal. I realize that the authors recommend reading along as one listens, but I'm trying to get fluent in understanding spoken Dutch and focusing on listening is helping to wean me from reliance on having to see the word to understand it. A number of reviews have said you have to buy both the print book and the audio book to use either, but that's not quite true -- you get a free PDF of the book when you buy the audio book, whether for cash or an Audible credit. The problem is that Amazon makes it hard to find the PDF (you have to select either "All" or "Docs" in Kindle to find the PDF), but it IS there. Get the Kindle-for-PC app, for your phone, and use your Kindle, and you can read along on one device while playing the audio on another. Of course, if you want a hardcopy, buy the book. In short, this audio plus printed combination is great. The sentences are reasonably complex, so I think I am getting a good feel for the language as well as learning specific vocabulary. I highly recommend the Audible version since it includes the PDF.

I like that there is a book with this intent. I didn't know it was supposed to have companion audio recordings (that didn't come with my Amazon order)? Are the recordings just the same single sentence that is listed in examples? This book seems less for beginners. I'm past beginners and it's not as easy to use for for the following reasons. The main beef I have--each usage is not supplied an example. E.g. " 484 - recht [n, adj, adv] law; right; straight..." Only an example of straight is listed, of hanging a picture that isn't straight. Using it as a noun meaning "law" is not given. So I'm looking it up (somewhere else) and seeing how to use it, and to find out what article to use for that noun. A suggestion: if Articles for the nouns stood before the word, visual learners could take a "mental snapshot" for memory. Or it could follow the designation 'n'. As it is, 'De-' or 'Het-' appear only if the 1 example uses the noun version of the word's meaning. And only if the example does not use 'deze' 'die' or other neutral articles like 'een' Maybe this all has to do with my learning style....

I love this book. It gives common everyday words with definitions

Very simple and straightforward yet very useful! I wish I would have had this book when I was learning the language. Rest assured, I will be recommending this to anyone looking to get started.

2000 Most Common Dutch Words in Context provides a natural way to start to learn Dutch. In presenting the 2000 most common words, it gives you a good grasp of vocabulary. They are listed in the order of frequency, so you learn the most important words first. But it goes beyond listing the words and their meanings. It gives an example sentence using each word (and its translation). The sentences include additional words, so in the end you learn more than just 2000 words. But more importantly, the sentences teach sentence structure and “grammar” painlessly. As you read (and learn) the sentences, you begin to see patterns and begin to figure out the grammar, rather than memorizing complicated and boring grammar rules. That’s the way children learn a language, by being exposed to lots and lots of examples.

I found this book a fun and refreshing way to review, and it's motivating to know that these words are the most common and therefore most likely to come up in practice. It's a nice supplement to my regular studying to flip through a few pages each day.

I was disappointed there was no pronunciation guide. Otherwise the phrases are helpful.