No comments about Cinema for French Conversation: Instructor's Manual, Second Edition.

1 comments about Colloquial Dutch.

1. It is totally, absolutely, never-in-a-lifetime possible to learn Dutch from just a book and/or CDs. Period. Full stop.

No comments about Berlitz Dutch in 60 Minutes (Berlitzin 60 Minutes).

1 comments about Conversational Dutch: Learn to Speak and Understand Dutch with Pimsleur Language Programs (Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur).

1. I have been enjoying the CD's but when I got to Lesson 11, it referred to a booklet. There was no booklet with the CDs. So, I called the 800 number on the box and requested that they send it to me. I received it about a week later. Unfortunately, the booklet doesn't match the CD. I am not pleased that I had to request the booklet in the first place. I am seriously annoyed that I still don't have the right book!

5 comments about Dutch: Learn to Speak and Understand Dutch with Pimsleur Language Programs (Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur).

1. This is a short introduction to useful phrases in Dutch. It was very helpful as far as it went, but it would be great if Pimsleur were to do a full 3 course series for this language. I've used Pimsleur for one other language and they are the best tapes I've used. Pronunciation is very clear and unmistakable. This course was worth the money, but I wish it would have gone further.



2. I recently moved to Belgium for my wife and I used this course to get me familiar with the basics of the Dutch language and it does an excellent job of that. It won't by any means make you fleunt, but it covers enough "survival" Dutch to get you by. I do wish they had had a comprehensive 3-level course, but I was very happy with what I learned and the ease of doing so. I would recommend going through this course before continuing with the more expensive Rosetta Stone.
   (Since I've moved to Belgium, I've taken 6 months of classes 5 days a week for 3 hours a day and though my Dutch has vastly improved, I'm still nowhere near fluency yet.)



3. I don't know how they do it, but Pimsleur make learning a language effortless. It's such a pleasure to listen to the tapes and speak with them, and pretty soon you can do it without even thinking. I kept the tapes in my car and listened to each one over and over until I knew it so well it became boring- then I went on to the next tape. I wish so much they had more tapes to continue with, because now I'm finished with these.



4. I love these tapes. If you follow instruction and really follow through, you're sure to learn!



5. Pimsleur Dutch I, 30 lessons is TOP NOTCH, you will learn how to speak Dutch on a basic level, but you will be speaking and understanding others around you. Hopefully Pimsleur is working on levels II and III.
   
   It comes with a booklet so that you can learn how to read Dutch. This proved very helpful.
   
   It is a beautiful language and at times it seems as if people are actually singing.
   
   Have fun!

5 comments about Colloquial Dutch: A Complete Language Course (Colloquial Series (Book Only)).

1. I emigrated to the Netherlands two years ago from California, an English-monolingual culture. I was familiar with Afrikaans, since I was born in South Africa. This made learning Dutch a lot easier for me, so I very quickly came up to speed. However, it was the book by Donaldson which was the vehicle that brought me up to speed. I know this because after I rapidly moved forward as I used the book, I recommended it to an American who also found the book useful. I had a number of other texts, but I quickly abandoned them and concentrated on Donaldson's book.

   After settling down to life in Amsterdam, the things that REALLY helped were the "colloquialisms" mentioned by Donaldson, and the little "culture points". They were enormously helpful. Dutch has a lot of idiom, and you need to understand what is happening in the syntax and delivery and the culture points also help clarify why things are being said the way they are when they are by whom under what circumstances. But any language is that way, including English !

   Of course you need a dictionary ! You cannot rely on the word list in the book. Of course you need a verb conjugator (like 201 Dutch Verbs). And I would add, that after you get serious, you will also need a specialist idiomatic reference and dictionary.

   The book was not all I needed to learn Dutch. I had to go to courses to get better, and you must also force yourself to use the language and to hurl yourself deep into a Dutch-only environment. English is pervasive and you can end up in an English universe in the Netherlands. A Dutch live-in partner would also help. Watching TV (cartoons are a great help), subtitling, listening to the radio (online too), reading the newspaper and magazines and web pages all add as an addendum to the book and daily usage.

   This is a very good, serious first-level starer, folks ! The tapes too !




2. I've tried many other language/phrase book, and I think the Colloquial Series are the best for beginners who plan to learn and pursue to a higher level.
   This book explains every details on grammars and usage...and the cultural points are interesting as well.
   The explanations are very clear and you'll find the learning process with colloquial series is very smooth, you'll hardly feel lost...
   
   The audio CD mainly focus on conversations in every chapters, I like it because the native speakers talk as they are in everyday life (kind of fast for beginners), which is good cuz it's realistic...Just listen to it over and over until you're able to understand everything.
   The only thing I don't like about the audio CD is that I wish it can provide more recordings on how to pronounce some important phrases rather than just numbers.
   
   Hope you'll enjoy learning w/ this book



3. Once again a course from Routledge that is all but destroyed by a very common error. No wordlists.
   
   For some reason, quite a few of the authors in the Colloquial series seem to be under the false impression that providing English translations of the dialogues is a satisfactory substitute for listing the new words. I disagree 100%. There are no languages that can be translated word by word into English and the result of this is that you end up not knowing which words in Dutch that corresponds to a given English word.
   
   The result of this is that you can memorize the phrases in this book like a parrot, but that won't get you any far and is no better than a much cheaper and more extensive phrasebook. As you're not given the chance to learn and repeat new words, you simply won't be able to construct sentences on your own. It's very disappointing that such a great expert on Dutch as Bruce Donaldson has made such an enormous error and it makes this book very unsuitable for learners. Look for Teach Yourself Dutch instead.



4. Buying this little book is a great way to start learning Dutch. As for the reviewer who said this book is for parrots; it's called "Colloquial Dutch" for a reason! While it's true that this book doesn't offer much of an in depth study of Dutch grammar or linguistics, that doesn't stop it from being a great little primer course that will help you learn Dutch the way the Dutch actually "spreek" it.
   
   I went to Holland in 2005 to study history in Utrecht and I took a Dutch class while I was there. They gave us "Taal Vitaal" books in the class, but I found myself continually referring back to Donaldson's book throughout the course. I simply found it more useful than the Taal Vitaal books.
   
   Dutch people are usually surprised and very appreciative when a non-native speaker makes an earnest effort to learn their language. That being said, one of the most difficult things about learning Dutch in Holland, is that the Dutch tend to start speaking English with you as soon as they find out that you're an English speaker. It's hard, but you have to kind of insist on fumbling around in Dutch. (If you're incredibly inhibited about doing this then try having a few "biertjes" at a pub with some locals.) In the end, whether you like the linguist's approach or the "colloquial" approach, speaking with native speakers and listening to them speak is the single best way to learn a language.
   
   If you're really "serieus" about learning "het nederlands" I would highly recommend that you pick up "201 Dutch Verbs" and "The New Routledge Dutch Dictionary" to augment this book. With these books in hand, you'll be ready to go to Holland!



5. It is totally, absolutely, never-in-a-lifetime possible to learn Dutch from just a book and/or CDs. Period. Full stop.

5 comments about Dutch: A Comprehensive Grammar (Routledge Grammars).

1. Bruce Donaldson is the doyen of English Dutch Teachers and his Comprehensive Grammar is far and away the best Dutch Grammer aimed at English speaking students available--far better than Professor Shetter's grammar cum text. It is an excellent reference grammar with clear explanations that do not require an in-depth understanding of generic grammatical terms. It is best used in conjunction with a text as a reference book. If you want to "read through" a brief summary of Dutch grammar, try Stern's Essential Grammar.



2. That's a very good grammar. I'm a Portuguese native speaker and it is very difficult to a Latin language speaker to learn a Germanic language, but this grammar made it easier. It even helped me with the German language. This one is great for beginners, everyone should buy it. With this book I was glad twice: I started to study an interesting language (Dutch) and I began to understand a very difficult language (German). Buy it, you won't be disappointed. It gives you a comprehensive explanation about all points of the Dutch language.



3. Somewhere out there there may be a more comprehensive Dutch grammar for English speakers, but you won't need it unless you are a scholar. This book covers pretty much every useful grammatical topic you will need for learning Dutch. Thankfully, Dutch is not a particularly difficult language for English speakers, so that fact helps keep the size of this grammar manageable. Any assiduous student should be able to master it in less that six months. After reading it you should be able to read any newspaper; and although speaking is a totally different animal, there is no reason you should not have a good grounding in speaking proper Dutch. The book, however, does not delve into colloquialisms to a great degree.



4. I totally agree with the other reviews about the value of this book. I have (and still use) Henry Stern's Dutch grammar book, but was to the point where I needed more information. Well, I sure got it! I was searching for something good but not quite as expensive as this book, but finally broke down and got it. It's well worth the cost.
   I do think this should not be the choice for beginners, but for advanced learners that want the info without having to wade through reading a grammar book in Dutch I give it two thumbs up... heck, I'll borrow my Dutch boyfriend's thumbs and go for four thumbs up.

   Bruce Donaldson's other book, Beyond the Dictionary in Dutch, is also awesome and great for someone with a little experience in the language.

   Susanne Spangler




5. Over 30 years ago when I tried to learn the basics of the Dutch language in-country, there was nothing like this available. It was a struggle, particularly so when you're butchering the basics and kindly Dutch folks inevitably say, "Why don't we just speak English?" (which they do ever so well).
   
   Ah, but now I'm older and wise enough to have picked up Donaldson's superb Dutch grammar for another go at the subject, this time in the warmer clime of the Dutch West Indies.
   
   It's still a struggle, but thanks to this great resource, the "Why don't we just ..." questions come far less frequently. Reading Donaldson's "Comprehensive Grammar" is actually (amazingly) pleasureable and a good thing, too, since that's likely to be a daily affair for those who really want to learn this complicated "keel ziekte". A bit pricy, sure, but a great value, indispensible for the likes of me.

3 comments about Dutch-English/English-Dutch Concise Dictionary (Hippocrene Concise Dictionary).

1. This book provides a fairly comprehensive translation of Dutch to English and English to Dutch. It provides some guidance on word usage and grammar. Be warned, however, because the book doesn't exactly provide any assistance in pronouncing any of the Dutch words. If you have spoken only English all your life, Dutch pronunciation can make your life interesting!



2. Many important words and common expressions missing, makes it no so handy. For this price, better by the full version from Porto Editora.
   I wanted a pocket dictionary for work, and this one was a waste of my money.



3. I bought this item as a gift for a friend because she loves dutch history etc... so I thought she would enjoy trying to learn the language. I think she'll love it

1 comments about Teach Yourself Dutch Dictionary.

1. This dictionary provides concise definitions from English to Dutch as well From Dutch to English. The most frequently used modern Dutch words can be found in this work. There are also a lot of Dutch idioms. The print is good to read and easy to the eye, which makes it a very good study companion for learners of Dutch.

1 comments about Teach Yourself Beginner's Dutch.

1. I have studied English and German and have lots of experience with various styles and books since 1980s. This is the first book I met that introduced the language so smoothly and without ever going into grammatical terms in such a subtle way that I even didn't realize how much Dutch I have learned, until I saw that I was reading a lot of Dutch text without many difficulties. The authors are the masters of what they do. Pedagogically speaking, I wish these types of books were available when I was studying English and German back then. I'll study every other language book written by the same authors immediately.