As someone who had learnt a few languages before, this was a whole new experience for me. I was used to the kind of language learning that might be familiar from school: an orderly progression through the basics of grammar, the steady building-up of vocabulary, some basic dialogues on tape or practised with a classmate. But, with Dutch, I had to change my methods and find new learning aids that worked for this project. I use spreadsheets I fill with 17th-century terms of abuse, and historical dictionaries that help me zero in on what words used to mean. What I’ve learnt from the process is that while language learning is often presented as a task with a one-size-fits-all solution, what’s central to success in learning a new language is working out the goals and strategies that are specific to you.
I learned Dutch to start a conversation, which is a prerequisite to actually having a conversation. But, as I’ve learned, to have a genuine conversation in Dutch, you also need to anticipate the questions people might ask (places where Dutch people use questions is something I’ll try my best to learn). And for that, I came back to the most successful and explicit language learning tool I’ve used, and to one that I didn’t even know existed.
Before I started learning Dutch, I considered using flashcards as I would during any language learning project. Flashcards, when first invented in the 90s, were a way of organising the knowledge needed for a particular task, whether it was reading, writing or learning a new language.
I also considered learning vocabulary through flashcards, just as I taught myself grammar with a grammar course. You could buy flashcards or make your own. I couldn’t afford these, so I started learning the language from the written word with my Notepad, checking facts in a dictionary as I filled the gaps in my knowledge.
This approach led me to find things I already knew, matched words with words I already knew, and to fill in any areas of ‘uncertainty’. I was consistent and thorough, even when really, deep in my learning. Though I found people and phrases that I already knew, the small ones wouldn’t be stated out in a way that could be used, so there I was picking up new words that would still seem exotic when it would come time to use them in a conversation.
By using flashcards, I made myself reliant on some original ideas: that language learning is more about the process than the outcome. Latin2learn.com describes language learning this way:
“Rather than trying to memorise grammar rules in order to “prove” you understand a language, focus on induction and experimentation with natural language. Try to extract meaning from everyday speech, focusing on the flow of a sentence and its end-stopped phrase. Begin with everyday speech and slowly move to talking to other people. As you practise, you will encounter new grammatical structures — new rules — while slowing down before, during and after each phrase that you are trying to remember. Stick with each activity until you’ve acquired the language like basic math, rather than the other way round.”
Using flashcards, I made my learning process more approachable and gradual. Another way of learning a new language is by starting out with a foreigner’s accent and slowly making your way through their native speech
I only spoke Dutch with Dutch friends, and as such didn’t have language teachers with whom I could compare notes. I didn’t experiment with immersion, and I certainly didn’t study vocabulary lists in textbooks to extract key terms I could use in conversation. I started by listening to native speakers I could recognise from around Amsterdam, the tension slowly leaving me after the modest introduction speakers gave me. I also watched popular movies and TV series to get a feel for the non-fiction works I would be reading in Dutch. This gives each new language experience its own flavour that might differ from person to person.
I realised quite quickly that one of the most significant challenges of language learning is that there is also a lot of sitting around with no clear end in sight, just waiting for the day when the words and phrases you’ve learnt will help you solve a problem in the real world. When coupled with the need to practise repeating what you’ve just learnt back to your brain, this constant repetition can lead to an unsatisfactory state where you stop learning new, useful vocabulary words altogether. Dutch, just like any other foreign language, doesn’t typically use case endings, so you can quickly adopt suffixes for common nouns — “left” becomes “lag” and “leftover” becomes “vlees”. Even for very basic words, there will often be no grammar rules around how to construct pronouns or articles. You can’t exactly add, “I eat toast” after someone has said, “I have a sandwich,” but you can add “at me” after someone has said, “to me.” From this rule-less world comes the constant need to start from scratch with a new word as you try to construct a sentence using your new vocabulary. Also, while you can watch TV series and movies in Dutch, it is definitely a far less efficient use of time to watch someone are doing housework than it is to watch someone have a great conversation in the kitchen (“So how are we going to make mattatoe?”).
Outside of language learning, the angle here is of course work. With writing, you’re looking to build a head-space for your writing. When learning a new language, there is a fluidity in trying out new ways to put your ideas down, and sometimes the best way to express them is with native speakers. Nevertheless, it does make sense to try and let them see your work through first. Dutch, like any other foreign language, isn’t particularly brochure-worthy, and understanding the story behind your writing also requires use of a little creativity and imagination.
The Dutch approach to language learning seems to work for them; for those who like joining in with that linguistic dabble, learners of Dutch have a little more choice in the language they learn. Because the Dutch are not natives of the country, being able to partially blend in has helped them develop an “I‘m Dutch’’ attitude’. I got lots of encouragement from this, especially because all I did in this project was watch a few episodes of Fortnite and reply to some questions. Throughout the process, I felt a close proximity with others who expressed their rules in English. Perhaps due to a similar shared history, the Dutch conversation partner would slip into the new sense with grace, but this did help me to recognise the flow states and predict whether my behaviour would lead to a flow state (going all-in on the project, for example).
The Dutch approach to language learning seems to work for them; for those who like joining in with that linguistic dabble, learners of Dutch have a little more choice in the language they learn.
I found the process of learning a new language extremely tiring; it took me seven months, double the time it took me to fully comprehensively learn Korean. Although I longed to speak Dutch and could’ve broached the subject with the native waiters at every restaurant in Amsterdam, it was never a priority because the waitstaff were bilingual and could welcome me with ease.
I made the best of my limited bilingualism by taking advantage of the many opportunities presented to me. I learned about the 19th-century Dutch intellectual movement known as voorste machen, or ‘learn to think’. Researchers in the University of Amsterdam define voorste machen and its concept of »welingen bëfting, meaning the acquisition of new concepts as a means of passing knowledge from one generation to the next,” as the foundation of a learning culture in which new language is studied as a cognitive aid. Its philosophy did not necessarily advocate only learning a language for its own sake but related language learning to a broader interest, such as aesthetic appreciation of design or scientific discoveries. Frequently thought-provoking learning sessions and discussions around language arose from all aspects of life: how to protect a child from exposure to harmful media, how to develop highly-developed subjective impressions, and how to avert social and economic collapse due to global warming. The framework promotes interaction with a wider set of people and thinking through a conversation, and general knowledge can be gained by exploring the available options while playing or speaking with someone from a variety of backgrounds.