Routledge Intensive Dutch Course (Routledge Intensive Language Courses)

As a native speaker of English, and a learner of English's cousin (German) for 3 years, I began to notice the similarities between German, Dutch and English in terms of vocabulary and grammar. After enjoying the music of so many Dutch musicians (which are not popular here in America-even when they do sing in English), I decided that I wanted to study Dutch. I ran into a few problems over the several months of self study, and this product has helped me overcome these problems.As the book states, Routledge Intensive Dutch Course is an intensive course designed to develop one's language capability from nothing to the European standard, B2, within the time frame of a year. Those people who are looking to spend a week or two touring in the Netherlands or Belgium will probably find the contents of this book to be a little bit too much. However, if one is a language fanatic or has moved to a Dutch-speaking country, this book provides enough information so that one can be decently conversational, while not being totally fluent with the language.Routledg Intensive Dutch Course is broken down into 11 different units. The first 8 units provide information on a variety of topics, while the last three units focus on the Netherlands and Belgium. Cultural tidbits about the Netherlands and Belgium are also sprinkled throughout the book, which helps the learners, in reality, learn a little bit more about the language they are learning.Each unit is further divided into several sections. There are structure sections, which focus on Dutch grammar, communication sections, which focus on speaking appropriately/differently in different contexts, cultural sections and listening exercises. The listening exercises are fewer and farther between than I would personally like, but then again, the authors suggest that this book is to be used within an actual classroom setting, and with the aid of a professor, more listening would obviously be incorporated into the course.Each unit also contains a nice selection of vocabulary. Several vocabulary lists are scattered throughout each unit. This is nice, as it allows one to easily memorize the words as he or she proceeds through the unit as opposed to having one large/comprehensive list of vocabulary at the end of each unit, which leads the reader feeling ultimately overwhelmed. I was also impressed by the variety and arrangement of vocabulary in this book. Previously, I had worked about half way through the "Teach Yourself Dutch" book, and I felt that the vocabulary selection was not good for someone who already speaks both English and German. I would rarely work through the exercises in that book because I could easily understand 80-90% without actually doing the exercise. With the Routledge book, however, there is a nice variety (and a larger amount) of Dutch vocabulary from the start. This allows one to easily get into the swing of sitting down and memorizing vocabulary.Using this book as a self study tool, I find that some of the exercises are not useful to me, since I am the only person in my town who speaks/is learning Dutch. For a classroom setting, these exercises seem to be right on. The other exercises (grammar and written) are all appropriate, even for someone who is learning independently.My only complaints about the book are that there are not enough listening exercises for one who is not in an area where he or she can expose him or herself to Dutch, and also that the audio CDs were more costly than the book itself. I cannot understand why the book is listed at $50, while the CDs are $90. The CDs do not contain any frills, and neither does the packaging. It seems like the book would be more costly to produce, but then again, who am I to judge. Overall, this set is a nice program for learning Dutch. If one wants to "get by" while in the Netherlands, then this book is too much, but if one wants to learn a nice amount of Dutch, than this seems like a good way of learning.

This book is serious in sense you must know you have to study hard. Although I speak more languages (and I bought a cd.as recommended in one of the reviews) I find it quite difficult if you think to "do it yourself" with no teacher.You have to have somebody who can teach you, otherwise you'll find it very difficult. It goes without saying you have to buy a good dictionary and a grammar book. However, I would always recommend you to buy a Total Dutch system of Michel Thomas.If you get only this book (and a cd as well, otherwise you'll find it very difficult because you don't know how to do correct pronunciation and if you're a total beginner,you should have somebody ready to give you a hand.However, this is also said in the preface of the book. I have put only 4 stars, because I feel the cd should be included in the price, and because it's very difficult for total beginners.On the other hand, learning a new language is always a serious thing, so from this point of you it's really o.k. However, you'll need an extra help.

First of all, Dutch is not one of those huge languages such as Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, etc. Therefore, it has much fewer resources and books for people who would like to learn it by themselves. (Unlike Spanish, where there are thousands of self teaching books, grammar guides, and audio materials available on Amazon.) If one would like to learn Dutch, he/she will usually come across the Routledge Intensive Dutch Course, the Hugo course, Teach Yourself Complete Dutch, Colloquial Dutch, and Living Language Spoken World Dutch. These are basically the only books to learn Dutch by yourself. There is nothing wrong with the last four books, but they all teach you very basic Dutch, such as "Good Morning, my name is --------. How are you? Where is the restaurant?" so if you're planning to go to the Netherlands for a week, stop reading this review and go ahead and buy one of those four books. But if you want to become fluent or intermediate in Dutch, read actual Dutch newspapers or magazines, and confidently engage in REAL conversations with the Dutch, (not just "Excuse me, what time is it?") then you need the Routledge Intensive Dutch Course.This textbook is AMAZING as to how complete and full it is. If you're going to learn by yourself, like me, then print out the answer key from the Routledge website and you'll have everything you need to learn Dutch. In this book, there are real life cut-out articles from Dutch magazines presented to you to translate, lots of exercises, explanations, vocabulary, conversations, and culture notes all in one attractive course. Did I mention the glossy, high-quality paper? All in all, if you hope to become fluent or intermediate in Dutch, then this college-standard textbook should be your FIRST choice.OH, AND... the cds accompanying this book are sold separately for 90$ on the Routledge website. I personally think that's too much for narration and pronunciation of words with a few audio-only exercises. Dutch pronunciation is relatively simple if you know the rules. But if you still have an American accent, I suggest getting Living Language Spoken World Dutch, since it comes with 6 cds for 20$. Anyway, that's what I used to correct my pronunciation, since 90$ is too much for me. But if you can afford it, buy both the textbook and the accompanying cds. You can even print the transcript out from the R. website. Well, that's it. Remember, this is the BEST, and probably only, Dutch textbook there is. (At least in my opinion.)

I think it’s one of the best books for learning Dutch

Having learned a little Dutch before, I think this is a great course. The language style used and the subjects covered are bang up to date (unlike some other courses I have seen).You do need to buy both the book (not included here) and the CDs, but I feel the cost is worthwhile: it is important to hear a native speaker, particularly if you have little experience of the language. And Dutch has sounds that are completely different from anything in English!The course, as it says in the title, is intense, and primarily designed for adults on a course at night school, for example. If you have no experience at all and are trying to learn the language at home on your own, you might prefer to start with something more basic. But if you have learned some Dutch before and want to bring yourself up to speed, this course is brilliant.

This book pushes one to ever higher heights in language learning, and also contains useful amounts of information about Dutch culture.

A good course that moves at a fast pace.