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My journal for the Give it 100 challenge. |
 LEARNING DUTCH This is my journal for the "Give It 100!"  challenge. I aim to study the Dutch language for 100 days by earning at least 20 experience points on Duolingo per day. I will use this journal to write updates on my progress and to keep track of what I am learning. I aim to start on January 19th and am permitted to take 14 days off. Depending on how many of my permitted days off I use, my end date will be somewhere between April 28th and May 12th. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Please see "Give It 100!" for more information.Progress chart:
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| I did one new lesson today but didn't take much in so will definitely have to repeat it! Otherwise I just spent some time strengthening my skills. I managed to translate a fairly complicated sentence: "he is my brother since he is the son of my father". This is: "hij is mijn broer, aangezien hij de zoon of mijn vader is". I think that's right anyway. Haha! |
Today I took a Dutch quiz. On Duolingo you can earn and save up "lingots" to purchase the Dutch quiz, which is very comprehensive and covers all the modules. I have taken it several times (there tends to be different questions each time) and my scores indicate that I am progressing -- they go up a bit each time I take it.  I have also spent some time strengthening my skills. Tomorrow or later this evening I might tackle something new. |
Well, despite studying for my psychology test all day I have managed to fit in some Dutch this evening! I just strengthened my skills on Duolingo as I currently have no room in my head for anything new!  I'm too tired to say much else. Welterusten! |
| Today I have covered lessons on the present continuous, so instead of saying ik loop (I walk), I can now say ik ben aan het lopen (I am walking). Here are a few that might be useful to me! ik ben aan het schrijven  I am writing.  ik ben aan het slapen I am sleeping.  ik ben de hond aan het lopen I am walking the dog  (not 100% sure if this would sound okay in Dutch!)ik ben aan het werken I am working. ik ben aan het studeren I am studying.  And yet another week has passed and I still haven't taken a day off!  I'm well over half way with just 44 days to go... Yay! |
| So... here is "daar": Daarin = in there/Wearing that Wat zit daarin what is in there?Daarop = on there. Daarop staan zij They are on there.Daarnaast = furthermore/next to that. Daarnaast willen de honden niet fietsen furthermore the dogs do not want to bike.Daarmee = With that. Wat doet je daarmee? What are you doing with that?And here are some crazy idioms that I feel I'm never going to get! Hoe ziet het eruit? = What does it look like? Het is erop of eronder! = It is all or nothing! Komt het hierdoor = Is it because of this? Jij zit ernnast = You are wrong Today I feel like I have forgotten everything I've learned, particularly about word order. I made a lot of mistakes.  Hopefully it's because I'm just tired! |
I did achieve my goal today but it was this morning and I no longer remember doing it as it has been a loooooong day!  A few entries back I said I was going to cover "daar" but then I didn't. I still really need to and might do that tomorrow. I need to go back over "er" too. I was starting to get there with it but as I didn't keep going over it, I've forgotten the rules. |
| So I still haven't moved on to anything new because ik werk te veel! (I work too much!) Haha! I have been on training all this week and it has been exhausting so my brain isn't up to processing anything new. Maybe at the weekend? Or maybe not as I will be revising for my psychology exam! Still, I think it's good to go over and over stuff. That's what I did today... again! It doesn't get boring though because I need the practise, especially on things like conjunctions. |
I'm still just going over and over stuff I have already learned because I am way too tired and lacking in concentration to tackle anything new. But I think this method is paying off anyway as I am not getting overloaded with new words, and the words I have already learned are becoming very fixed in my mind. Though when I was studying just now I was asked to translate "fewer than five dresses" and I couldn't remember the word for "fewer" though it was on the tip of my tongue. But after closing my eyes tight and rubbing my head it suddenly came to me! "Fewer" is "Minder", so the translation is, "Minder dan vijf jurken". I'm so glad it came to me and it just shows how much vocabulary I am taking in and actually processing. I feel like I am doing pretty well considering I am teaching myself.  |
I'm half way with the Give it 100 challenge! Yay!  Today has been a strengthening skill day and I am incredibly pleased with how quickly and accurately I worked through the exercises. Of course I am still making mistakes but I feel some of the language is becoming really ingrained now. Sometimes when there is a written sentence that is also spoken, I do not even have to read it to translate it, I can do it just from hearing it. And most of the time I only need to read a sentence once in order to translate it. This is exciting! I am confident I can make it through this challenge. Doing a bit of Dutch study each day has become part of my daily routine and I love it. I'm actually hoping I can complete Give it 100 with no days off. But I'm glad I have given myself the fourteen day safety net because obviously I cannot see ahead and something may happen to stop me from being able to study. Anyway, I am feeling positive about my progress today! |
| So continuing with the horrible "er": Hierna = After this Zij komen hierna They come after this.Hierdoor = Because of this Hierdoor luistert ze niet Because of this she does not listen. Hiertussen = among these/between these/in here Hiertussen zit een boek There is a book among these.Hiermee = With this. Hiermee hoor ik alles I hear everything with this.Hieronder = underneath this. Hieronder liggen ze They are underneath this.And I'll make things even more confusing tomorrow by covering "daar", which sometimes seems to be used with "er" and sometimes not.  And to make matters worse, I think the word "niet" has an impact on the words I have covered today and yesterday, but I haven't quite grasped it yet.Urgh, this is so, so hard! And apparently Dutch is supposed to be one of the easiest languages to learn for an English speaker. I have to say though, I found French easier when I was learning it at school. I will persevere though! Yesterday I asked Jade a question in Dutch, one that I haven't learned directly but was able to form using my knowledge, and I barely had to think about it. It came quite naturally. Jade just gave me a bemused look! |
| I'm having trouble with a little word: "er". So today I have achieved my goal by focusing on this annoying little word! And I think I am getting there with it. At times it feels like Dutch is a language with no logic! But occasionally there is a kind of logic, and that makes things so much easier. Unfortunately, sometimes "er" is completely logical, but at other times it is not! Anyway, here is "er" in usage: Er = there, around, it (when with a preposition) Examples: (basic) Waarom is hij er niet? Why is he not there?Is er iemand? Is anybody around?And here it is in its combined forms: Eruit = out of it. Een kat komt eruit a cat comes out of it.Eronder = underneath it Zit de hond eronder = is the dog underneath it? Erin = in it De neushoorn slaapt erin The rhinoceros sleeps in it.Erop = on it Niemand speelt erop Nobody is playing on it.Ernaast = next to it/beside it De hond staat ernaast the dog stands next to it.Ernaartoe = there/to(wards) it (hate this one!) ik wil ernaartoe I want to go there.Ertussen = in between/between them/among them ik sta ertussen I am standing in between.Ermee = with it Zij spelelt ermee She plays with it.And then the crazy, illogical idiom of the day! Hoe ziet het eruit = What does it look like? |
| Today I have achieved my goal by learning family-related words, so I can now say, "ik heb een moeder, een vader, een broer en een zus!" Which you can probably work out means, "I have a mother, a father, a brother and a sister!" And I could add to that by saying, "ik heb een oma, vier tantes en één oom". That means, "I have a grandma, four aunts and one uncle." Also, I am very happy to say I have written my first poem in Dutch! De huwelijk is moelijk, want zij heeft duizenden muizen, en hij heeft te veel broeken en boeken! Okay, so it's crap! Who cares?! I don't think it's bad for a novice Dutch speaker! Here is the translation, though it isn't so good in English:The marriage is difficult because she has thousands of mice, and he has too many trousers and books! |
| I don't get how they tell the time in Dutch! It's so weird. I can barely tell the time in English so how I am supposed to get used to a whole new way of doing it! Haha! I can tell time but it is actually quite difficult for me because I have a number-related learning disability. It took me longer than average to learn how to tell time when I was a child, and longer than that for being able to say it's four forty-five, instead of instead of, "it's quarter to five". Even now I struggle with that and really have to think about it! Weird, I know! Anyway, I have done a lot of Dutch study today, just going back over old ground. I'm still struggling with some of the newer words I have learned... "het" or "de"? Who cares?! I wonder how strange it is for a Dutch person to hear something like "de meisje" rather than "het meisje". Is it really so important? I'm not sure! Would I get laughed at if I got it wrong? I feel embarrassed just at the thought of trying to speak Dutch to a Dutch person and getting it wrong! I don't know why though because I find it quite endearing when people who do not have English as a first language make mistakes. I certainly wouldn't laugh at them or think they were stupid. I think I just need to get over it! |
| Well, I'm forging ahead with the Dutch lessons even though I am still shaky on things like word order, irregular verbs, prepositions, conjunctions etc, etc! I just think if I can learn as much of the vocabulary as possible and get a vague idea about grammar etc, then I can start reading Dutch and that will give me a much better sense of the language grammatically than I am getting through the online programme. Does that make sense? So today I learned work and career related words but I cannot find a proper translation for "support worker", so I can't say my own profession in Dutch! But I can say, "ik ben een student en ik heb een baan", which means, "I am a student and I have a job". According to Google translate, "support worker" is "hulpverlener" but I'm not sure I trust Google translate! Oh well... ik ben een student en ik ben een hulpverlener. Ik heb veel werk en het is niet goed! I am a student and I am a support worker. I have a lot of work and it is not good!I am not clear if "een" needs to come before "student" and "hulpverlener" but I put it in anyway! And obviously I'm not clear if "hulpverlener" is the correct word. Also, apparently you should technically say "studente" for a female student, but people don't seem to do this. And that is that for today! |
| I am feeling frustrated with the Duolingo programme again and studying Dutch has given me a headache. I am learning a lot but I have little understanding about why certain phrases are used or when to use them. There seems to be about a million different words for "because" but no adequate explanation of the small differences between them or when to use them. But I suppose teaching myself using an online programme is going to be an imperfect method of learning a language. I am doing my best and I think I am doing well under the circumstances. I just need to keep at it. Keep practising. But I know I need additional materials to help me now. I am unsure about Rosetta Stone. I want lessons with a human! I wish I could afford it! |
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You are awesome! 
~
). Very quirky and surreal. You'll have to read it to me in the Dutch original sometime