Dutch in Three Months

As a beginner I was looking for a course which would help me start speaking the language. I think I found it. The dialogs and exercises are very well chosen to give the student a good understanding of the structures most commonly used in Dutch. The tapes are of a very good quality. So, what else does one need to start learning the language?

I bought this system 7 years ago to learn some dutch before a trip to the NL to see my dutch boyfriend. Using the tapes in the car and in a walkman, and working with the book for a few hours each week, I was able in say, 5 months to learn a surprising amount of dutch. More importantly, this book got me excited about learning dutch, and made me feel like I could. I have since investigated and used pretty much every book/system/program on the market for beginners and more advanced students and am still most partial to 'Dutch In Three Months'. It's also quite reasonably priced compared to some other systems. I still get the book out every so often and revise some of the exercises to practice the basics.I agree with the other reviewers that "dutch in 3 months" is a silly, inaccurate title -- to really learn will take longer, so don't get frustrated. I also recommend "Taking Dutch Further" by the same author for more advanced study. Anyway, it must have worked because I married that Dutchman!

You can't really learn Dutch in 3 months but this is the best book on the market to get started with. It gives all the fundemental stuff you need to know to write and speak in dutch. You must have other learning tools for understanding spoken dutch by a native speaker. Such as audio cassettes or a professor of some sort to practice with. It is tough to learn written dutch as it is but it is even tougher to understand it at conversation speed. This book is a first step and vital tool for this process.

This is an excellent book. I must warn buyers that they would need to spend at least 3 hours per day studying to really keep up with learning a chapter per week if they want to learn quickly. I would really suggest that you skip the cassette and find someone who is a native Dutch speaker to assist you. Hugo really does a great job with these books. I used his "Russian in three months" and was able to live in a Russian speaking country quite easily after studying his book. Anyway, if a person is serious about learning Dutch, this is a good book. Another word of advice, writing and re-writing the vocabulary and exercises plus actually using the language will keep the vast amount of information retained easier.

The title is a misnomer. It took me about a year to get through it, but it was worth it. It is a well-paced, well-designed course. You should also get the cassette version, which is quite good.