Taking Dutch Further

This is so well done I would do whatever I could to get a copy. Get the whole set...the book and four tapes, not just the text. Each section is well ordered with a reading selection, often from a dutch novel or magazine, a review of grammar and vocabulary, point by point as it appears in the selection, and some other drills. The reading selections are varied. My favorite was the one by Albert Alberts, from his short novel, De Vergaderzaal. You should have completed the Hugo Dutch in three months course or some similiar course before trying this, unless you are really talented in learning languages.

There are surprisingly few Dutch books out there for intermediate readers. This is a handy guide which provides a brush-up of basic grammar and introduces some more complex ideas. My only qualm is the Fenoulhet picked some very depressing reading selections, something more upbeat would be better. There is a companion cassette, although I have not heard it and Amamzon does not carry it.

This book captures the essence of the dutch language in that it is practical and creative at the same time. You learn words like "brachsel", meaning vomit, that is the noun; and Piet and his wife are always getting on each other's cases about some niggling little point or other, much like a typical Dutch couple. When Piet's wife complains that she doesn't want to go back to the swimming pool to look for her watch because she had a little run-in with the pool manager, it's just oh-so-real. Oh wait. I'm thinking of the wrong book. Well this one is very good too, though it dates back to before ral estate in Amsterdam was so expensive.