How to improve your Dutch pronunciation skills?

When learning the Dutch language, pronunciation is one of the most important aspects to master. After all, good Dutch pronunciation can make the difference between inefficient communication and a good conversation. Moreover, mastering pronunciation also means a boost in self-confidence and Dutchies being less likely to switch to English in conversation.

Do native speakers seem to have no patience with you?

Have you ever tried to strike up a conversation or ask a question in Dutch, and the native speaker stared at you with a dazed look? Trying your best and feeling you’re very close to the correct pronunciation, but the other person not being able to understand, can be quite frustrating. Especially if your conversation partner switches to English instead of trying to speak with you in Dutch. Don’t let that discourage you.

This behavior may seem rude and demotivating, but there is an alternative explanation to it. While there are ofcourse people who don’t bother to try, often you’ll have this experience a lot less after working on your pronunciation. This is because incorrect pronunciation can be a real barrier for people to easily understand you.

Short-circuit

One theory says this doesn’t happen so often in languages such as English and Spanish, because they have hundreds of millions of native speakers with many different accents. Dutch is the mother tongue for (only) 24 million people. Also, there are many non-natives who speak or are learning English or Spanish, which makes native speakers more competent at interpreting different pronunciations. Because many Dutchies, especially outside the big cities, hear non-native speakers way less often, this induces some kind of short-circuit in many of them. “Wat zeg je? Ik begrijp je niet!” (“What are you saying? I don’t understand you!”). Many Dutchies often prefer clear communication over communication in their own language, hence them switching to English when they hear you struggle.

Practical tips and tools for all learners

Do you want to be able to have your conversations in 🇳🇱 Dutch 🇳🇱 without any problem? In this blog we will take a closer look at the sounds of Dutch and give you practical tips to improve your pronunciation, regardless of your current level and how long you have been living in the Netherlands. In addition, we would like to support you with useful tools, such as our sound module and our (free!) sound comparison cards, which give you detailed insight into Dutch pronunciation and help you improve it step by step.

How difficult is Dutch pronunciation really?

How difficult a language is depends, among other things, on which languages you speak. The more the languages are similar, the easier it will be. For example, if you speak only Chinese, it will be a lot harder for you to master Dutch than if you (also) speak English. This also applies specifically to pronunciation. Do you speak English and/or German, or any of the other languages which, like Dutch, belong to the Germanic language family? Then it immediately becomes a lot easier for you.

Even the notorious Dutch g/ch sound, which to some sounds like choking, is actually quite common in other languages. You can find it in words such as ‘jarrón’ (vase in Spanish), ‘хата’ (house in Russian), ‘góra’ (up in Polish), or even ‘Loch Ness’ (a well-known lake, in English).

Understanding Dutch phonetics

So although the pronunciation of Dutch need not be too difficult for English speakers, that does not mean, of course, that it is always a walk in the park. Most learners find guttural sounds (the sounds made at the back of the throat, such as the g) quite a challenge, as well as some diphthongs such as eu and au and so-called pseudo diphthongs such as oei and eeu. We’ll come back to those troublemakers in a moment.

By the way, in this blog we take English as a starting point for comparison with the Dutch phonetic system because almost every expat masters this language. However, Dutch Ready has a useful comparison tool for native speakers from as many as 15 different countries. We’ll tell you a little more about that free tool shortly!

Dutch is a phonetic language

Like English, Dutch uses the Latin alphabet. So there’s no need to learn new characters. A second nice feature of our language is that it is quite phonetic. By this we mean that there is a strong relationship between spelling and pronunciation. In other words, once you are familiar with the sounds, you can easily deduce the pronunciation of a word from its spelling. This is much easier than in other languages like English or French, which are a lot less phonetically consistent. Just take the ea combination in English, which can be pronounced in numerous different ways:

sea – bread – great – ocean – create – idea – react

And now for comparison, let’s take an example of a Dutch diphthong, the ei:

meisje

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girl

geit

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goat

klein

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small

reis

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trip

mei

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May

zeilen

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to sail

Hear how the combination ei sounds the same in all words? So, learn what each combination sounds like and you’ll have nothing else to worry about! No pesky variations!

Dutch vowels and consonants

All right, back to the Dutch alphabet and pronunciation. You can rejoice in the fact that the alphabet is the same one used in English. So that means 26 different letters, divided into vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and consonants. Let’s briefly review both vowels and consonants below.

Short and long vowels

If we take a look at the five separate vowels (a, e, i, o, u), we can say that they are often challenging for quite a few non-native speakers. This is because Dutch has more vowel sounds than many other languages. First off, in Dutch, we distinguish between short and long vowels. A single vowel is pronounced short, as for example in ‘bal‘ (ball), while double vowels, as in ‘kaas‘ (cheese), are pronounced long.

At first glance, perhaps nothing strange. But even a single vowel is often pronounced as a long vowel, for example, in words like ‘maken‘ (to make). Listen below how the words are pronounced:

bal

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ball

kaas

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cheese

maken

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to make

So even a phonetic language still provides a surprise every now and then!

Sound stability

Let’s take a look at another example:

man

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man

maan

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moon

maken

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to make

The single a in ‘maken’ sounds the same as the double aa in ‘maan’. This is due to a phenomenon that we at Dutch Ready call sound stability. The pronunciation of a vowel depends on the letters that come after it and the way words are split into syllables. It is something that is not covered in most Dutch pronunciation dictionaries, even though it is essential for pronouncing words correctly. Our Dutch Ready Sound Module therefore not only teaches you everything about the pronunciation of all Dutch sounds in itself, but also about when this phenomenon of sound stability occurs and why. We’ll tell you more about this module a little later in this blog.

Vowel combinations

So Dutch has 5 different vowels (which can be pronounced long or short), but it doesn’t stop there, because we also have many vowel combinations, consisting of two or three vowels. These are pronounced (more or less) as one vowel: au, ei, eu, ie, ij, oe, ou, ui, aai, oei, ewe, ieu, eeu. Sometimes you also encounter ae, ai or oi, for example, in Mr. Spaenders, mais and hoi. These are all fixed combinations, with their own unique sound that you have to learn by heart. Luckily, once you know what each combination sounds like you won’t run into any surprises later. The vowel combinations are also covered in detail in our Dutch Ready sound module.

Consonants

Most Dutch consonants are pronounced roughly in the same way as English. Yet, also more than enough differences can be identified, such as:

In Dutch, the g is a guttural sound, that is, a sound made at the back of the throat. The same goes for the ch and the sch sound. So that explains the ‘hard’ g that Dutch is so famous (or infamous?) for.
The v is sometimes pronounced as f in Dutch, depending on exactly where it is in a word.
Dutch often applies the phenomenon of ‘sharpening of the end sound’. This means that a voiceless consonant at the end of a word is pronounced as voiced. For example, the word ‘hond’ sounds like ‘hont’.
Dutch speakers pronounce the r much more strongly than English speakers. Moreover, there are also different ways of pronouncing that letter, depending on its position in a word.

The most challenging Dutch sounds and how to pronounce them

We know from experience that a number of sounds can be challenging for a large proportion of learners. These include:

How could it be otherwise: the ‘hard’ g, a guttural sound made in the back of the throat: “Goedemorgen, ga je vandaag nog naar Groningen?” (“Good morning, are you still going to Groningen today?”)

Winkel / markt

We already gave you a quick tip, but don’t worry too much about that if you can’t master it. While in Groningen itself they use the ‘hard’ g a lot, in the southern part of the Netherlands they pronounce it much softer. Besides, with the right guidance, you’ll master this sound in no time! Want to know more about these variations? Earlier we also wrote a blog on Dutch dialects.

The r: depending on the place of r in a word, but also on the region, this letter is pronounced rolled or at the back of the mouth.
The diphthong ui: this combination does not occur in many other languages, which often makes it difficult to pronounce at first. The ui sound requires your mouth to be slightly open. The sound starts with the mouth shape of the short u sound and from the short u sound you continue to the long uu sound and then the j sound. The sound remains at the front of your mouth.
The uu: you make this long vowel at the front of your mouth and you make your mouth very small. You purse your lips, just as if you were drinking from a straw.

Practice makes perfect …. but don’t forget about the right guidance either!

Practice makes perfect. But what also helps is detailed instructions from an experienced teacher or speech therapist. They can guide you properly with making the right mouth shape. Practical instructions and exercises are an important part of one of our newest learning products: the Sound Module. This flexible and user-friendly module can be used by everyone, regardless of language level. Moreover, you can go through the module at your own pace and in the order that best suits your needs.

Mistakes are part of the learning process

Learning a new language involves trial and error. Mistakes are not a bad thing and are part of the learning process. In fact, they are necessary for learning! A mistake in pronunciation can sometimes confuse a native speaker. Occasionally, however, it can also lead to a difference in meaning, sometimes resulting in hilarity. The best thing you can do then? Simply, shrug your shoulders and laugh.

Common mistakes in Dutch pronunciation

Have you ever heard any of these pronunciation mistakes or perhaps made them yourself?

Oe sound instead of uu sound: “Vandaag gaan we koffie drinken bij de boeren” (“Today, we will have coffee with the farmers”) instead of “Vandaag gaan we koffie drinken bij de buren” (“Today, we will have coffee with the neighbors”).
And in the same category, “Ik moet mijn hoer nog betalen” (“I still have to pay my prostitute”) instead of “Ik moet mijn huur nog betalen” (“I still have to pay my rent”).
Confusion between short and long vowels, such as a and aa: “De maan draagt vandaag een mooi pak en een stropdas” (“Today, the moon is wearing a nice suit and a tie”) instead of “De man draagt vandaag een mooi pak en een stropdas” (“Today, the man is wearing a nice suit and a tie”)
Confusion between i and ie: “Ik eet vies met aardappelen“ (”I eat gross with potatoes“) instead of “Ik eet vis met aardappelen” (”I eat fish with potatoes”).

Dutch Ready’s tips to improve your pronunciation

Are you ready to get started with Dutch pronunciation? These tips might be helpful:

Practice as much as possible with native speakers and ask them to correct your pronunciation where necessary.
Practice with words you use often, so that you can apply what you learn.
Listen to Dutch television, podcasts, radio, etc. The more often you hear the Dutch sounds, the more familiar you will become with them.
Try not to speak too fast, but give yourself time to focus on the sounds.
Be aware of the differences between Dutch and your native language.
Focus on the shape of your mouth when practicing pronunciation.
Before focusing on pronunciation, focus on recognition. This often helps a lot later.

Extra tip: Dutch Ready’s sound comparison cards

We mentioned it at the beginning of this blog: for native speakers of as many as 15 different languages, we have developed a very useful tool: the sound comparison cards. You can download these for free from our website. The sound cards (including IPA notation) help you compare the sounds of your native language with Dutch and give you multiple examples to listen to for each sound. This way, you’ll learn Dutch pronunciation even faster. Are you starting to get the hang of it? Then you can master the pronunciation even more with the Dutch Ready sound module!

The sound cards are made for the following languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Russian, Hindi, Portuguese, Danish, Hungarian, Korean, Mandarin, Afrikaans and Turkish. We continue to work on new editions for other languages, so isn’t your native language among them? Then keep an eye on our website for updated Dutch pronunciation tools.