Learn how to accept suggestions politely
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to DutchPod101.com This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 15 - Exchanging Currency in the Netherlands. Michael Here. |
| Jacob: Hallo. I'm Jacob. |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn How to accept suggestions politely or agree with someone's opinion in Dutch. This conversation takes place in the bank. |
| Jacob: It's between Burt and a bank clerk. |
| Michael: The conversation is between a client and a bank clerk and will be spoken using formal Dutch. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Lokettist: Goedemorgen meneer, hoe kan ik u helpen? |
| Burt: Goedemorgen, ik wil graag wat geld wisselen. |
| Lokettist: Zeker meneer, vanuit welk geld? |
| Burt: Dollars, contant of travellers cheques. Welke koers is beter? |
| Lokettist: Ik raad u aan om een cheque te gebruiken meneer. |
| Burt: Dank u wel voor het advies. 200 dollar dan graag. |
| Lokettist: Jawel meneer. Een ogenblikje alstublieft. |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Lokettist: Goedemorgen meneer, hoe kan ik u helpen? |
| Burt: Goedemorgen, ik wil graag wat geld wisselen. |
| Lokettist: Zeker meneer, vanuit welk geld? |
| Burt: Dollars, contant of travellercheques. Welke koers is beter? |
| Lokettist: Ik raad u aan om een cheque te gebruiken meneer. |
| Burt: Dank u wel voor het advies. 200 dollar dan graag. |
| Lokettist: Jawel meneer. Een ogenblikje alstublieft. |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Bank clerk: Good morning sir, how may I help you? |
| Burt: Good morning, I'd like to exchange some money, please. |
| Bank clerk: Certainly, sir. Which currency please? |
| Burt: Dollars, by cash or traveler's check. Which rate is better? |
| Bank clerk: I would advise cashing a check sir. |
| Burt: Thank you for the advice. 200 dollars then. |
| Bank clerk: Very well sir, just a moment please. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Michael: Jacob, if I need to exchange money in the Netherlands, where would you recommend I go? |
| Jacob: Hmm.. I want to recommend that you to go to banks or exchange offices. They will give you the best rate, although they will definitely take a commission. And make sure to find these places not near the tourist spots. |
| Michael: And.. as many listeners already know, the Netherlands uses the euro, so once you change your money into euro, actually you don’t have to change money every time you move to a different country when touring Europe. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Jacob: meneer [natural native speed] |
| Michael: sir, Mr. |
| Jacob: me-neer [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: meneer [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: helpen [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to help |
| Jacob: hel-pen [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: helpen [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: wisselen [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to change (money), to change, to break |
| Jacob: wis-sel-en[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: wisselen [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: contant [natural native speed] |
| Michael: cash |
| Jacob: con-tant slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: contant [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: koers [natural native speed] |
| Michael: rate |
| Jacob: koers [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: koers [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: gebruiken [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to use |
| Jacob: ge-brui-ken[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: gebruiken [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: advies [natural native speed] |
| Michael: advice |
| Jacob: ad-vies [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: advies [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: ogenblikje [natural native speed] |
| Michael: moment |
| Jacob: o-gen-blik-je [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: ogenblikje [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Michael: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Jacob: Hoe kan ik u helpen? |
| Michael: meaning "How may I help you?" It’s a polite way to address a client after having greeted their guests. |
| Jacob: You will hear this often at a shop or an exchange office like we had in the dialogue. And this phrase starts with the word hoe, which means “how”. After the word hoe, we have the two verbs kan helpen |
| Michael: “can help.” But the pronouns are placed between two verbs. |
| Jacob: That’s right. The word order is slightly different from English. In Dutch, you need to put the pronoun u meaning “you” before the verb. So you need to say..Hoe kan ik u helpen? |
| Michael: In its Dutch order, it literally means “How can I, you, help?” |
| Michael: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Jacob: Welke is beter? |
| Michael: meaning "Which one is better?" |
| Jacob: Welke means “which one.” is means “is” and beter means “better.” |
| Michael: It sounds similar to English. So I can ask the staff which one is better when shopping alone. |
| Jacob: That’s right. Or when the client wants to ask you which payment method you prefer, they will say.. welke is beter? |
| Michael: “which one is better?” |
| Jacob: Talking about beter, you might also want to remember Goed-Beter-Best |
| Michael: It means “Good-better-best.” Can you say it again? |
| Jacob: Goed-Beter-Best |
| Michael: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Jacob: Een ogenblikje alstublieft. |
| Michael: meaning "One moment please." |
| Jacob: Een ogenblik is comparable to the English idiom "in the twinkling of an eye,” but is used much more. It can be translated as, “just one minute please,” “just a second,” “please wait,” etc... |
| Michael: Then we have the word “please.” |
| Jacob: Right. The word alstublieft is a common expression of politeness. All together, again Een ogenblikje alstublieft |
| Michael: “one moment please.” Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In this lesson you will learn how to accept suggestions politely or agree with others’ opinions in Dutch. |
| Jacob: In the dialogue, Burt asked the bank employee if he can change money or cash a check, and the employee answers with Zeker meneer |
| Michael: “Certainly, sir”. |
| Jacob: This is a very formal and polite way of saying “Yes,” which is usually used when there is a great difference in status between the two people. |
| Michael: What about “Certainly, ma’am.”? |
| Jacob: For that case, you’ll hear Zeker, mevrouw. |
| Michael: Like this one, you can use different Dutch expressions to accept or refuse someone’s request or invite. Let’s take them one by one. |
| Jacob: First, we have the easiest one to remember. Ja. |
| Michael: “Yes.” |
| Jacob: Or you can say..Prima. |
| Michael: meaning “yes, of course.” |
| Jacob: Or Lijkt me leuk, |
| Michael: “I’d like that.” |
| Jacob: Graag! |
| Michael: “Gladly.” |
| Jacob: Or as the longer, but more gentle version, you can say.. Het is mij een genoegen. |
| Michael: “It’s a pleasure.” For more formal situations, what other expressions can we use? |
| Jacob: In more formal or sometimes more friendly relationships, people will often add a name, title, or the word “sir” or “madam.” For example.. if someone asks you, Wilt u iets drinken mevrouw? |
| Michael: “Would you like a drink, madam?” |
| Jacob: You can simply answer the question as in Graag meneer. |
| Michael: “Gladly, sir.” |
| Jacob: Or for informal situations, like in English, you can put the other person’s name to make your answer sound more friendly. For example.. if your friend asks you, Mag ik je telefoon gebruiken? |
| Michael: “Can I use your phone?” |
| Jacob: You can answer back by saying Natuurlijk Piet. |
| Michael: “Of course, Piet.” |
| Jacob: Natuurlijk means “of course” and you can put the other person’s first name at the end. |
| Michael: What if I want to refuse someone’s offer? Can I be direct and say “No?” |
| Jacob: Yes, you can. In general the Dutch are quite direct, so a straight no can be acceptable in some situations among friends, but in more formal situations, other expressions should be used. For example, instead of saying simply Nee meaning “no”, you can say.. Nee, sorry ik heb het druk. |
| Michael: “No, sorry, I’m busy.” |
| Jacob: Or.. Nee, Ik heb al een afspraak |
| Michael: “No, I already have plans.” |
Outro |
| Michael: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Jacob: Tot ziens. |
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