Learn how to pronounce different letters in Dutch correctly
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| Jacob: Hallo ik heet Jacob |
| Mies: Mies here! Welcome back to DutchPod101.com. This is Pronunciation Lesson 2, Double Your Fun with Dutch Vowels |
| Thanks for being here with us for this lesson. Jacob, what are we looking at in this lesson? |
| Jacob: We will work on the pronunciation of vowel diphthongs. |
| Mies: Let's start by revisiting the vowels we went through last lesson. |
| Jacob: The Dutch language has a total of six vowels. "A", "E", "I", "O", "U", "Y" |
| Mies: But, like in last lesson, we are not going to spend a lot of time on the letter Y |
| Jacob: Yes, because we see the letter “Y” only in the foreign words used in the Dutch language. |
| Mies: In this lesson, we will have a look at what we call double vowels, also known as diphthongs. |
| Jacob: Basically, two vowels put together to make a common sound. |
| Mies: In most languages, when you do this, the vowel sounds get blended together. |
| Jacob: In Dutch, though, there are certain double-vowel combinations that don't come out as you might imagine. |
| Mies: Okay, so how many diphthongs are there? |
| Jacob: there are nine diphthongs. |
| Mies: And how are they different from normal vowels? |
| Jacob: Well, they are pronounced as one sound that sometimes can't be pronounced with one vowel. |
| Mies: Okay, so enough explanation, let's get to them! |
| AI |
| Mies: Okay, the first diphthong is "AI" |
| Jacob: This is "-A" and "-I" put together to pronounce the sound like the English “I” |
| Mies: Let's practice with the Dutch word for "corn" ("mais"). |
| Jacob: "mais". |
| Mies: Yes the “AI” also shows up in many words borrowed from the French language. |
| Jacob: like «militair» |
| Mies: Yes, "military" in English |
| AU / OU |
| Mies: Next up is "AU” which consists of "-A” and "-U |
| Jacob: It sound like the “OW” in the English word 'Now' |
| Mies: Yeah, we just use this diphthong by itself when we are hurt. |
| Jacob: Au! |
| Mies: 'Ouch' in English, 'Au' in Dutch. |
| Jacob: Hopefully the rest of this lesson is not painful! |
| Mies: (laughs)Well, if you keep paying attention, you should be ok! |
| Jacob: Right, ok! What is up next? |
| Mies: “OU” consisting of O and U |
| Jacob: Yes that one is easy as it has the same sound as our previous diphthong AU. |
| Mies; let's put it in a word. Jacob, the Dutch for 'old'? |
| Jacob:… oud |
| Mies: and the Dutch for 'wood'? |
| Jacob: Hout. |
| Mies: Pretty easy right? Let's move on. |
| EI /IJ |
| Mies: "EI" is a combination of the letters: |
| Jacob: E and I |
| Mies: The same “IJ” sound is created by the letters I and J |
| Jacob: Again, two combinations with the same sound. |
| Mies: It's not the easiest sound – we don’t really find it in the English language |
| So the best thing you can do is just listen to Jacob and repeat after him.“Small” in Dutch |
| Jacob: Klein, klein |
| Mies: “wine” in Dutch |
| Jacob: Wijn, wijn |
| EU |
| Mies: The next diphthong sound doesn’t exist in English either |
| Jacob: “EU” ? |
| Mies: Right the combination of the letters E and U sounds like “eu” |
| Jacob: Wait a minute! I speak some French. |
| Mies: Indeed, you have the EU sound in French. |
| Jacob: Like “beurre” for butter |
| Mies: Ok, but we are not studying French here so let's give some Dutch examples. Jacob, what is “door” in Dutch? |
| Jacob: Deur |
| Mies: and 'smell'? |
| Jacob: geur |
| Mies: Last one – “fun” |
| Jacob: leuk |
| IE |
| Mies: ok, with the next diphthong we are back to some more familiar sounds |
| Jacob: IE combination of I and E |
| Mies: right, the Dutch I and E combo sounds like the English double EE, so “ant” in Dutch is? |
| Jacob: Mier |
| Mies: and another one, "song" |
| Jacob: Lied |
| Mies: not too difficult, right? |
| OE |
| Mies: This next one isn’t too hard either. The OE, O and E together. |
| Jacob: OE - Sounds a bit spooky though. |
| Mies: Right, some spooky words. The verb “have to” in Dutch? |
| Jacob: moet |
| Mies: or the word “sweet” in Dutch? |
| Jacob: zoet |
| UI |
| Mies: Now we get to the last one and it a bit of an odd one again. UI, U and I together |
| Jacob: Okay, so we will just do some more listen and repeat. |
| Mies: The Dutch for 'house' please: |
| Jacob: Huis |
| Mies: The Dutch for 'mouse' |
| Jacob: Muis |
| Mies: Ok great! We finished our diphthongs! |
| Jacob: Any other vowel combos we can make? |
| Mies: Well, now that you ask for it, yeah actually there are. |
| Jacob: Bring them on! I like the sound of this. |
| Mies: Well in Dutch we have triple vowel combinations. |
| Jacob: Wow! The more the merrier. |
| Mies: We have AAI, OEI, OOI and EEU |
| Jacob: Do these vowels also blend together into one sound ? |
| Mies: No, not completely, for example AAI sounds like a combination of AA and IE |
| Jacob: like “lawaai”, noisy |
| Mies: Correct! |
| Jacob: How about OEI |
| Mies: this will sound like a combo of OE and IE |
| Jacob: Doei |
| Mies: great example! “Doei” is a very casual greeting in Dutch |
| Jacob: and OOI? |
| Mies: Again, a combination of “oo” and “ie”, let's say 'beautiful' |
| Jacob: Mooi |
| Mies: The last one EEU is a combo of the sounds EE and OE |
| Jacob: EEU! |
| Mies: Lets say 'lion' in Dutch |
| Jacob: Leeuw |
| Mies: Very good! |
| Jacob: That just about does it for this lesson. |
| Mies: But, before we go, we want to tell you about a way to drastically improve your pronunciation. |
| Jacob: The voice-recording tool... |
| Mies: Yes, the voice-recording tool in the premium learning center... |
| Jacob: Record your voice with a click of a button, |
| Mies: and then play it back just as easily. |
| Jacob: So you record your voice, and then listen to it. |
| Mies: Compare it to the native speakers... |
| Jacob: And adjust your pronunciation! |
| Mies: This will help you improve your pronunciation fast! |
| Jacob: doei ! |
| Mies: Bye! |
| Word Count for Script: 1,013 Words |
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