What is the most challenging thing about the Dutch language?

Question

Is Dutch easy to learn? What is the most difficult thing about the Dutch language?

Answer 1

I would say one of the hardest parts is the Dutch grammar structure. An example of how the grammar works is like in the sentence "I want to go to the store." In English, the subject after the two verbs is put at the end. In Dutch, it is "I wil naar de winkel gaan," or "I want to the store to go" in English. The second verb is put at the end of the sentence. It is common for new Dutch speakers to keep the English grammatical structure when they speak, but the good news is most people who speak Dutch will understand what you are trying to say and as you practice more you will become more like a native Dutch speaker.

Answer 2

The most challenging thing about the Dutch language is its number of vowel sounds. It has 13 plain vowels and 3 (or more, if you learn a dialect) dipthongs - these are vowel sounds that change sound as you speak.

Other European languages have relatively fewer vowel sounds. English has 14 vowel sounds total.

Many students are intimidated at first by the appearance of the Dutch language and such funny-looking words as "waarschijnlijk." The question that arises quietly is: "How on earth would I EVER pronounce THAT??"

The fact of the matter is, most students quickly get OVER this and Dutch becomes a truly easy language to learn - probably the very easiest second language for English speakers to learn.