Dutchpod101.com

[Trellum]

Has anyone tried this web site?  I tried their 7-day long trial and it looks like a really nice way to learn dutch.  I liked the fact they have a very nice seasonal vocabulary list, and their lessons are really fun.  The only complaint I have are how the quizzes are presented, but I really like they added examples to the words used in their flash cards. For me that is very important.

 

I'm seriously thinking of upgrading to the premium service, I get a very nice discount I pay for a whole year!  I was thinking of paying month by month, but it costs $25 a month! If you go for the 1 year long membership it costs $133, so just $11 a month!  It's cheaper in the long run, but a part of me is afraid to spend that much on a language course. Plus they spam a lot!!!  They send 2 or 3 e-mails to my inbox daily, not cool.

 

Has anyone used this site? Did it help you? Know better options?

Edited October 9, 2015 by Trellum

[anna3101]

For me, the better option is a paper course book I just cannot help it - I like to "touch" the words and be able to physically turn the pages over, as well as scribble down my own notes right inside the book.

I have a simple but well-structured course for beginners. The only problem is lack of time, especially with other languages waiting for their turn

[宇崎ちゃん]

Oh yeah, I had a subscription for JapanesePod101 before (same makers).
Basically it works well for your listening exercises, but the big problem is that each episode includes 70% of English and the remaining 30% is Japanese.
And the conversations don't feel like real world conversations neither (I felt like I was at my secondary school again).

[Trellum]

Have you checked the Spanish one?  I checked it and it's quite nice, same for the Dutch one, but maybe they take a different approach in the Japanese one (more English) because of the nature of the Japanese language.  I'd need to compare them both to see what they do differently.   I personally found the Dutch one super useful and I really think I will buy the subscription later on,  I plan on taking on the NT2 in 3 years or so   I think I'll buy the STAP 1,2 & 3 books and get the subscription. 

[Trellum]

On 10/31/2015, 3:09:26, anna3101 said:

For me, the better option is a paper course book I just cannot help it - I like to "touch" the words and be able to physically turn the pages over, as well as scribble down my own notes right inside the book.

I have a simple but well-structured course for beginners. The only problem is lack of time, especially with other languages waiting for their turn

 

Oh I also like physical books, but I haven't managed to find a good one to learn dutch.  Mind telling me the name of the course you are using?  The ''Naar Nederland'' course I bought from the Dutch gov is useless, it helped me get to level A1, but that's it.   That course is terrible, no grammar points at all and the same repetitive exercises at the end of each lesson.  Do you know of any good course filled with several examples for each grammar point?   I'm in dire need of one of those, so far I'm using the STAP 1 book I got for christmas. 

[宇崎ちゃん]

I haven't checked the Spanish version no.
That being put to the side, where have you been?

[anna3101]

@Trellum Well, I can't believe it. Trellum is back!! Yay! We missed you here I was even thinking of sending you a private message - was getting a bit worried. I hope you are ok and your Dutch life is going according to the schedule

My study book is Polish, so I'm afraid it won't be of much use to you Normally I try to avoid Polish coursebooks because of possible mistakes, but this one seems to be ok - reviewed by a native speaker and properly edited without silly typos and such.

If I ever come across a decent international coursebook, I'll let you know.

[宇崎ちゃん]

9 hours ago, anna3101 said:

@Trellum Well, I can't believe it. Trellum is back!! Yay! We missed you here I was even thinking of sending you a private message - was getting a bit worried. I hope you are ok and your Dutch life is going according to the schedule

My study book is Polish, so I'm afraid it won't be of much use to you Normally I try to avoid Polish coursebooks because of possible mistakes, but this one seems to be ok - reviewed by a native speaker and properly edited without silly typos and such.

If I ever come across a decent international coursebook, I'll let you know.

Even though Polish and Russian are both Slavic languages, I think it would have been a better idea to use an English book for Dutch, since both are Germanic languages.
Or if you're fluent in German, that would have been an even better option.

I say this because my mum uses lots of Polish sentences that are difficult to translate to Dutch.
Dutch also has lots of sentences that are difficult to translate to Polish.
So sometimes when we are watching TV and she asks me what something means, I just can't make a proper translation, even though both languages are my native languages.
Same thing with the other way around, but instead of the questioner being my mum, it's my little sister.

[Trellum]

On 12/12/2015, 1:47:54, anna3101 said:

@Trellum Well, I can't believe it. Trellum is back!! Yay! We missed you here I was even thinking of sending you a private message - was getting a bit worried. I hope you are ok and your Dutch life is going according to the schedule

My study book is Polish, so I'm afraid it won't be of much use to you Normally I try to avoid Polish coursebooks because of possible mistakes, but this one seems to be ok - reviewed by a native speaker and properly edited without silly typos and such.

If I ever come across a decent international coursebook, I'll let you know.

Oh, it's ok, I am not even sure I will need to learn more Dutch (I won't talk about this over here for obvious reasons - very sad actually).    But thanks a lot for the reply   I appreciate that.