Learn 10 phrases for surviving back to school
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| Hello and welcome to this next Dutch lesson. My name is Stella and today, we are going to talk about 10 Words and Phrases You’ll Need When You’re Going Back to School, at the beginning of the school year. It’s never easy but at least now, you will know what to say. |
| 1. Heb je je huiswerk af? "Did you finish your homework?" |
| So the Dutch word for finishing something is afwerking, and the word for "having finished it" is af hebben. So that’s why it’s Heb je je huiswerk af. We don’t have a separate word for, to finish something. |
| 2. klasgenoot "classmate" |
| John is mijn klasgenoot. "John is my classmate." |
| Now, this word is really only used in the diminutive form, klasgenoot. If you are adults and that feels too weird, then, you could also say, iemand uit mijn klas, which means, "someone from my class" and it’s much more neutral; |
| klasgenoot implies that you are great friends. |
| 3. huiswerk "homework" |
| Elke dag maak ik mijn huiswerk. "Every day I do my homework." |
| Everyone’s favorite word, isn’t it? Again, this one is difficult because many people find that /ui/ difficult to pronounce. You could compare it to, like, a really posh pronunciation of "over". So like "over". O... o... huiswerk. |
| If that makes any sense. |
| 4. examen "exam" |
| Er is een belangrijk examen in mei. "There is an important exam in May." |
| I must be honest. We only use the word examen when it’s the final exam of something. So like at the end of high school is an exam. If not, we usually say tentamen, but let’s not get too bogged down in the complications of the Dutch educational system. |
| 5. zomervakantie "summer break" |
| In de zomervakantie ga ik op vakantie. "I will go on holiday during summer break." |
| Should I repeat that word, vakantie, a couple more times? No. It’s a lot like vacation. So it’s an easy one to remember. |
| 6. school "school" |
| Ik vind school niet leuk. "I don't like school." |
| Or maybe you do like school. I don’t know. Do you? It’s not a very tricky sound to get, right? Especially if you are just starting out with learning Dutch. /Sc/ and then /oo/. It’s a difficult combination. Don’t feel bad if you don’t get them in the first try. |
| 7. studeren "to study" |
| Mijn zus studeert biologie "My sister studies biology." |
| Now, studeren means two things. The first meaning is that you are attending a university and the second meaning is that you are busy studying at the moment. So kind of like in English. |
| 8. Het is de eerste schooldag. "It's the first day of class." |
| I wish I could come up with some positive association for you guys, like making new friends or whatever, but to be honest, I am just really glad I don’t have to go through that anymore. Growing up is awesome guys. |
| 9. We zitten in dezelfde klas. "We're in the same class!" |
| So it is a funny thing with Dutch. We will often use the verb zitten, so "sitting," if what we mean is being. So this literally says, we are sitting in the same class but it just means that we are in the same class. |
| 10. Welke lessen volg je? "What classes are you taking?" |
| As you can hear, the Dutch word les which is the singular of lesson is not like the English "lesson" except that lesson is singular. Also, volgen means "following". So it’s like saying, you are following a class. |
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