Learn Dutch phrases that you can use in letters
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gabriella:Hi everyone, Gabriella here! Welcome to DutchPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner Season 1, Lesson 25 - Writing a Dutch Letter. |
| Jacob:Hallo! I'm Jacob. Welcome to the lesson. |
| Gabriella:Yes, welcome back to our final lesson of this series! In this last lesson, we’re going to talk about phrases we can use in a letter or email. |
| Jacob:Yes, to keep in touch with your new Dutch friends! We’ll also be listening to a dialogue between two friends. |
| Gabriella:Right, so in this lesson we’ll hear two friends returning to Germany from Amsterdam and one of them has just received an email from somebody they met while over in Holland. |
| Jacob:The conversation takes place at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Anna and Heidi are close friends, so they’ll be using informal Dutch. |
| Gabriella:Yes, so let’s get to it! Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Anna: Kasper stuurt net een e-mail, hij schrijft: ‘Liefste Anna' |
| Heidi: Hij vindt je écht leuk, Anna, anders zou hij geen ‘liefste' schrijven! Wat schrijft hij verder? |
| Anna: Hij hoopt dat ik snel weer naar Amsterdam kom! |
| Heidi: Stuur hem een ansichtkaart vanaf Schiphol! |
| Anna: Goed idee, ik koop meteen een kaartje. |
| Heidi: Wat schrijf je? |
| Anna: ‘Je bent altijd welkom in Duitsland! Veel liefs Anna' |
| Gabriella: Let's hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Anna: Kasper stuurt net een e-mail, hij schrijft: ‘Liefste Anna' |
| Heidi: Hij vindt je écht leuk, Anna, anders zou hij geen ‘liefste' schrijven! Wat schrijft hij verder? |
| Anna: Hij hoopt dat ik snel weer naar Amsterdam kom! |
| Heidi: Stuur hem een ansichtkaart vanaf Schiphol! |
| Anna: Goed idee, ik koop meteen een kaartje. |
| Heidi: Wat schrijf je? |
| Anna: ‘Je bent altijd welkom in Duitsland! Veel liefs Anna' |
| Gabriella: Now let's hear it with the English translation. |
| Anna: Kasper stuurt net een e-mail, hij schrijft: ‘Liefste Anna' |
| Gabriella: Kasper just sent me an e-mail; he writes, "Dearest Anna..." |
| Heidi: Hij vindt je écht leuk, Anna, anders zou hij geen ‘liefste' schrijven! Wat schrijft hij verder? |
| Gabriella: He really likes you, Anna; otherwise, he wouldn't write "Dearest!" What else does he write? |
| Anna: Hij hoopt dat ik snel weer naar Amsterdam kom! |
| Gabriella: He hopes I will come back to Amsterdam quickly! |
| Heidi: Stuur hem een ansichtkaart vanaf Schiphol! |
| Gabriella: Send him a picture postcard from Schiphol Airport! |
| Anna: Goed idee, ik koop meteen een kaartje. |
| Gabriella: Good idea, I will buy a greeting card right away. |
| Heidi: Wat schrijf je? |
| Gabriella: What are you writing? |
| Anna: ‘Je bent altijd welkom in Duitsland! Veel liefs Anna' |
| Gabriella: "You're always welcome in Germany. Lots of love, Anna." |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gabriella:Apparently, Amsterdam is a giant hub and tourist attraction for young people from all over the world! But Jacob, why is Amsterdam so popular? |
| Jacob:Well, it’s a beautiful city with amazing architecture, and there are so many fun places to go. There are also thousands of bars which stay open till late at night, some from dusk til dawn! And there are over a hundred beautiful museums and galleries. Have you been to some already, Gabriella? |
| Gabriella:Jacob, how did you know! Some of the most well-known ones as well as the ones I would personally recommend are het Van Gogh Museum, or “the Van Gogh Museum”, and het Rijksmuseum, or the “National Museum” which is home to one of my favorite paintings; Rembrandt’s Night Watch! The Night Watch is basically a large painting and..well, you’ll have to go and see it for yourself, but it’s impressive. |
| Jacob:You sure like your art, Gabriella! |
| Gabriella:[laughs] It’s true, Jacob, I do. |
| Jacob:Amsterdam is also home to het Anne Frank Huis, or “the Anne Frank House”, historically famous as the place where a young Jewish girl documented her time in hiding during World War II. |
| Gabriella:Yes, it’s a very emotionally powerful place to visit and it’s got a very famous staircase. But Jacob, what about the famous coffee shops, which sell soft drugs over-the-counter? Are they really legal? |
| Jacob:I’m not sure. I think officially they are illegal, but they’re tolerated in the coffee shop culture. Some people come to Amsterdam to experiment and be as liberal as possible. |
| Gabriella:One thing I can say about it though, is that it’s a myth that all Dutch people have tried drugs because it is available. It’s actually more of an experimental thing for tourists. |
| Jacob:Listeners, did you know that the Dutch government actually took on a policy to keep hard drugs and soft drugs separated? So in a way it’s a very clever way to reduce the use of more potent substances. Of course not everybody agrees. |
| Gabriella:Right. But we’re not trying to promote drugs here! There’s so much to enjoy in Holland in terms of culture and history alone! Another interesting quarter to explore is the Jordaan, a quaint area, famous for its attractive streets and pancake cafes. |
| Jacob:I’m getting hungry for coffee and cake! Okay, now let’s take a look at the vocabulary and phrases. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Jacob: anders [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: otherwise |
| Jacob: anders [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: anders [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: hopen [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to hope |
| Jacob: hopen [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: hopen [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: liefste [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: my dearest |
| Jacob: liefste [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: liefste [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: e-mail [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: e-mail |
| Jacob: e-mail [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: e-mail [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: snel [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: soon |
| Jacob: snel [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: snel [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: veel liefs [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: lots of love |
| Jacob: veel liefs [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: veel liefs [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: schrijven [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to write |
| Jacob: schrijven [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: schrijven [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: welkom [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: welcome |
| Jacob: welkom [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: welkom [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: (ansicht)kaart [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: (picture) postcard |
| Jacob: (ansicht)kaart [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: (ansicht)kaart [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: Duitsland [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Germany |
| Jacob: Duitsland [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: Duitsland [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Gabriella:Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. At one point Heidi says Hij vindt je écht leuk, Anna, anders zou hij geen ‘liefste’ schrijven!’ I notice we have an accent on the letter “e”. |
| Jacob:Very observant of you! The accent is just to stress something. It doesn’t really affect the pronunciation. Hij vindt je echt leuk means “He really likes you”. But when you put an accent on the “e” it would be like writing the word echt in bold characters. So in English it would sound like “He really likes you!” |
| Gabriella:Ah, I see. And then she tells her friend to send a postcard. She's really supportive, isn’t she? |
| Jacob:Yes, it seems that way! She seems very happy for her friend, encouraging her to write a postcard. |
| Gabriella:What's the difference between een ansichtkaart and een kaartje? They use both. |
| Jacob:Well, a “card” is a kaart in Dutch. That could be with or without a picture. An ansichtkaart is what in English you would call a “postcard” or “picture postcard”. So, a postcard with a nice photograph of the place where you’re having your holidays. |
| Gabriella:Yes, but what about the word kaartje? |
| Jacob:Kaartje is the diminutive for kaart, which means “card”. And that could be a postcard, or a playing card, which in Dutch is a speelkaart. And there are many word combinations with the word kaartje. The compound noun treinkaartje is a “train ticket”, whilst concertkaartje is a “concert ticket”. And don’t forget the gele kaart’and the rode kaart’ which are used in soccer. That’s “yellow card” and “red card”, respectively. |
| Gabriella:Okay, one last question, Jacob. Anna ends her letter with Veel liefs. What exactly does it mean? |
| Jacob:It means “Lots of love”. Veel is “many” and liefs’is something like “love” or “sweetness”. |
| Gabriella:Okay, good to know, right, listeners? And now onto the grammar! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Gabriella:In this lesson, we’re going to learn about communication and forms of address. For example, if Anna and Heidi write or email each other, how would they start their letter or email? |
| Jacob:Well, they seem to be very good friends, so obviously it would be an informal form of address. It could be Hallo! or Hoi or maybe and more likely, Lieve Anna and Lieve Heidi. |
| Gabriella:So Hoi is the Dutch equivalent of “Hi” and lieve’is “dear”? |
| Jacob:Yes, you’ve got it! Now, in a more formal situation people start their letters in a different way. Let’s say you’re writing a letter to a man called Jansen. You’ll start your letter with Geachte heer Jansen. In English that would be “Dear Mr. Jansen”, and in the case of a woman Geachte mevrouw Jansen. |
| Gabriella:And what about people you’re very close to, like a girlfriend, boyfriend, or a lover? How would you address these people? |
| Jacob:Well, there are a few possibilities. The word Lieve is used for girlfriends and boyfriends, but it can also be used between good friends of the opposite sex, without there being a love relationship. |
| Gabriella:And, as we heard before, between two girls that are good friends! |
| Jacob:Yes, it’s used more between two girls than between two men, but that also happens. So lieve can be used in many situations. If you want to emphasize your feelings of love, you could use Liefste which means “Dearest” or Mijn allerliefste, which in English would be something like “My very dearest”. |
| Gabriella:There are a lot of choices, then! How about at the end of a letter? How would I sign off? |
| Jacob:Again there are formal and informal forms. A formal letter will end with the word Hoogachtend, which is comparable to the English “Sincerely yours” or “Yours faithfully”. |
| Gabriella:An for an informal letter? |
| Jacob:There are many ways again! Hartelijke groeten, meaning “Best regards”, Tot snel, meaning “See you soon”, or Het beste, which is “All the best”, and so on. |
Outro |
| Gabriella:Well dear listeners, that’s it for this lesson and for this series! Thank you very much for staying with us til the end and we hope you enjoyed it! Keep practising your Dutch and remember to contact us by commenting in the comments section. Take care! |
| Jacob:Yes, see you in another series. Dankjewel en tot ziens allemaal! |
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