Learn how to ask for detailed directions
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to DutchPod101.com. This is Lower Intermediate, Season 1 Lesson 19 - Finding Your Way in the Netherlands. Eric here. |
| Jacob: Hallo. I'm Jacob. |
| Eric: In this lesson, we’ll go over some useful instructions you might receive while travelling. The conversation takes place in the hotel lobby. |
| Jacob: It’s between tourists Bill and Henk, and the receptionist from the Backpackers Inn. |
| Eric: The speakers are both young, so they’ll be using informal Dutch. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Bill: Ik wil graag naar de Zaanse Schans. |
| Henk: OK, dat wordt moeilijk. Eerst met tramlijn 16 naar het Centraal Station van Amsterdam. |
| Bill: OK, begrijp ik. En dan? |
| Henk: Daarna neem je de trein naar Zaandam, en stap je uit bij station Koog-Zaandijk. |
| Bill: Hm, wordt al lastiger. |
| Henk: En vanaf daar moet je weer een bus nemen naar de Zaanse Schans. |
| Bill: Welke bus neem ik dan? |
| Henk: Weet ik niet meer, vraag maar op het station. En succes. |
| Bill: Dank je wel. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Bill: I'd like to go to the Zaanse Schans. |
| Henk: Ok, well, that's complicated. First you take tram number 16 to Amsterdam's Central Station. |
| Bill: Ok, that I get. And then? |
| Henk: After that you take the train to Zaandam, but you get off at a station called Koog-Zaandijk. |
| Bill: Okay, it's getting harder. |
| Henk: And from that station you take a bus to the Zaanse Schans. |
| Bill: Which bus do I take? |
| Henk: I don't remember. You’d better ask at the station. And good luck. |
| Bill: Yes, thank you. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Jacob, I've heard that it’s really easy to travel in Holland. |
| Jacob: It is! The public transportation is good, and most people are happy to give you directions if you’re lost and need to get somewhere. |
| Eric: And what about language barriers; do many Dutch people speak English? |
| Jacob: Sure, especially young people. If you do come across someone who only speaks Dutch, you can ask them to write things down for you. And if you understand some Dutch, you can ask...Langzaam graag, mijn Nederlands is slecht which means “Slowly please, my Dutch is bad.” |
| Eric: That’s a good tip. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Jacob: eerst [natural native speed] |
| Eric: first |
| Jacob: eerst [slowly] |
| Jacob: eerst [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: tramlijn [natural native speed] |
| Eric: tram line |
| Jacob: tram-lijn [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: tramlijn [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: lastig [natural native speed] |
| Eric: complicated, troublesome |
| Jacob: las-tig [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: lastig [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: daarna [natural native speed] |
| Eric: afterwards, after, then |
| Jacob: daar-na [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: daarna [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: nemen [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to take |
| Jacob: ne-men [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: nemen [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: uitstappen [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to get off |
| Jacob: uit-stap-pen [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: uitstappen [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have. |
| Jacob: bij [natural native speed] |
| Eric: at |
| Jacob: bij [slowly] |
| Jacob: bij [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have. |
| Jacob: weten [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to know |
| Jacob: we-ten [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: weten [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: vragen [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to ask |
| Jacob: vra-gen [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: vragen [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Jacob: begrijpen [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to understand |
| Jacob: be-grijp-en [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: begrijpen [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Jacob: Nu wordt het lastiger. |
| Eric: which means “Now it becomes more complicated.” |
| Jacob: lastiger is the comparative form of the word lastig, which means “awkward,” “troublesome,” “difficult,” or “complicated.” |
| Eric: So literally, this phrase is a warning that means “Pay attention. Now it gets complicated.” |
| Jacob: Right. For example, you can say.. De relativiteitstheorie van Einstein is erg lastig. |
| Eric: ..which means “Einstein's theory of relativity is quite complicated.” Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Jacob: OK, begrijp ik! |
| Eric: which literally means “OK, I understand it!”, but can be understood as “OK, I get it.” |
| Jacob: In Dutch we have another expression, which is OK, ik heb het! This also means “OK, I get it.” |
| Eric: What’s the difference between these two phrases? |
| Jacob: OK, ik heb het! is more informal than OK, begrijp ik! But if you’re wondering which one to chose, you should use OK, begrijp ik! |
| Eric: I see. Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Jacob: Ja ik begrijp het, maar ik ben het er niet mee eens. |
| Eric: .. which means “Yes, I understand it, but I do not agree.” Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Eric: In this lesson, we’ll go over some useful instructions you might receive while travelling. In our dialogue, Henk said… |
| Jacob: OK, dat wordt moeilijk. |
| Eric: which means “That’s gonna be difficult!” |
| Jacob: Dat wordt moeilijk! is a nice colloquial expression in Dutch that you can use in informal situations. |
| Eric: Can we use it in formal situations? |
| Jacob: Basically yes, when it is used in combination with other words in the right context. For example...Nog eens 5% zakken, dat wordt heel moeilijk heren! |
| Eric: which means “Going down another 5% will be very difficult gentlemen.” |
| Jacob: As you can see from this example, Dat wordt moeilijk! can be used in business situations. In our dialogue Henk also said Eerst met tramlijn 16 naar het Centraal Station van Amsterdam. |
| Eric: “First you take tram number 16 to Amsterdam's Central Station.” |
| Jacob: In this sentence you see the word eerst, which means “first.” Listeners, this word is rather informal, but it can also be appropriate in formal situations as well. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example? |
| Jacob: Sure. Here’s an informal one. Eerst een pauze, dan weer werken. |
| Eric: “First a break, and after that, work again.” |
| Jacob: And this one is formal...Heren, laten we eerst naar de Tokyo Index kijken, en daarna een beslissing nemen. |
| Eric: “Gentlemen, let’s please have a look at the Tokyo Index, and make a decision after that.” |
| Jacob: In the dialogue we also heard….Daarna neem je de trein naar Zaandam, en stap je uit bij station Koog-Zaandijk.’ |
| Eric: “After that you take the train to Zaandam, but you get off at the station called Koog-Zaandijk.” |
| Jacob: A very important phrase you should know is...De trein nemen |
| Eric: which means “to take the train.” In our dialogue we use it in a polite but rather informal construction. |
| Jacob: Right. We said...daarna neem je de trein, which in English is “after that, you take the train.” |
| Eric: And how would you say “to get off” in Dutch? |
| Jacob: It is Uitstappen. In some constructions, the verb is split up. For example, “Get off the train” becomes stap uit de trein. |
| Eric: And our last phrase for this lesson is… |
| Jacob: Weet ik niet meer, vraag maar op het station. En succes. |
| Eric: which means “I don't remember. You’d better ask at the station. And good luck.” This is a very informal way to end the conversation. |
| Jacob: Right. Basically, Dutch people don't say “Sorry, but I don’t remember,” which would be...neem me niet kwalijk, ik weet het niet meer. Instead, they would give a simple and quite straightforward “I don’t remember,” which is weet ik niet meer. |
| Eric: I see. It's actually not rude, just informal and a bit indifferent. |
| Jacob: Yes. You will hear it a lot in Dutch. |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Jacob: Dank u. |
Comments
Hide