3 out of 4 stars
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When I was in high school, foreign language was required in order to graduate. At that point, I chose French as I think it's a beautiful language. I remember having an English to French dictionary that I enjoyed just sitting down and looking at. Why? Because it had some unique and interesting phrases. Phrases that you wouldn't learn by sitting in a high school French class. This book reminds me of that dictionary.
Ms. Stinissen got the idea for this book after a vacation in Ireland. She met some American women who wanted her to teach them some "naughty" phrases in Dutch. She obliged and had a wonderful time laughing about it with these women.
As with any good foreign language dictionary, How to swear & love in Dutch starts off with an introduction to the Dutch alphabet as well as basic numbers. After we get that over with, we quickly move on to some more interesting phrases about meeting people and relationships. From there, Ms. Stinissen covers more touristy phrases for directions or eating at a restaurant.
Perhaps one of my favorite sections, though, is near the end. The author tells us about some famous Dutch proverbs as well as translating some famous quotes into Dutch. I enjoyed not only reading these, but also trying to say them aloud. I am absolutely sure that anyone speaking Dutch would not be able to understand me, but I had fun. Let me share one of the easiest of these fun phrases.
There are a couple of things that I absolutely loved about this guide. The first was the author's sense of humor. For example, before a section on interviewing for a job, the author says that this is the time when you are taking all of your drunk pictures off of social media and replacing them with something more professional. The second thing that I appreciated was that the author went to the trouble of putting a phonetic spelling of the phrases below their Dutch spelling. This greatly helped me when I was trying to sound out these words.Al doende leert men.
[Al doond? lairt men.]
Literally: Practise makes perfect.
I did find a few drawbacks to this guide, though. The author's first language is not English, and her English sentences are not always correct. She easily made herself understood, but if you are looking for perfect English, you'll want to look elsewhere. Also, if you are planning on travelling to a country where you'll need to use your Dutch, this won't work as a stand alone guide. It would make a great addition to a standard English to Dutch dictionary, though.
In summary, I would have to rate How to swear & love in Dutch 3 out of 4 stars. It's a great supplement to a normal phrasebook. It also makes for a fun, read aloud experience. However, since it wouldn't be able to be used on its own I can't give this book a full rating. Still, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys languages or plans to travel to a Dutch speaking country.
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How to swear & love in Dutch
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