Road to B1 in Dutch

Continue or start your personal language log here, including logs for challenge participants
User avatar
Le Baron
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3511
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2021 5:14 pm
Location: Koude kikkerland
Languages: English (N), fr, nl, de, eo, Sranantongo,
Maintaining: es, swahili.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18796
x 9390

Re: Road to B1 in Dutch

Postby Le Baron » Wed Nov 23, 2022 5:50 pm

Maybe the time span doesn't matter. I went through the German Linguaphone course (late 60s or early 70s version) and it took a while. It was a great course.
1 x

Ug_Caveman
Green Belt
Posts: 460
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2018 2:58 am
Location: England
Languages: English (N), Dutch (A2 - July 2021), working towards B1
x 1075

Re: Road to B1 in Dutch

Postby Ug_Caveman » Wed Nov 23, 2022 11:25 pm

Le Baron wrote:Maybe the time span doesn't matter. I went through the German Linguaphone course (late 60s or early 70s version) and it took a while. It was a great course.


Indeed - but at the same time I'm really hoping to get that B1 by summer next year... You only get one shot per year and I don't want to miss it.

Finished supplementary lesson 11 today ('De vakantie naar Spanje') - a lot more demanding than the main course lessons despite being shorter in length. A couple of silly errors here and there (singular simple past conjugation instead of plural being one I did twice...)
2 x
Languages: English (N), Dutch (passed A2 exam in May 2021, failed B1 in May 2023 - never sit an exam when you have food poisoning!)

Seeking: Linguaphone Polish and Linguaphone Afrikaans

Ug_Caveman
Green Belt
Posts: 460
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2018 2:58 am
Location: England
Languages: English (N), Dutch (A2 - July 2021), working towards B1
x 1075

Re: Road to B1 in Dutch

Postby Ug_Caveman » Thu Nov 24, 2022 11:02 pm

Supplementary lesson 12 ("Een ander leven") completed.

Again, short lesson but much more active demand on speaking and listening skills. However I was wiser to some of my more common mistakes and picked up traps when changing things into the simple past much better this time.

'Alcohol is voor hem verboden omdat zijn lever minder goed dan vroeger werkt' - this tripped me up a bit because the 'dan vroeger' was appended after the 'werkt', even though I was always told the verb is always at the end of the sentence in subclause order :?

It seems the lessons ease off the large new vocabulary lists and focus more on speaking\listening skills from this point on - which is probably a good thing as I'm sure my speaking has got a bit rustier than I'd like.
0 x
Languages: English (N), Dutch (passed A2 exam in May 2021, failed B1 in May 2023 - never sit an exam when you have food poisoning!)

Seeking: Linguaphone Polish and Linguaphone Afrikaans

User avatar
Le Baron
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3511
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2021 5:14 pm
Location: Koude kikkerland
Languages: English (N), fr, nl, de, eo, Sranantongo,
Maintaining: es, swahili.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18796
x 9390

Re: Road to B1 in Dutch

Postby Le Baron » Fri Nov 25, 2022 12:31 am

Ug_Caveman wrote:'Alcohol is voor hem verboden omdat zijn lever minder goed dan vroeger werkt' - this tripped me up a bit because the 'dan vroeger' was appended after the 'werkt', even though I was always told the verb is always at the end of the sentence in subclause order.

The 'dan vroeger' after the verb (minder goed werkt...) feels more natural to me.

Just as a side discussion for anyone who is interested and might find it useful... If the sentence is recast using want instead of omdat the rules, as you know, change and the verb placement goes back to normal.

Alcohol is voor hem verboden, want zijn lever werkt minder goed dan vroeger

This is legit in the same context, even though there is a difference. People often quibble about the meaning between them and this is a good candidate, with omdat being 'for the reason that...' Whereas want (used in a co-ordinating clause) gives the reason for the utterance in the preceding clause and is more like because in the sense of 'since'.

Though omdat is required in some cases: De winkel is failliet gegaan, omdat er geen klanten meer waren.

The thing to remember is cause (same with doordat and wegens..).You can't say: het ziet er winderig uit, omdat de bomen zwaaien, because it implies the swaying trees are the cause, whereas they are a symptom and just given as an observable reason for stating the first clause. With want you can't say: de winkel is failliet gegaan, want de klanten komen niet meer, when the implication is that the lack of clients is the cause.

In general sentences though want can be more easily employed.
2 x

Ug_Caveman
Green Belt
Posts: 460
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2018 2:58 am
Location: England
Languages: English (N), Dutch (A2 - July 2021), working towards B1
x 1075

Re: Road to B1 in Dutch

Postby Ug_Caveman » Fri Nov 25, 2022 11:43 am

Le Baron wrote:
Ug_Caveman wrote:'Alcohol is voor hem verboden omdat zijn lever minder goed dan vroeger werkt' - this tripped me up a bit because the 'dan vroeger' was appended after the 'werkt', even though I was always told the verb is always at the end of the sentence in subclause order.

The 'dan vroeger' after the verb (minder goed werkt...) feels more natural to me.


So a comparative clause should actually go after the verb in a subclause?
0 x
Languages: English (N), Dutch (passed A2 exam in May 2021, failed B1 in May 2023 - never sit an exam when you have food poisoning!)

Seeking: Linguaphone Polish and Linguaphone Afrikaans

User avatar
Le Baron
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3511
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2021 5:14 pm
Location: Koude kikkerland
Languages: English (N), fr, nl, de, eo, Sranantongo,
Maintaining: es, swahili.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18796
x 9390

Re: Road to B1 in Dutch

Postby Le Baron » Fri Nov 25, 2022 3:45 pm

Ug_Caveman wrote:So a comparative clause should actually go after the verb in a subclause?

Yes, of this type.

Tegenwoordig, komt hij vaak later aan, omdat hij minder snel loopt dan voorheen.
1 x

Ug_Caveman
Green Belt
Posts: 460
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2018 2:58 am
Location: England
Languages: English (N), Dutch (A2 - July 2021), working towards B1
x 1075

Re: Road to B1 in Dutch

Postby Ug_Caveman » Sat Nov 26, 2022 12:12 am

Finished supplementary lesson 12 ('Een Grap').

Not too horrible although still quite demanding on listening skills. This is now the end of level 2 of the course with lesson 25 of the main material being marked as a revision lesson before Toets 2.

After that it's 20 more lessons of the main course plus 10 of the supplementary material and two further tests. In theory I should be able to get through most, if not all, of this material by January.
2 x
Languages: English (N), Dutch (passed A2 exam in May 2021, failed B1 in May 2023 - never sit an exam when you have food poisoning!)

Seeking: Linguaphone Polish and Linguaphone Afrikaans

Ug_Caveman
Green Belt
Posts: 460
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2018 2:58 am
Location: England
Languages: English (N), Dutch (A2 - July 2021), working towards B1
x 1075

Re: Road to B1 in Dutch

Postby Ug_Caveman » Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:22 pm

Accidentally missed out lesson 24, so completed it tonight.

Not too difficult - lesson 25 (revision) tomorrow.
1 x
Languages: English (N), Dutch (passed A2 exam in May 2021, failed B1 in May 2023 - never sit an exam when you have food poisoning!)

Seeking: Linguaphone Polish and Linguaphone Afrikaans

Ug_Caveman
Green Belt
Posts: 460
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2018 2:58 am
Location: England
Languages: English (N), Dutch (A2 - July 2021), working towards B1
x 1075

Re: Road to B1 in Dutch

Postby Ug_Caveman » Thu Dec 01, 2022 12:05 am

Lesson 25 all went well - going to do a vocab revision tomorrow, then attempt 'Toets 2' on Friday

(Need to stop my brain leaping onto potential other projects too soon - all of the Scandinavian languages and the FIGS [or PFIGS using my personal extension...] keep leaping into mind and I have to keep swatting them away...)
Last edited by Ug_Caveman on Sat Dec 03, 2022 12:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
3 x
Languages: English (N), Dutch (passed A2 exam in May 2021, failed B1 in May 2023 - never sit an exam when you have food poisoning!)

Seeking: Linguaphone Polish and Linguaphone Afrikaans

Ug_Caveman
Green Belt
Posts: 460
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2018 2:58 am
Location: England
Languages: English (N), Dutch (A2 - July 2021), working towards B1
x 1075

Re: Road to B1 in Dutch

Postby Ug_Caveman » Sat Dec 03, 2022 12:50 am

'Toets 2' finished - scored 94/100, including two marks dropped on the cultural points quiz.

Happy to move onto level three of the course - lessons 26-35 and supplementary lessons 13-16.
3 x
Languages: English (N), Dutch (passed A2 exam in May 2021, failed B1 in May 2023 - never sit an exam when you have food poisoning!)

Seeking: Linguaphone Polish and Linguaphone Afrikaans


Return to “Language logs”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: rfnsoares and 2 guests