Dutch improvement project

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tastyonions
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Re: One Dutch article a day

Postby tastyonions » Wed Feb 01, 2023 6:34 pm

Yes, I had noticed the audio was quite decent for a text-to-speech tool! I listen to the articles as well as reading them.
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tungemål
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Re: One Dutch article a day

Postby tungemål » Wed Feb 01, 2023 7:38 pm

Is that automatic generated speech? I was not sure but it does sound a bit robotic.
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tastyonions
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Re: One Dutch article a day

Postby tastyonions » Wed Feb 01, 2023 8:47 pm

It's a bot (or two if we count the male and female voices separately) but it actually sounds real-ish enough to be tolerable for listening.
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Re: One Dutch article a day

Postby tastyonions » Thu Feb 02, 2023 1:35 pm

Today's article is about Dutch ATM crackers plying their trade in Germany, and subsequently being arrested: https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2023/02/02/ne ... d-a4156011

de plofkraker: thief using explosives to access money / valuables
hardnekkig probleem: persistent problem
buitmaken: to steal, plunder; to obtain, secure
het arrestatiebevel: arrest warrant
uitvaardigen: to issue
uit [x] afkomstig zein: to be from [x] (de negen verdachten zijn afkomstig uit onder meer Roermond, Echt, Utrecht, Amersfoort en Soesterberg)
ontruimen: to evacuate, clear (building, area)
het pand: building
in beslag nemen: to confiscate
afgaande op: judging by, to judge by
de strafeis: penalty requirement
voorzien van iets: to equip with (smth)
bevlekken: to stain, soil; to contaminate; to shame, dishonor
de lijm: glue, adhesive
de daling: descent, decline, diminution
voorzien op iets hebben: to target (smth)
de deelstaat: state (specifically subdivision of country)

"Kraker" can also mean a squatter, so Google Translate kept giving me "explosive squatter" as a translation of "plofkraker."

:lol:
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tastyonions
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Re: Dutch improvement project

Postby tastyonions » Wed Feb 08, 2023 12:45 pm

I gave up on my original goal of one news article per day after being discouraged by the density of unknown vocabulary but I have *not* given up on Dutch altogether. Thus the changed title of this log.

I ordered some beginning to intermediate readers (I think I need more practice reading "fluently" rather than focusing so much on vocabulary) and have been watching some videos from the Easy Dutch YouTube channel, probably putting in at least an hour per day for Dutch over all.

After a few days I am most of the way through Olly Richards's "Short Stories In Dutch" reader.

I'd like to try to speak Dutch some day but it's pretty hard to find time to schedule that with a job and two babies!
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Le Baron
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Re: Dutch improvement project

Postby Le Baron » Wed Feb 08, 2023 3:20 pm

I don't think the vocabulary focus is a bad thing really. There are many useful everyday words/locutions you extracted from the articles. Though some you could just lay aside, like the amusing 'plofkraker' as something that wouldn't turn up a lot. I remember learning the words 'wegpiraat' (road-hog), and 'eetpiraat' (someone who eats in a restaurant then runs off without paying) and I have never heard them since. Certainly the last one. And yet I would still recognise them, so maybe it wasn't in vain?

So perhaps the intermediate readers through the week and one 'freestyle' article a week? I imagine you'd progress quickly, because you were only pulling short lists out of long(ish) articles, so you might be underestimating your reading.
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tastyonions
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Re: Dutch improvement project

Postby tastyonions » Wed Feb 08, 2023 3:48 pm

That's a good suggestion. I think I'll keep doing the news articles but at a slower pace.
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Chmury
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Re: Dutch improvement project

Postby Chmury » Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:50 pm

You're making me want to learn Dutch again! Looks like you've been making some excellent progress. Misschien heb je het al vroeger vermeld, maar waarom lern je nederlands? Het allerbeste daarmee!
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tastyonions
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Re: Dutch improvement project

Postby tastyonions » Thu Feb 09, 2023 12:05 pm

Pretty simple, I watched a couple Belgian series on Netflix (Hôtel Beau Séjour and Tabula Rasa) and fell in love with the sound of it, and thought hey, I know English and my German’s not terrible so how tough can it be?
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tastyonions
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Re: Dutch improvement project

Postby tastyonions » Mon Feb 13, 2023 5:28 pm

Found a gem of a YouTube channel for Dutch learners!

https://www.youtube.com/@Universiteitva ... ren/videos

Short, clearly spoken, informative videos, mostly about scientific topics, with pretty accurate transcripts available with the CC button.
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