youngian wrote:Speaking to native English speakers who live over there and have learned Dutch, they're view is that getting past the pronounciation is the hardest and learning the language is not so bad as is it is more closley related to English than German for example.
That's the approach I'm taking- focusing on pronunciation first, while building basic vocabulary/phrases. Grammar and werkwoord vervoeging (verb conjugation) can come latter. A few language learning programs/apps have the ability to slow down the speed of the native speaker, while still maintaining pitch- this really helps you get the nuance of the pronunciation. BYKI (Before You Know It) sports this, and has both computer and iPhone s/w. Google Translator will speak whatever you want translated, but can't do the slow down thing, unfortunately. I find the r's pronounced in the back of the throat challenging, as in the word, draai.
Also, note to self, remember the difference between room (cream) and raam (window) when asking for some of it with my koffie.