Dutch Conversation-Grammar 1732 Studios

Dutch · Unit 26

Book II, Unit 5: Unit 5

Refresher Course, Books II and III

Unit 5

157 lines

De Oorlogstijd

A conversation to listen to

A spontaneous conversation between two educated Dutch speakers, recorded in 1961 without a script. The text keeps what they said as they said it: hesitations, repeated words, words left out.

Listen first with the text, then without it. The aim is to follow the whole conversation by ear.

  1. 1

    Well, um . . . where did you live, anyway, in Holland?

    Wel,but
    eh,uh
    waarwhere
    hebto have, to have had
    jijyou
    gewoondto live, to dwell
    eigenlijkactually, really
    inin
    Nederland?Nederland
  2. 2

    In The Hague.

  3. 3

    In The Hague! So you had the . . . in the war there . . . to cope with the famine, eh?

  4. 4

    Yes, that was a . . . really bad time. Where were you during that time?

  5. 5

    Well, I was in a small town somewhere in North Holland.

  6. 6

    Yes, that was a terrible time, but I was still quite young, about ten years old, when it was nearly over. Did you see much of Canadians, Americans and so on? Are they . . .

  7. 7

    No, we were, no, you only saw the airplanes coming over all the time and, eh . . . a few of them came down right by our house.

I. Dialog for Listening

DLI Dutch Refresher Course (1961), Book II, Lesson 29. De Oorlogstijd

This is a spontaneous conversation between educated and imaginative Dutch speakers. No scripts were used in recording. The result is natural spoken Dutch.

All the dialogs entitled Dialog for Listening have been reproduced in your text in such a way as to capture their spontaneity. This includes hesitation sounds, repetitions, omitted words and other features that are characteristic of unrehearsed, non-selfconscious, conversational-style speech.

The Dialog for Listening section is for oral comprehension. The student should follow this section in his text, as he listens to it on tape, until such time as he can dispense with the text and understand everything from the tape alone.
  1. 8

    Yes.

  2. 9

    At night, eh . . . I was always a little afraid. Because once, at night at seven o'clock, those planes came roaring in, and I go home and have dinner, and all of a sudden - a terrific bang! And a huge bomb blew up! Well, that caused terrible destruction, of course!

  3. 10

    Yes, we got caught in everything in The Hague, too. And then they fired these V-2's.

  4. 11

    Yes, yes, yes...

  5. 12

    Sometimes it was O.K., but most of the time it went wrong. Later we had the bombings because they wanted to hit those V-2's, and a part of The Hague actually burned down. Yes, they wanted to bomb those installations.

In de Boekenwinkel

  1. 13

    Sir, perhaps you can help me?

  2. 14

    Oh, of course, ma'am. What would you like?

  3. 15

    Eh, I would like to have a book for a friend of mine.

  4. 16

    What is he interested in?

  5. 17

    I think he makes a hobby of astronomy or something like that. I myself don't know anything about it, but maybe you know more about those...

  6. 18

    We have a nice collection of astronomy books here, up-to-date.

  7. 19

    Yes?

I. Dialog for Listening

DLI Dutch Refresher Course (1961), Book II, Lesson 30. In de Boekenwinkel

This is a spontaneous conversation between educated and imaginative Dutch speakers. No scripts were used in recording. The result is natural spoken Dutch.

All the dialogs entitled Dialog for Listening have been reproduced in your text in such a way as to capture their spontaneity. This includes hesitation sounds, repetitions, omitted words and other features that are characteristic of unrehearsed, non-selfconscious, conversational-style speech.

The Dialog for Listening section is for oral comprehension. The student should follow this section in his text, as he listens to it on tape, until such time as he can dispense with the text and understand everything from the tape alone.
  1. 20

    Yes. Well, take this book here. This one is translated from English and it's completely up-to-date on the latest discoveries.

  2. 21

    Yes, it more or less looks like a big book. Don't you have something a little more compact?

  3. 22

    You can get that, too. This one is written here in the Netherlands and is also very good.

  4. 23

    Yes?

  5. 24

    Very beautifully illustrated, as you can see.

  6. 25

    Yes, it's very beautifully illustrated.

  7. 26

    There is another edition, too.

  1. 27

    Oh, a little more luxurious edition.

  2. 28

    Yes, yes.

  3. 29

    I like that better.

  4. 30

    Of course, it's a little more expensive.

  5. 31

    How expensive is it?

  6. 32

    This one is twelve guilders.

  7. 33

    Twelve guilders. Well, that isn't too bad. Do you also have that system of gift certificates?

  1. 34

    Oh, yes, you can get that also. Yes, indeed.

  2. 35

    Do you have a set value in those gift certificates or can I give any amount I want?

  3. 36

    You can buy a gift certificate with a value of twelve guilders for ten guilders.

  4. 37

    For ten guilders. Well, that is, that's fine. That will cost me two guilders less.

  5. 38

    Yes, you can get that.

  6. 39

    Well, if you would make out such a gift certificate for me?

  7. 40

    Excellent.

  1. 41

    Yes, well, fine. Look here, here are ten guilders.

  2. 42

    Yes, here you are. I will write it down right away for you.

  3. 43

    Fine, thank you very much. Good evening.

  4. 44

    Goodbye, ma'am.

Haring Eten

  1. 45

    I always enjoy eating herring the way you can see it in the, eh, beach resorts and in Marken and Volendam, the way they eat with their heads thrown back.

  2. 46

    Yes. Have you ever done it this way?

  3. 47

    Yes, I've done it a few times, more to do it for the first time, but I don't find it very appetizing, really. I'd rather have them better prepared.

  4. 48

    Yes, yes, that's the way I like herring, too. It must be a strange sight for foreigners to see those clean Dutchmen swallowing herring.

  5. 49

    Yes, I've often heard them say how terrible they thought it was, how they could just swallow a raw herring.

  6. 50

    Yes.

  7. 51

    I can imagine, if you see such a thing for the first time.

I. Dialog for Listening

DLI Dutch Refresher Course (1961), Book II, Lesson 31. Haring Eten

This is a spontaneous conversation between educated and imaginative Dutch speakers. No scripts were used in recording. The result is natural spoken Dutch.

All the dialogs entitled Dialog for Listening have been reproduced in your text in such a way as to capture their spontaneity. This includes hesitation sounds, repetitions, omitted words and other features that are characteristic of unrehearsed, non-selfconscious, conversational-style speech.

The Dialog for Listening section is for oral comprehension. The student should follow this section in his text, as he listens to it on tape, until such time as he can dispense with the text and understand everything from the tape alone.
  1. 52

    And, for that matter, what a stall.

  2. 53

    But they always look freshly painted - red, white, blue, usually, with flags on top.

  3. 54

    Yes.

  4. 55

    It really is an attractive sight.

  5. 56

    Yes.

  6. 57

    And then you throw your head back and then you lower the herring slowly into your mouth and then you bite, you bite a piece off.

  7. 58

    Yes, yes.

  8. 59

    And if they haven't been cleaned very well, you get some bones in your throat. Well, I feel like, I feel like having a herring right now. Come on, let's walk on over to the corner. There's one of those stands there.

  9. 60

    Yes, fine.

De Loodgieter

  1. 61

    Good morning, ma'am, can I help you?

  2. 62

    Are you the plumber?

  3. 63

    Yes, I'm the plumber; you called?

  4. 64

    Yes, I called yesterday; I expected you, at least sometime yesterday.

  5. 65

    Yesterday?

  6. 66

    Yes, yesterday afternoon at about 3 o'clock and your boss told me that you would be here within half an hour. I called again at 5 o'clock, but, of course, the shop was closed by then.

  7. 67

    Yes...Oh no, I didn't get the message that I had to come here, at all.

I. Dialog for Listening

DLI Dutch Refresher Course (1961), Book II, Lesson 32. De Loodgieter

This is a spontaneous conversation between educated and imaginative Dutch speakers. No scripts were used in recording. The result is natural spoken Dutch.

All the dialogs entitled Dialog for Listening have been reproduced in your text in such a way as to capture their spontaneity. This includes hesitation sounds, repetitions, omitted words and other features that are characteristic of unrehearsed, non-selfconscious, conversational-style speech.

The Dialog for Listening section is for oral comprehension. The student should follow this section in his text, as he listens to it on tape, until such time as he can dispense with the text and understand everything from the tape alone.
  1. 68

    Well, it's always the same, anyway. The sink has been leaking for several days.

  2. 69

    Did you ever have trouble with it before?

  3. 70

    Well, no, not real trouble.

  4. 71

    Yes, I can't reach it from here, ma'am. Do you mind moving those pans from under the sink?

  5. 72

    Oh, no, of course not. One moment. I'll move all the pans; are they in your way here?

  6. 73

    I can easily reach it as it is now.

  7. 74

    You can reach it this way?

  1. 75

    Oh, yes.

  2. 76

    Are you able to see what's wrong? Or not?

  3. 77

    I'll have a look.

  4. 78

    I hope you find it, because it's really terrible, all that water down under the sink.

Nederland op de Fiets

  1. 79

    Foreigners think that Dutchmen are so sportsmenlike that they go everywhere on their bikes, ride to the office and so . . .

  2. 80

    Yes. You see more bikes than cars downtown.

  3. 81

    Right.

  4. 82

    As you must have noticed, bikes also have their parking problems.

  5. 83

    Yes, but at least there are enough shelters, because a bike takes up such little space. The same number of cars would be impossible downtown, of course.

  6. 84

    Oh, that would be impossible. And they are also very smart. You have a shelter with two levels where a man can place a bike with a small motion above the place where another bike is parked. And when you come to get it at night, he takes it down in a minute.

  7. 85

    Yes, I've seen that, too. They're very handy at working out these systems. I noticed that already. That is . . . but it's certain that Dutchmen don't ride to the office on their bikes because they think it's so sportsmanlike.

  8. 86

    No, I believe that, in his heart, every Dutchman would like to have a car.

  9. 87

    Yes, I think so, too.

I. Dialog for Listening

DLI Dutch Refresher Course (1961), Book II, Lesson 33. Nederland op de Fiets

This is a spontaneous conversation between educated and imaginative Dutch speakers. No scripts were used in recording. The result is natural spoken Dutch.

All the dialogs entitled Dialog for Listening have been reproduced in your text in such a way as to capture their spontaneity. This includes hesitation sounds, repetitions, omitted words and other features that are characteristic of unrehearsed, non-selfconscious, conversational-style speech.

The Dialog for Listening section is for oral comprehension. The student should follow this section in his text, as he listens to it on tape, until such time as he can dispense with the text and understand everything from the tape alone.

Substitution drill 1, part 1

Substitution drills

A drill starts from one sentence of the dialogs. Each turn gives a new word or phrase to put in the sentence in place of one of its parts.

Say the whole sentence again with the new part in place. The shape of the sentence does not change. Only the one part does.

  1. 88

    Hebben jullie veel gemerkt van de Canadezen?

    Did you notice much of the Canadians?

  2. 89

    Hebben jullie veel gemerkt van de overstroming?

    Did you notice much of the flood?

  3. 90

    Hebben jullie veel gemerkt van het lawaai?

    Did you notice much of the noise?

  4. 91

    Hebben jullie veel gemerkt van de brand?

    Did you notice much of the fire?

  5. 92

    Hebben jullie veel gemerkt van verkeersopstoppingen?

    Did you notice much of the traffic jam?

  6. 93

    Hebben jullie veel gemerkt van de sneeuwstorm?

    Did you notice much of the snow storm?

  7. 94

    Hebben jullie veel gemerkt van de verhoogde belastingen?

    Did you notice much of the higher taxes?

Substitution Drills

DLI Dutch Refresher Course (1961), Book II, Lesson 34. Substitution Drill 1.

Listen to and repeat the first sentence of the drill on tape. Your voice will be followed by a low voice on tape to correct any mistakes in your utterance. You will now immediately hear a word or phrase that you are to substitute into the original sentence. Without hesitating, say the entire sentence again, this time with the new element in place of an element in the original sentence. You will again be corrected. Then you will hear, as before, another element for substitution. Again you will repeat the entire sentence, dropping the old element and substituting the new element in its place.

They are based on the previous five dialogs. Their purpose is to give you fluency in controlling sentences of the dialogs with additional variations provided by the substitution elements. You will observe that the basic structure of the dialog sentences does not change in these drills.

Substitution drill 1, part 2

  1. 95

    Hebben jullie veel gemerkt van de Canadezen?

    Did you notice much of the Canadians?

  2. 96

    Hebben jullie veel gemerkt van de regen?

    Did you notice much of the rain?

  3. 97

    Hebben jullie veel gemerkt van de staking?

    Did you notice much of the strike?

  4. 98

    Hebben jullie veel gemerkt van de Canadezen?

    Did you notice much of the Canadians?

Substitution drill 2, part 1

  1. 99

    Heeft U niet iets een beetje meer compact?

    Don't you have something a little more compact?

  2. 100

    Heeft U niet iets in grijs en zwart?

    Don't you have something in gray or black?

  3. 101

    Heeft U niet iets in een andere kleur?

    Don't you have something in another color?

  4. 102

    Heeft U niet iets vrolijkers?

    Don't you have something brighter?

  5. 103

    Heeft U niet iets om de pijn te verzachten?

    Don't you have something to relieve the pain a little?

  6. 104

    Heeft U niet iets goedkopers?

    Don't you have something less expensive?

  7. 105

    Heeft U niet iets aan te merken?

    Don't you have something to remark?

Substitution Drills

DLI Dutch Refresher Course (1961), Book II, Lesson 34. Substitution Drill 2.

Listen to and repeat the first sentence of the drill on tape. Your voice will be followed by a low voice on tape to correct any mistakes in your utterance. You will now immediately hear a word or phrase that you are to substitute into the original sentence. Without hesitating, say the entire sentence again, this time with the new element in place of an element in the original sentence. You will again be corrected. Then you will hear, as before, another element for substitution. Again you will repeat the entire sentence, dropping the old element and substituting the new element in its place.

They are based on the previous five dialogs. Their purpose is to give you fluency in controlling sentences of the dialogs with additional variations provided by the substitution elements. You will observe that the basic structure of the dialog sentences does not change in these drills.

Substitution drill 2, part 2

  1. 106

    Heeft U niet iets een beetje meer compact?

    Don't you have something a little more compact?

  2. 107

    Heeft U niet iets om het in te pakken?

    Don't you have something to wrap it in?

  3. 108

    Heeft U niet iets voor iemand die alles heeft?

    Don't you have something for someone who has everything?

  4. 109

    Heeft U niet iets een beetje meer compact?

    Don't you have something a little more compact?

Substitution drill 3, part 1

  1. 110

    Ja, ik heb het een paar keer gedaan.

    Yes, I did it a few times.

  2. 111

    Ja, ik heb het liever met meer suiker.

    Yes, I'd rather have it with more sugar.

  3. 112

    Ja, ik heb het nooit alleen kunnen doen.

    Yes, I was never able to do it alone.

  4. 113

    Ja, ik heb het altijd erg gevonden.

    Yes, I always thought it was terrible.

  5. 114

    Ja, ik heb het dikwijls willen doen.

    Yes, I often wanted to do it.

  6. 115

    Ja, ik heb het hem verteld.

    Yes, I told it to him.

  7. 116

    Ja, ik heb het haar geschreven.

    Yes, I wrote it to her.

Substitution Drills

DLI Dutch Refresher Course (1961), Book II, Lesson 34. Substitution Drill 3.

Listen to and repeat the first sentence of the drill on tape. Your voice will be followed by a low voice on tape to correct any mistakes in your utterance. You will now immediately hear a word or phrase that you are to substitute into the original sentence. Without hesitating, say the entire sentence again, this time with the new element in place of an element in the original sentence. You will again be corrected. Then you will hear, as before, another element for substitution. Again you will repeat the entire sentence, dropping the old element and substituting the new element in its place.

They are based on the previous five dialogs. Their purpose is to give you fluency in controlling sentences of the dialogs with additional variations provided by the substitution elements. You will observe that the basic structure of the dialog sentences does not change in these drills.

Substitution drill 3, part 2

  1. 117

    Ja, ik heb het een paar keer gedaan.

    Yes, I did it a few times.

  2. 118

    Ja, ik heb het hun voorgelezen.

    Yes, I read it to them.

  3. 119

    Ja, ik heb het liever zonder melk.

    Yes, I'd rather have it without milk.

  4. 120

    Ja, ik heb het een paar keer gedaan.

    Yes, I did it a few times.

Substitution drill 4, part 1

  1. 121

    Kunt U zien wat eraan mankeert?

    Can you see what's the matter with it?

  2. 122

    Kunt U zien of U het kunt herstellen?

    Can you see if you can repair it?

  3. 123

    Kunt U zien wat er gebeurt?

    Can you see what's happening?

  4. 124

    Kunt U zien wie er aankomt?

    Can you see who is coming?

  5. 125

    Kunt U zien zonder bril?

    Can you see without glasses?

  6. 126

    Kunt U zien dat het gebarsten is?

    Can you see that it's cracked?

  7. 127

    Kunt U zien dat er een kras op de schokbreker is?

    Can you see that there's a scratch on the bumper?

Substitution Drills

DLI Dutch Refresher Course (1961), Book II, Lesson 34. Substitution Drill 4.

Listen to and repeat the first sentence of the drill on tape. Your voice will be followed by a low voice on tape to correct any mistakes in your utterance. You will now immediately hear a word or phrase that you are to substitute into the original sentence. Without hesitating, say the entire sentence again, this time with the new element in place of an element in the original sentence. You will again be corrected. Then you will hear, as before, another element for substitution. Again you will repeat the entire sentence, dropping the old element and substituting the new element in its place.

They are based on the previous five dialogs. Their purpose is to give you fluency in controlling sentences of the dialogs with additional variations provided by the substitution elements. You will observe that the basic structure of the dialog sentences does not change in these drills.

Substitution drill 4, part 2

  1. 128

    Kunt U zien wat eraan mankeert?

    Can you see what's the matter with it?

  2. 129

    Kunt U zien of er nog lucht in de banden moet?

    Can you see if the tires need air?

  3. 130

    Kunt U zien of het raam nog openstaat?

    Can you see if the window is still open?

  4. 131

    Kunt U zien wat eraan mankeert?

    Can you see what's the matter with it?

Substitution drill 5, part 1

  1. 132

    Dat heb ik al opgemerkt.

    I have already noticed that.

  2. 133

    Dat heb ik al gezien.

    I have already seen that.

  3. 134

    Dat heb ik al gegeten.

    I have already eaten that.

  4. 135

    Dat heb ik al meegemaakt.

    I have already experienced that.

  5. 136

    Dat heb ik al gelezen.

    I have already read that.

  6. 137

    Dat heb ik al gehoord.

    I have already heard that.

  7. 138

    Dat heb ik al hersteld.

    I have already repaired that.

Substitution Drills

DLI Dutch Refresher Course (1961), Book II, Lesson 34. Substitution Drill 5.

Listen to and repeat the first sentence of the drill on tape. Your voice will be followed by a low voice on tape to correct any mistakes in your utterance. You will now immediately hear a word or phrase that you are to substitute into the original sentence. Without hesitating, say the entire sentence again, this time with the new element in place of an element in the original sentence. You will again be corrected. Then you will hear, as before, another element for substitution. Again you will repeat the entire sentence, dropping the old element and substituting the new element in its place.

They are based on the previous five dialogs. Their purpose is to give you fluency in controlling sentences of the dialogs with additional variations provided by the substitution elements. You will observe that the basic structure of the dialog sentences does not change in these drills.

Substitution drill 5, part 2

  1. 139

    Dat heb ik al opgemerkt.

    I have already noticed that.

  2. 140

    Dat heb ik al gekocht.

    I have already bought that.

  3. 141

    Dat heb ik al verteld.

    I have already told that.

  4. 142

    Dat heb ik al opgemerkt.

    I have already noticed that.

Unit 5 test, part 1

The unit's test

Fifteen sentences from the unit's dialogs, heard once each.

Write the English for each. Any English that says the same thing is right. The test asks only whether the sentence was understood.

  1. 143

    Your boss told me that you would be here within half an hour.

  2. 144

    Did you ever have trouble with it before?

  3. 145

    Can you see what's wrong with it, or not?

  4. 146

    Where did you live, anyway, in Holland?

  5. 147

    I was in a small town somewhere in North Holland.

  6. 148

    Have you ever done it this way?

  7. 149

    The nicest facades are illuminated with colored lights at night.

Test on the Unit

DLI Dutch Refresher Course (1961), Book II, Lesson 35. Test on Unit 5.

The test tape consists of a translation drill containing fifteen sentences taken from the dialogs of the unit. This is a test for comprehension.

Have pencil and paper ready. Listen to the sentences and write an English equivalent in the time allotted.

The test tape tests only your comprehension of dialog sentences. The English provided in these answers is an equivalent and not a literal translation. Any parallel English sentence would be acceptable.

Unit 5 test, part 2

  1. 150

    Next time I shall think of that, too.

  2. 151

    At the last moment I could get some tickets.

  3. 152

    Yes, but most of the time there are tickets for sale.

  4. 153

    And the other ten are divided over the field.

  5. 154

    It isn't one of the big clubs any longer.

  6. 155

    So the Netherlands are actually quite well known internationally in the film field?

  7. 156

    Abroad, I think they play in Dutch with different subtitles everywhere.

  8. 157

    Most of our actors we get from the stage.

The particulars

The course
Valette, Dutch Conversation-Grammar (1913) and its Key (1893); Defense Language Institute, Dutch Refresher Course, Books I to III (1961). Public domain. The teaching pages, the readings' English, the answers to the conversations and the narration are ours.
Reading aloud
Digital narration, directed by 1732 Studios.
The book
Max Havelaar, the work this course leads to, free to read here.
Data
JSON · Markdown · A guide for agents
Two whoopie pies and a pine. An inside joke.