Introduction to Dutch

University of Groningen via FutureLearn

Write review

Details

Provider

FutureLearn
Pricing

Free Online Course (Audit)
Languages

Dutch
Certificate

Paid Certificate Available
Duration & workload

3 weeks, 3 hours a week
Sessions

On-Demand

A Best Course of All Time

Found in

Suggestion

Practice Dutch with a native speaker

1-on-1 private lessons with tutors rated 4.9★ on average. Free tutor replacement until you're satisfied.

Find Your Tutor → 233+ tutors powered by Preply

Overview

Coursera Flash Sale

40% Off Coursera Plus for 3 Months!

Grab it

Are you planning to visit, or work or study in the Netherlands soon? This free online course is perfect if you have little or no prior knowledge of Dutch, but would like to master the fundamentals in order to survive life in the Low Countries.

Learn basic Dutch

The course will run over three weeks, helping you to:

introduce yourself and get to know other learners
talk about your family, friends, work and study
and experience life in the Netherlands.

Speak, write and understand useful Dutch

During the course, you will learn Dutch phrases, greetings, vocabulary, numbers, spelling and grammar. Being able to understand the language will make everyday activities, such as shopping or going out to a restaurant, much more enjoyable.

By the end of the course, you will be able to recognise familiar words and phrases about yourself and your family. You will be taught to use simple sentences to describe where you live and the people you know.

Finally, you will be able to write short texts such as an email or fill in forms with personal details. The main focus will be on receptive skills such as reading and listening.

Learn with the University of Groningen Language Centre

The course will be taught in English by lecturers of Dutch and English from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

So, if you would like to get a taste of Dutch - and join the 23 million people who speak the language in the Netherlands, Flanders, Suriname and many other countries - join the course now.

This course has been ranked as one of the best online courses of all time by online course aggregator class central.

This course is aimed at people with no prior knowledge of the Dutch language, who have a strong interest in learning languages. It will give you a taste of language skills that will help you to survive in Dutch-speaking countries. The main focus will be on receptive skills like reading and listening. It will be taught in English.

Syllabus

Introducing yourself

Getting started
Introduction to Week 1
Introduce yourself
Language focus: grammar explanation
Counting
The alphabet
Summary of Week 1
Introducing the Dutch

Talking about family, work and study

Introducing the topic: talking about family, work and study
Say more about yourself
Language focus: grammar explanation
The time
Greeting someone
Summary of Week 2
Introducing the Dutch

Living in the Netherlands

Introducing the topic: living in The Netherlands
Living in the Netherlands
Language focus: grammar explanation
Making a suggestion
Paying
Summary of Week 3
Introducing the Dutch

Reviews

4.9 rating, based on 319 Class Central reviews

4.8 rating at FutureLearn based on 513 ratings

Start your review of Introduction to Dutch

Anonymous

I just finished this course, and having already studied Dutch for a few months I found the course very interesting, although as to be expected a little bit easy. There are a few things I like about the course, there's plenty of audio and listening m…

I just finished this course, and having already studied Dutch for a few months I found the course very interesting, although as to be expected a little bit easy. There are a few things I like about the course, there's plenty of audio and listening materials / exercises, and more importantly - with transcripts. First they introduce the language, then the transcript and then finally teach you the meaning. In my opinion it's a really good way to learn pronunciation and get used to how the language sounds. It's only a 3 week course, and I'd prefer it to be a bit longer, but for beginners to language study or to Dutch it's perfect to dip into and get started. They touch on a number of topics during the course (including the dreaded grammar - which is explained very clearly), and there's some repetition of material, so you can get a good ground knowledge of the basics. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in Dutch, or even just wants to try an online language learning course.
Inma De La Torre @Inma
6

I started this course after being for a few months learning Dutch using Duolingo. One of the main issues I had trouble with was getting explanations for grammar and how things should work when constructing sentences. The majority of those explanatio…

I started this course after being for a few months learning Dutch using Duolingo. One of the main issues I had trouble with was getting explanations for grammar and how things should work when constructing sentences. The majority of those explanations have been included in the course and adding Quizlet to practice makes it a very good course if you are trying to get a good introduction to Dutch.

I do believe that combining this course with Duolingo makes it even better and I will continue working with both Quizlet and Duolingo to improve my language skills.

My only concern is that you are going to need more than the 3 hours per week to study if you want to learn the material. But that is only a small issue.

Overall, I think the course is great and would recommend to anyone aiming to get a good introduction to Dutch.
Alathea
53

I enjoyed the course and I certainly gained a lot from it. Each week of the course starts with a couple of dialogues which bring in the vocabulary and grammar which will be studied during the week. At the end of the week you listen to the same dial…

I enjoyed the course and I certainly gained a lot from it. Each week of the course starts with a couple of dialogues which bring in the vocabulary and grammar which will be studied during the week. At the end of the week you listen to the same dialogues again, and realise how much you have learnt, which is encouraging.

Input from the course team was good.

A couple of things stopped me giving this course five stars:

1. Three weeks makes for a very short introduction. In particular I felt that the course could have benefited from some units explicitly dealing with pronunciation, as in FutureLearn's Introduction to Norwegian (which is spread over four weeks). Simply repeating four short phrases in the "Listen and repeat" units did not seem adequate.

2. There are short, and very easy, tests in the course itself, but the course team have also created a series of exercises on Quizlet. Unfortunately Quizlet only recognises one correct answer for any question, which is too restricted for effective language learning. In the first two weeks I didn't find this to be a problem, but in the third week, as the questions became more complicated, I found it very frustrating to be marked wrong because I had typed "je/jij - u mag" instead of "jij/je - u mag", or "hij - ze/zij - het" instead of "hij - zij/ze - het". In the end I was spending more time trying to remember exactly what answers Quizlet wanted than focussing on vocabulary and grammar. If Duolingo can accept multiple correct answers, why can't Quizlet?
Anonymous

The course is really well designed, and enable you to have a look at the basics of the Dutch language. There are a lot of audio samples, as well as videos, in order to help you get accustomed with the oral language. On top of that, you can find a few rules of grammar and syntax, and you are always invited to write and speak in between the different notions studied. It's a really good way to get started in the language!
Michael Hammer
5

I really liked this course. I lived in the Netherlands for the summer several years ago, but never tried to learn Dutch. That's been bugging me ever since, especially because I still watch football with a Dutch broadcast all the time, even though I…

I really liked this course. I lived in the Netherlands for the summer several years ago, but never tried to learn Dutch. That's been bugging me ever since, especially because I still watch football with a Dutch broadcast all the time, even though I can't understand it. I started learning Dutch with Duolingo in late December and enrolled in this course in late February. It's been a great help! My favorite part of the course are the Quizlet quizzes, which are the closest thing you are going to get to having a person read you flash cards and ask you the meanings of words and phrases. The Quizlet Gravity game is also fun. Besides that, the videos going over the rules of the language are a great complement to Duolingo, which doesn't provide anything like that. The mock conversations with other Dutch learners are also extremely helpful because they are much easier to comprehend than listening to regular native speakers who speak quicker with thicker accents. Would recommend, and I hope there is a level two somewhere!
Giovanna Linz

This course is super educational and helpful for beginners that are aiming to learn the Dutch language. I really learned many new Dutch words and how to use them in different contexts. I have just finished this course and I loved the experience that I had through these 3 weeks!
Anonymous

Een fantastische cursus Nederlands voor beginners. Je leert er basiswoorden en hoe je correcte zinnen vormt. De cursus bevat dialogen waarmee je leert je eigen dialogen te schrijven. Veel interessante oefeningen. Ik wens de nieuwe cursisten veel succes!
Roman Nikitchenko
4

Course is really basic (A1) but has clear nice structure and is really high quality one. I have started it year ago then had no time and returned to finish and confirm my 'natural progress'. Now I understand every phrase and find everything really c…

Course is really basic (A1) but has clear nice structure and is really high quality one. I have started it year ago then had no time and returned to finish and confirm my 'natural progress'. Now I understand every phrase and find everything really clear. Videos, audios, transcripts are just fantastic. Grammar explanations are not so detailed but remember, this is just introduction so this is fair.
Just be warned that if you really are following course as an absolute beginner I would recommend at least 8 hours per week or even more. There are more than 300 words and phrases involved so 3 hours per week are definitely not enough. I do recommend to do all quizzes including external ones. This makes a bit competition and allows your progress estimation more clean way.
Anonymous

Prima! De manier waarop de informatie wordt gepresenteerd en de trainingsvorm zijn uitstekend.Ik heb nieuwe uitdrukkingen geleerd die me helpen de Nederlandse cultuur beter te begrijpen.
Anonymous

I have been very impressed with this course particularly as it was the first that I have studied through a MOOC. I thought the course content was well structured and pitched at the appropriate level for an adult learner. The lecturers were caring an…

I have been very impressed with this course particularly as it was the first that I have studied through a MOOC. I thought the course content was well structured and pitched at the appropriate level for an adult learner. The lecturers were caring and keen to help us all to learn. The overriding impression that I have come away with is that the course was full of integrity - this does not seem so evident when I look at other advertised online language courses. There is now an incentive for many of us to go on and continue our university studies perhaps in Groningen.

I am pleased to have completed the course and feel confident enough to have a basic conversation in Dutch. I had a slight advantage having studied beginner's German (nearly 30 years ago!) and honestly believe that learning Dutch has also helped me improve my understanding of the German language especially in relation to word order and vocabulary.

Many thanks to the lecturers and support staff involved in creating this wonderful course. I feel somewhat sad that I cannot go on to do week 4, week 5 etc - perhaps there is enough value for the University of Groningen to consider a follow-on course.
Kim Roberts
5

loved this course learned about the culture, the food. Learned the basics of how to introduce ourselves, hold a conversation, talk about ourselves.
The audio and video lessons really helped with pronounciation and the tutors were great. Above all being able to interact with other students really helped.
Anonymous

This was a great course. It is very well put together and has something for every style of learning. I went into it never having studied Dutch previously and found it was quite easy to understand and make progress. Plus side: So many options to exp…

This was a great course. It is very well put together and has something for every style of learning. I went into it never having studied Dutch previously and found it was quite easy to understand and make progress.

Plus side: So many options to expand your knowledge and build on what you have learnt. Listening exercises, reading exercises, quizzes, listen and repeat are all built in. There are links to extracurricular material on quizlet to help practice and to Dutch grammar sites. Plus there were opportunities to use padlet and soundcloud. Something for everyone.
The Educators are very upfront about why they are providing the course and what they are discussing and what they wish students to do. They also take the time to reply to student questions and comments, which is fantastic.

Drawbacks: The course goes for three weeks (with five to complete it in.) Three hours a week is the bare minimum and will pretty much only cover reading the page and marking it complete. For someone trying to do this on Saturday morning it was a bit of a struggle to finish it all in time. You will need more time to get the most out of this course. Also, the educators are only around for the first three weeks to reply to questions. Some of the sample dialogue could benefit from updating and refilming to reflect 2021 values. Some of the links to videos on YouTube, especially the one introducing the university, were not well received by students.

However, these are minor issues and I'm still going to give this course 5 stars. I really enjoyed it.
Anonymous

I really liked the variety. Most favourite part was the video recording of students learning Dutch and speaking to each other. Close second favourite is listening to audio recordings and choosing a response to what you've heard. Third is listening to students around the world that have done this course speaking about themselves. Very well done. However you need to put time aside as it's quite a heavy workload per week. I can definitely recommend it.
Anonymous

I recently joined an online course to learn the Dutch language. It is a very good course, especially for beginners. The course includes listening, speaking, writing, and grammar exercises. It helps you learn basic sentences and useful phrases. I highly recommend this course for anyone who does not have prior knowledge of Dutch.
Anonymous

A high-quality academic foundation, but brace yourself for a steep learning curve. While excellent for understanding the structure of Dutch, it can be intimidating for absolute beginners. It demands more active output than apps like Duolingo, which can feel overwhelming if you are just starting out.
Anonymous

It was a very good course. Well structured. Good flow, from easy to hard. all skills included: listening audio and videos, writing in discussions, reading and speaking practices. I enjoyed it for the last three weeks. Thank you.
Anonymous

Simple, accessible, and very clear explanations. There are supplements and interesting quizzes. They do a good job of immersing you in the Dutch culture.
Anonymous

Prima!! Great structure. Very intuitive. I enjoyed it and learn some basics about the Dutch language. Now I will practice all the vocabulary.
Anonymous

Very systematic course. Gets plenty into 3 weeks, with easy to follow scenarios, encouraging teachers, and just the right amount of grammar.
Anonymous

Very nice structured course! You have everything here - video, audio, grammar, new words, pronunciation, writing

Practice Dutch with a native speaker

Learn basic Dutch

Speak, write and understand useful Dutch

Learn with the University of Groningen Language Centre

Tags

Learn Dutch

Learn Dutch -The Fast, Easy & Fun Speaking Dutch Method 14hr

Learn Dutch in English to talk & write the Flemish language

Learn Dutch for Beginners: The Ultimate 75-Lesson Course

Learn Dutch... in Dutch 1: the Dutch language for beginners

Learn Dutch Vocabulary: 1200 Essential Words & Phrases

[2026] 110+ Free University Courses to Learn a New Language

100 Top FutureLearn Courses of All Time

[2026] 160+ Free Online Writing Courses to Improve Your Skills

12 Best German Courses and Platforms + Free Resources for 2026

Duolingo in 2025: Breaks Record Numbers, but Users and Wall Street Remain Unimpressed

The Best Apps for Learning English in China

Never Stop Learning.