Activate Dutch fluency with this simple technique
Here is a very effective technique to activate your Dutch fluency fast. It is very simple. Ask yourself a question: which Dutch words could be useful when I go to the beach?
Now it is time to start looking for all the Dutch words you can think of.... Let's start with some obvious ones:
Zee
Zand
Zon
Wind (if you go to a Dutch beach)
Eb
Vloed
And then, once you have started, see if you could come up with more words... The more words you can find, the easier it is!
Zout (there is salt in the water)
Zeewier (seaweed)
Haai (that is shark... probably you will not see een haai on a Dutch beach, but if you do say hi!
Rood (if you lie for too long in the sun, you may end up with this color
Zwemmen
Golf (a sea has waves)
Koud (the sea can be cold sometimes)
Heet
Hitte (heet is hot and hitte is heat)
Zand in je eten
Rust (rest)
Dagje uit (day out)
Vis
Garnaal (you can also find shrimps)
Duitsers (These are special guests from Germany)
Handdoek (towel)
Ligstoel (chair that you can lie on)
Koelbox
Zonsondergang (literally undergoing of the sun, sunset)
Genieten (enjoying)
Blauw (not always the color of the Dutch sea)
Kwal (jellyfish) (this could also be a slimeball, a nasty person. :)
You get the idea, right? You just start to look for Dutch words that you could use when you go to a beach The most important aspect of this exercise is that you quickly gain access to a large amount of words that you can use.
Many people complain that their vocabulary is not big enough when they want to say something in Dutch and although a big vocabulary is always nice, most people forget there is one thing that really matters a lot!
Just knowing words is not enough, you must be able to find Dutch words quickly. That is why it is always a good idea to train yourself. Certainly when you are alone, when you have to wait for a train for example, it is a great game that you could play.
You can ask yourself many different questions. Be creative! Here are some more examples:
What are great Dutch words for een sollicitatiegesprek? (a job interview)
Which words could be useful for the moon?
What could I say to mijn schoonmoeder (my mother in law)?
How did you find this exercise? Could you find more than 10 words? If so, then congratulations... Once again, the more Dutch words you can come up with, the better it is...
And... if you look at the list with strandwoorden.... is there a word that was not on the list? Feel free to share it here!