[Course Forum] Dutch 1-7 by Memrise

@Lien and @MerlijnB

it would be great if you could add or change the articles of genie (Dutch Level 2), citroen (Dutch 1 Level 4), hulp (Dutch 1 Level 10) and geluk (Dutch 1 Level 10) into definite articles. Thanks

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Hi Tubas,

Thank you for letting me know! @Lien, we would need new recording for these items if we want to change them, right?

Best,

Merlijn

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Indeed, I’ll request to have it added to the list for our next round of Dutch recordings.

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In Dutch 1, level 9, we learn that the translation for the english word “cool” is in dutch also “cool”.
But then in the sentence “I think it’s cool” it’s suddenly not translated as “cool” anymore, but as “gaaf” (“ik denk dat het gaaf is”).

I’m a native dutch speaker, so I know that “cool” and “gaaf” are synonyms. But for my husband, who’s learning dutch, it’s kinda confusing. He doesn’t understand where the word “gaaf” suddenly came from, because it wasn’t introduced before. Usually individual words are introduced first before being used in a sentence.

No idea if anything can be changed about this, but I just wanted to mention it. :slightly_smiling_face:

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@MerlijnB:

I am learning Dutch 1, Level 5. The literal translation of “I like tea and coffee” looks like this:

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Can the bottom line, “I love from thee and coffee” be changed to:

“I love from tea and coffee”

The word “thee” (which is an old form of “you” in English) is really irritating to the eyes.

Many thanks in advance!

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Hi Amanda,

Thanks a lot for bringing this to my attention, it’s fixed now!

Best,

Merlijn

Hi xKimka,

You’re absolutely right. I’ve fixed this now. Both “cool” and “gaaf” are accepted in that sentence now, with “cool” being the first accepted translation and “gaaf” as an alternative.

Thanks!

Merlijn

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Dutch 7.

Opnieuw was refused for “once again”. Van Dale doesn’t agree!

Could it be included as an alternative to alweer?

Thanks

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@MerlijnB

Dutch 2 - Level 1

The word “natuurlijk” appears like this: “natuurlijk!”, with an exclamation mark when you learn the word. When reviewing (speed review, I think) on my Android phone yesterday, I was given the options “natuurlijk” and “natuurlijk!”. Only the option with the exclamation was accepted.

Can “natuurlijk” without an exclamation also be allowed, please?

Dutch 2 - Level 2

There is a similar problem here as well. This time there is the option to choose “willen” or “willen …”. If you accidentally choose the one that has the three dots after it, you have chosen the wrong answer. Could this be changed at all?

Many thanks in advance!

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Hi Amanda,

Both should be fixed now. Thanks a lot for letting me know!

Best,

Merlijn

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Hi Merlijn!

Thanks for responding so quickly!

I think the issues might be resolved in the web version, but not yet in the app, or will that be fixed now after today’s update (I got an update on my Android phone this evening)? I did some reviewing on my phone and for the listening parts it was kind of frustrating to get “willen” wrong because I had - while listening - chosen “willen …” instead of “willen”. The same happened with “natuurlijk”, which appears once with an exclamation mark and once without. I did a round of “Listening Skills” and, of course, there were no dots or exclamation marks visible :frowning:

But I shall give the reviewing another go on my phone and maybe it is fixed now since the update. Maybe you could pass this on to the main memrise team, though, that it is not helpful to add punctuation marks to words which are going to be tested aurally because a listener then only has a 50% chance of choosing the right word, even if BOTH options are identical, apart from the additional marks.

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No changes been made here, apart from the fact that you can write “de papa” for “the dad” and it will be marked correct. I think your suggestion that this should be translated as “the mother” (and “de vader” as father, I presume) would make a lot more sense.

It is important to get a feel for the different registers used in different languages and saying that “de moeder” is an equivalent of “the mum” is quite frankly just plain misleading, according to the poster above.

@MerlijnB
How has this problem been dealt with?

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Just curious about this …

If a female person refers to a female friend does she use the word “vriend” or “vriendin”?

In German, “die Freundin” can mean “girlfriend” or simply a female friend, so I was wondering how this worked in Dutch.

She will always use the word “vriendin”.

I found the following table somewhere else on the internet, it might help you.

Female saying:
a) mijn vriend: Boyfriend
b) een vriend: Male friend
c) een vriendin: Female friend
d) mijn vriendin: Female friend, unless they are in a same gender relationship

Male saying:
a) mijn vriendin: Girlfriend
b) een vriendin: Female friend
c) een vriend: Male friend
d) mijn vriend: Male friend, unless they are in a same gender relationship

However, not everyone will feel comfortable nowadays to refer to a same gender friend as “mijn vriend/vriendin”.

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So do they get round it by saying something like the English expression, “a friend of mine”?

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Yes, exactly. For example, a man could say: “hij is een vriend van mij”.

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Thanks for the information! Is that “bedankt voor de informatie” in Dutch? (I am a beginner, just started learning Dutch three weeks ago, so I used Google Translate, thinking that it would probably get a basic phrase like that right :wink: )

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Yes, that’s a perfect translation.

Graag gedaan! :slight_smile: (you’re welcome)

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Hi Amanda,

As (I believe) mentioned before, we don’t have courses of “general English”, but instead courses of American and British English, where users will be directed to automatically, depending on the choice of English on their phone.

As for the word “mum” and its translation into Dutch, I slightly disagree with you there. In sentences such as “His mum told him that…”, I would always opt for “moeder” as the Dutch translation here, and not “Zijn mama zei hem dat…”. I did add “mama” as an alternative correct answer there, but we also wanted to keep the consistency of “the dad” - “de vader” and “the mum” = “de moeder”. Also, later on you’ll come across the sentence “this is my mum”, and the only correct translation there would be “dit is mijn moeder”, and not “dit is mijn mama”. I believe the only instance where “mum” would be translated with “mama” would be when a child calls his mum, but that would simply me “mum” and not “the mum”.

I hope that clears things up a bit?

Best,

Merlijn

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Bedankt voor de informatie, Merlijn!

So, would I be correct in assuming that “mijn moeder” is way less formal than the English “my mother”? And “mama” is just used as a way for children to address their mothers?

The word “Mutter” in German (when pronounced “mudder”, a bit like Dutch) has become a kind of swearword amongst certain groups of teenagers, so I think that they would probably not use it. I take it this has not happened in Dutch?

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