I got interested in learning Nederlands when I went here for the first time in 2005. That was when I attended a three-month Broadcast Journalism course in Radio Nederlands Training Centre in Hilversum. I had a Dutch phrase book with me and watched a lot of Dutch television. Since I was watching "Will and Grace" then, the first Dutch word that stuck into my memory was homo.

But as I continued to watch with all the ondertitling, I learned more. Before the course was over, I already knew how to greet and thank in Dutch. Bedankt voor alles, I would write to the course organizers. I also learned how to count and around two hundred new words so I could travel without worries because I could understand what was written in the boards.

Sooner than later, I met a Nederlander. So studying Dutch was no longer a pasttime. I had to take the inburgeringsexamen, get a visa and fly here to be with my fiance'. So we started buying and borrowing study materials in my holiday here last year.

We got some study materials from a friend and a colleague's girlfriend who works at an inburgering centre. The first real book (I had interactive cd's and phrase books before it) I learned Nederlands from is the Ijsbreker. Then I also had Grammatica is niet moeilijk. En dat boek was moeilijk! I couldn't understand the reason why Dutch grammar should be like this or that. It was presented in such a difficult manner.

A friend lent me CODE Nederlands 1 and 2. The books were ok. But a little boring to my inquisitive nature. I just end up asking: "why is it like that?" all the time. Finally, browsing through the Nederlands als Tweede Taal website, we chanced upon TOTAAL - Basiscursus Nederlands voor Hogeropgeleiden. The book works.

I always recommend TOTAAL to fellow foreigners who are university/college graduates because I believe that it works. It answers all grammar questions that a new language learner of Nederlands ends up asking. Like when do you use dit, dat, die or deze? When do you use -e at the end of an adjective? Voorbeeld: it is het nieuwe huis BUT it can't be een nieuwe huis. It should be een nieuw huis. These all boils down to the significance of knowing when a word is a de or a het word.

There are much more complications in the Dutch grammar as de and het. Or else it wouldn't be popular as a difficult language. But I guess TOTAAL makes it easier to understand. After TOTAAL, I was also able to understand and finish Grammatica is niet moeilijk without difficulties. The only downside of this book that I noticed of is that it has HEEL VEEL oefeningen which most of the time are done in the same manner. But that's good for a beginner, especially for zelfstudie.

Nu ben ik op mijn volgende zelfstudie boek de Tweede Ronde. It is very interactive and very entertaining. The exercises come in a good variety. I can't wait to go further on this one. #