When you start looking into learning a new language, one of the first questions you probably ask is:

How hard is this going to be?

If you’re a native English speaker and you want to learn Dutch, I have great news for you.

Dutch is widely considered to be one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn.

In fact, Dutch is the closest “major” language to English. It sits right in the middle between English and German.

But like any language, it isn’t completely effortless. While many things will feel familiar, there are a few tricky parts to watch out for at first.

Here’s exactly what makes Dutch easy, what makes it challenging, and how long it’ll take you to learn.

Why Dutch is easy for English speakers

To understand why Dutch is easy, you have to look at language families.

English and Dutch both belong to the Germanic language family. Think of them as first cousins. Because they’re so closely related, they share a lot of similar traits.

Here are the main reasons why learning Dutch will feel familiar.

Dutch and English share a lot of vocabulary

Because they come from the same language family, Dutch and English share thousands of “cognates.”

A cognate is a word that looks and sounds almost exactly the same in two different languages, and has the exact same meaning.

This means you already know hundreds of Dutch words before you even start studying!

Here’s a table showing just a few common Dutch-English cognates:

Many basic sentences translate perfectly word-for-word between the two languages.

Dutch has simple grammar compared to German

If you’ve ever tried to learn German, you know about the case system where the endings of words change depending on their role in a sentence.

Luckily, Dutch dropped its case system a long time ago.

Just like English, Dutch relies on word order and prepositions to give sentences meaning, rather than changing word endings. Verb conjugations (how verbs change to match the subject) are also very straightforward and follow predictable patterns.

The hardest parts of learning Dutch

No language is 100% easy. Even though Dutch is a cousin to English, it has its own unique rules and sounds.

Here’s what most beginners struggle with.

The pronunciation (and the famous Dutch ‘G’)

Dutch has a few sounds that simply don’t exist in English.

The most famous one is the Dutch “G”. In standard Dutch, the ‘g’ is a guttural sound made in the back of the throat. It sounds a bit like you’re clearing your throat.

However, there’s a fun regional variation here!

If you travel to the southern provinces of the Netherlands (like Brabant or Limburg), or into the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium (Flanders), they use what’s called the “Soft G” (zachte G). This soft ‘g’ sounds much gentler, similar to the ‘h’ sound in the English word “huge.” Many learners find the Flemish/Southern accent much easier to pronounce!

Vowels can also be tricky. Dutch has double vowels like aa, ee, oo, and uu, as well as combinations like ui and oe. It takes a bit of practice to hear and say the differences.

The word order can be confusing

While basic sentences in Dutch follow the same Subject-Verb-Object pattern as English, things change when you make longer sentences.

In Dutch, if you add a helping verb or use a subordinate clause (like a sentence starting with “because”), the main verb gets kicked all the way to the very end of the sentence.

For example, in English you’d say: “I want to eat an apple.”

In Dutch, you say:

It feels a bit like speaking like Yoda from Star Wars! It takes time for your brain to get used to holding the verb until the end of the sentence.

Memorizing ‘de’ and ‘het’

In English, we only have one word for “the.”

In Dutch, there are two: de and het.

Every noun in Dutch is either a “de-word” or a “het-word.” For example, it’s de man (the man), but het meisje (the girl).

There are a few minor rules to help you guess, but for the most part, you’ll just have to memorize which word takes de and which takes het every time you learn a new vocabulary word.

How long does it take to learn Dutch?

Because Dutch is so closely related to English, it takes much less time to learn than languages like Russian, Arabic, or Japanese.

The Foreign Service Institute (FSI), which trains US diplomats, places languages into different categories based on how long it takes an English speaker to learn them.

Dutch is a Category 1 language.

According to the FSI, it takes about 600 classroom hours (or about 24 weeks of intensive study) to reach general professional fluency in Dutch.

Of course, if you’re learning on your own for 30 minutes a day, it’ll take longer to reach fluency. But you can easily reach a conversational level within 6 to 12 months if you study consistently.

Tips to make learning Dutch easier

If you’re ready to start your Dutch learning journey, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Learn vocabulary with the article. Never just write down huis (house). Always write down het huis. This will save you so much frustration later on.
• Focus on listening early. Dutch pronunciation can be tricky. Listen to Dutch podcasts, music, or watch Dutch TV shows with subtitles to get your ears used to the vowel combinations and the ‘g’ sounds.
• Practice speaking immediately. Don’t wait until you feel “ready.” Start using basic greetings like hallo (hello) and dank je wel (thank you) right away.
• Don’t let the Dutch switch to English. Dutch people are famous for having excellent English. If they hear you struggling, they’ll often switch to English to “help” you. Politely say, “Ik wil graag Nederlands oefenen” (I’d like to practice Dutch), and keep trying!

While the word order takes some getting used to and the pronunciation requires practice, you’ll progress faster in Dutch than in almost any other language.