The Dutch Sounds
Understanding sounds is the foundational skill a child must acquire to learn to read and spell effectively. Each sound can be represented on paper by a letter associated with that sound. We distinguish between consonants, short vowels, long vowels, and diphthongs (double vowels).
Linking sound to letter
Learning vowels can be a challenging task for many children. Therefore, when teaching them, we provide auditory information along with visual information: sound and image can be linked together, which can be helpful for many children.
During our lessons, we first introduce the short vowels (a-e-o-u-i). Next, the long vowels (aa-ee-oo-uu), and finally the diphthongs (oe-ie-ui-eu-ij-ei-au-ou).
Songs for support
In addition to visual support, songs can help children learn letters.
Recently, I came across the website oefenen.nl where you can create an account for free and find various programs to stimulate the development of the Dutch language.
The program ‘De Liedjeskast’ (The Song Cabinet) on this website is very informative, challenging, and, as the name suggests, full of songs. There are 15 songs.
Each song covers one Dutch language rule. The songs are sung by fifteen Dutch artists and are fun to sing along with.
The first song, which you can find the link to on YouTube:
This one covers the short vowels, long vowels, and diphthongs (in my lessons, I use the term ‘diphthong’, but they mean the same) and is sung by Syb van der Ploeg.
After listening to the song, your child can do various exercises.
In the second video: ‘breaking a word after the vowel’ Brigitte Kaandorp explains how to break words into syllables.
This is the basis for reading and writing the difference between ‘bomen’ (trees) and ‘bommen’ (bombs) and ‘manen’ (moons) and ‘mannen’ (men). Naturally, there are exercises available on the website for this as well.
I am very excited about the offerings in ‘De Liedjeskast’ and hope that you will take a look together with your child to listen to the remaining 13 videos.
Enjoy and have fun singing and practicing!
Click here for all the lyrics of ‘De Liedjeskast’.
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