Nursery rhymes

Children learn a lot of language skills by playing, singing, dancing. They know how to make learning fun. This is why children's songs and rhymes are a wonderful way to acquire a foreign language. Here are three examples. Enjoy being a child again!

Poesje en Hondje

The following text was taken from a Mother Goose rhyme and translated into Dutch.^[1] In order to get a literal translation, the Dutch text was not made to rhyme.

Note that in Dutch the word poesje does not have the same connotation as in English. It merely means pussycat.

1. Read the text and use the hover method to figure out what the text means.
2. Use the "Vocabulary" box on the right to listen to the pronunciation of the individual words and memorize them.
3. Once done open the translation box to check the translation
   

Poesje zit naast het vuur Hoe kan zij braaf zijn? Dan komt het kleine hondje binnen "Poesje, ben je daar? Zo, zo, mejuffrouw Poesje, Zeg me, hoe gaat het met je?" "Dank je, dank je, Hondje, Het gaat heel goed met me op dit moment."

Poesje Mauw

The following is a Dutch volksliedje (folk song).

1. Use the hover method to figure out the meaning
2. Use the vocabulary box on the right to listen to the words and memorize them
3. Once you think you have figured out what it means, open the translation box to check

The meter in the Dutch version is nearly perfect and should provide hints for pronouncing the words.
Lekkere is pronounced as 'le-kre' in this case, to fit the meter (but this poetic license, not non-standard pronunciation).

Now that you understand the poem, go see a video of it, see here (Notice that in some dialects ij and ei are pronounced more like [ɑɪ̯] than as [ɛɪ̯].)

There is a pretty astounding 'performance' of this song by (the late) Corrina Konijnenburg that was recorded in 1967 in a children's show by Dorus (real name Tom Manders). Note that the performer took a few liberties. Notice that she pronounces poesje as poessie as is usual in Hollandic dialects.

Ba, ba, black sheep

This nursery rhyme is well known in English, but here is the Dutch version.

1. Hover to figure out the meaning
2. Use the vocabulary box to listen to the pronunciation and memorize the new words
3. Open up the translation box to see if you figured it out right
4. Go see the youtube video

Quizlet

The vocabulary of this lesson can be practiced at Quizlet (21 terms)

Progress made

If you have studied the above well you should have

1. caught a glimpse of what children who grow up speaking Dutch learn as a toddler
2. strengthened your listening and speaking
3. gained another 21 terms for your vocabulary

Cumulative count: Les 1: 116 terms, Les 1A: 89 terms. Example 1: 21 terms Total 226 terms.

Further learning

Please proceed to Dutch/Lesson 2

Appendix

1. ↑ The original appears in the Project Gutenberg text 'Verse and Prose for Beginners in Reading'.