Is Dutch Hard to Learn? How Long It Really Takes
Dutch is one of the easier languages for English speakers to read. Speaking it takes longer. Here is what to expect, level by level, and what speeds it up.
TaalMeet team · · 6 min read
The short answer: for English speakers, Dutch is one of the easier languages to learn, especially to read. Speaking takes longer. With 5 hours a week, most people need around 9 months to reach A2 and about a year and a half for B1. Weekly conversation with real people is what makes the biggest difference.
Why Dutch is easier than you think
The US Foreign Service Institute ranks languages by how long English speakers need to learn them. Dutch is in the easiest group, with about 24 weeks or 600 hours of full-time classroom study for professional working level. That is the same group as Spanish, French and Italian.
A few reasons:
- Many words look familiar. Water, hand, boek, appel, koffie. You can guess a lot when you read.
- Grammar is simpler than German. No cases to learn for nouns, and verbs change less.
- Help is everywhere. Libraries, free TV for learners, and many people around you who already speak Dutch.
What is hard about Dutch
- Word order. In many sentences the verb jumps to the end: "Ik weet dat hij morgen komt." Easy to understand, hard to do quickly when you talk.
- De and het. There is no reliable rule. You learn them by hearing and using them.
- Sounds. The g, the ui in huis, the ij in wijn. Your mouth needs practice, not just your eyes.
- The English switch. Many Dutch people switch to English the moment you hesitate. Kind, but you lose your practice.
Notice that all four are about speaking. Reading gets easier on its own. Speaking only gets easier when you speak.
How long does it take? Level by level
A widely used guideline from Cambridge English gives the hours of guided learning needed to reach each level, counted from zero. It was made for English, but it is a useful rough guide for Dutch too. Self-study and practice come on top.
| Level | What you can do | Guided hours (from zero) | At 5 hours a week | At 10 hours a week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A2 | Shop, ask the way, talk about yourself in simple sentences | 180 to 200 | about 9 months | about 4 to 5 months |
| B1 | Handle daily life, follow a normal conversation, give your opinion | 350 to 400 | about 18 months | about 9 months |
| B2 | Work in Dutch, discuss most topics without much effort | 500 to 600 | about 2 years | about 1 year |
These are averages. If you live in the Netherlands and hear Dutch every day, it can go faster. If you only study from a book, it often goes slower.
What level do you need for inburgering?
For people who fall under the Wet inburgering 2021, the goal is level B1. Some people can follow an A2 route if B1 is not possible for them. The rules depend on your situation, so check inburgeren.nl for what applies to you. Our page on inburgering explains the speaking part in more detail.
How to learn Dutch faster
- Do a little every day. 20 minutes daily beats 3 hours on Sunday.
- Learn sentences, not single words. "Mag ik een koffie?" is more useful than "koffie".
- Say things out loud. Read a short text aloud every day. Your mouth needs the training.
- Talk to a real person every week. One relaxed conversation of 30 to 60 minutes does more for speaking than hours of app exercises.
- Ask people to stay in Dutch. Start with: "Mag ik het in het Nederlands proberen?"
Where to find people to talk to, for free
- The library Taalhuis. Many libraries have free practice groups and volunteers.
- A taalcafé. Informal conversation groups, often at the library or a community centre. See our taalcafé guide.
- A language exchange. You help someone with your language, they help you with Dutch. TaalMeet is a free app that shows you people nearby who want to swap, so you can meet for a coffee. Read more on practising Dutch.
For a full free routine, read How to learn to speak Dutch for free.