J's Dutch class

letter pronounces

Hey, you, welcome to today's class! Today I want to explain some of the letter pronounces in dutch, and the differences with the english and dutch language. For some English-speaking people it may be difficult, because, when you grew up and learned to talk, you didn't learn how to make the sound of the letters I'm about to explain. 

First of all, we pronounce the 'G' different. In English...well...you know how to pronounce 'Good'. But in Dutch it's very different. Of course, you could look it up on YouTube (as your homework) but I will try to describe it.  If the word is originally from the French language, we use the 'G' (zj). A good example, is the word 'Baggage'. The second g, is pronounced as the 'French G'.   And a fun fact, the word, 'baggage' is exactly the same in Dutch! We just write it as 'bagage'. But the "g" sound is not found in English. It sounds akin to coughing up a loogie, but I'd like to think it's quite a bit more elegant.

The sound is made when air passes through an opening made in the back of the throat where the tongue and uvula (the dangly thing in the back of your mouth) meet. This is around the same area where your tongue and the roof of your mouth meet when making the English "g" sound. I hope that does it for you! Maybe 'ch' helps?

Alright, let's go through the whole dutch Alphabet! 

A  -  (ah)

B  -  (Bay) 

C  - (say)

D  - (day)

E  - (ay) (In words, the dutch 'E' could be pronounced in like three different ways, but I'll probably explain later)

F - ( exactly the same as in English) 

G - (You know XD) 

H - (haa 

I  - ( Hawaii, the last two ii's) 

J - (yay) 

K - (kah)

L - (el)

M - (em, as in Emma)

N - (en, as in end)

O - (oh) 

P - (pay) 

Q - (quiz, without 'iz', is the closest I can think of)

R - (When someone has a russian accent. That's the 'R' we're looking for XD)

S - (es)

T - (Thee which also means tea in dutch heheh) 

U - ( Quiz, without the q-i-z, the best I can think of)

V - (Fay, as in May, replace the 'M' with a 'F')

W - (put your upper teeth on your lower lip. That's the dutch 'W',  then say 'way')

X - (dicks, without the D) 

Y - (the 'Aii' from hawaii)

Z - (set, but with a 'Z' ; zet) 

Welp, that's the Dutch alphabet! It may take some practice, but you'll get there. I don't even know if it is hard for you. Let me know!