Dutch sits so close to English that recognition comes almost free and production stays stubbornly hard — you will understand a sentence you could not have produced. Closing that gap is a recall problem, and recall practice with the answer hidden is exactly what a review queue provides. Word order, especially the verb-final subordinate clause, is the other thing worth drilling rather than absorbing.
Why spaced repetition suits Dutch
What English speakers find hard about Dutch
- De and het as two definite articles with only partial rules for which noun takes which.
- Verb-final word order in subordinate clauses, shared with German.
- Separable verbs whose prefix detaches and moves to the end of the clause.
- Guttural sounds and diphthongs (ui, eu) with no English equivalent.
Cards you might meet
Generated from whatever theme you name — these are the kind of thing that comes back.
gezellig
convivial, cosy, pleasantly sociable
The Dutch word people insist is untranslatable.
uitwaaien
to walk in the wind to clear your head
afspreken
to arrange to meet
lekker
tasty; pleasant; good — extremely broad
meevallen
to turn out better than feared
Dutch conjugation drills
Name a verb, pick the tenses, and get five fill-in-the-blank sentences with every answer marked — including near-misses where only an accent is wrong. Available tenses:
Tegenwoordige TijdVerleden TijdVoltooid DeelwoordToekomende TijdAanvoegende WijsGebiedende Wijs
What you get
- SM-2 scheduling with four grades and keyboard shortcuts
- Generated Dutch vocabulary on any theme you name
- Pronunciation for every card
- Conjugation drills across 6 tenses
- Writing feedback on your own sentences
- Photo vocabulary — name what is in front of you
Popular Dutch themes
everyday lifeworkcycling & transportfoodtravel
Dutch questions
- Is Dutch worth learning if everyone speaks English?
- For travel, arguably not. For living, working or building relationships in the Netherlands or Flanders, it changes the register of every interaction — and Dutch speakers notice the effort immediately.
- How quickly can I learn Dutch?
- It is in the Foreign Service Institute’s easiest category for English speakers, around 600–750 class hours — comparable to Spanish and French, and among the fastest routes to a second language.
- Which Dutch tenses can I drill?
- Tegenwoordige tijd, verleden tijd, voltooid deelwoord, toekomende tijd, aanvoegende wijs and gebiedende wijs.