Lezen/Reading/Lire
The book Uil en Muis is meant for children and for those who feel young. The story is easy to understand. The used language is rich and various. Using this book and vocabulary & questions booklet means that you:
  • improve your reading skills quickly
  • learn more idiom
  • get acces to the Dutch way of thinking
  • learn to understand Dutch humour

To order the book: you can do this at your local bookseller. ISBN: 90-7247907-6


AN IMPRESSION:

To give you an impression of the way this is working, we offer the introduction, some words and questions here.

Introduction

In order to understand and enjoy the book Uil en Muis, every chapter has a list of vocabulary. You will see a lot of similarities between Dutch and English. The list of related words is extensive for the first chapter. The lists will get shorter by each next chapter  – already translated words won’t be repeated and you will start noticing other similarities by yourself. A list of words that are harder to understand, will also be included for all chapters.
In all cases only the singular form of a noun will be translated, together with the article, de or het, even when the word is preceded by een (a) in the book. Also, diminutives will be translated as normal nouns.
In Dutch, adjectives change their form depending on their position in a sentence. Only the basic form will be translated.
Forms of verbs won’t be explained. There will however be a reference to the infinitive, which shall be translated.

Example:

Zei ß zeggen: to say

In case a word is repeated in the list, the meaning will differ because the word is used in another context.
At the end of each chapter questions will be asked to test your understanding of the text. The first five chapters will contain questions in English, while the other chapters will contain questions in Dutch.

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An example of the vocabulary:

pluim: plume
doen: to do
warm: warm
stond          staan: to stand
het water: the water
het donker: the dark
klotste        klotsen: to slosh
vier: four
vijf: five
het jaar: the year
liet ß            laten: to let
vallen: to fall
spreidde        spreiden: to spread
de vriend: the friend
de meter: the metre
glijden: to glide
later: later
naast: next to
de linkerklauw: the left claw
zo: so, like that
hoorde             horen: to hear
spartelen: to sprawl
de jaloezie: the jealousy
hier: here

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An example of the questions:

 1. Arzan and Malmi are:

  1. friends
  2. brothers
  3. cousins

2. Arzan is jealous of Malmi because:

  1. Malmi lives in the forest
  2. Malmi has excellent hunting skills
  3. Malmi is an experienced family man

3. Arzan and Malmi are eating:

  1. a mouse
  2. a moth
  3. a blackbird

4. Arzan and Zora live:

  1. in a hollow tree in the forest
  2. on the ground on an island
  3. in a hollow tree on an island

5. Zora is unsatisfied because:

    • Arzan brought her nothing to eat
    • Arzan is late
    • Arzan only talks about their eggs