Back in the early 90s, I had a student who,
due to radiation treatment, found it very difficult
to learn new things—especially vocabulary and grammar.
But he really wanted to learn Dutch.
So I took the Dutch essentials he needed most
and turned them into a song
(yes, without any AI, just pen & paper 😉).
With the help of my incredibly talented neighbour
Jorine Samsom,
we transformed the lyrics into fun, catchy tunes.
It was amazing to watch her work—
she would glance at the lyrics,
play a melody on her keyboard,
and just start singing.
The songs really helped this student.
Although traditional learning
was no longer possible for him,
the part of his brain that could absorb information
through music was still fully intact.
Melody opened a door that grammar books couldn’t.
Thanks to the songs,
he was able to remember new Dutch words and phrases!
I used those songs for years in my other classes as well.
But since Jorine and I recorded them on cassette tapes,
the sound quality isn’t the best…
We always meant to re-record them properly,
but somehow life kept getting in the way.
Fast forward to today: a neighbour in my new hometown introduced me to the world of making music with AI.
I was instantly hooked…
I've already created
many new Dutch learning songs this way.
It's still a challenge when it comes to perfecting AI’s
Dutch pronunciation, because that’s not as good as Jorines Dutch 😉—but hey, that’s what cozy winter evenings are for! So you will have to be patient, lol,
I’ll post them here and here
once the final versions are ready.
This one is my husband's favorite.
It’s such a sweet song
(covering the 20 most frequently used verbs in Dutch),
even if you’re not learning Dutch
(But please,
of course don’t let your dog wait for you all day long).
I also made two versions to advertise for my classes (Version 1 and version 2).
Let me know which version resonates with you,
and you’ll be entered into a draw to win
a free 30-minute Zoom lesson!
Recently, another student asked me to write
a song about conjunctions,
using the story of Snow White.
Of course, I said yes right away.
You can find that song here,
and here is one of the old songs I made with Jorine.
What grammar would you like to be in my next song?
Or, imagine YOUR OWN Dutch learning song—
YOUR 15 most useful phrases (if you're starting out),
or YOUR top 10 mistakes turned into lyrics
(if you're already further along).
I can make it happen—for just €10.
Email me for more info.
From cassette tapes to AI—some things change,
but music as a learning tool
never goes out of style!
Tot ziens!
