This is an ages old song by Jules de Corte, de blind composer, poet, pianist and singer, now deceased that still cannot but strike a chord in people's heart. The song is still being played on the radio. It is used in sketches and probably everyone in The Netherlands knows it.
He used to sing and accompany himself on the piano.

Ik zou wel eens willen weten              I would like to know
waarom zijn de bergen zo hoog           why are the mountains so high
misschien om de sneeuw te vergaren  maybe to gather the snow
of het dal voor de kou te bewaren or to protect the valley from the cold
of misschien als een veilige stut                 or maybe as a safe support
voor de hemelboog              for the sky arch
daarom zijn de bergen zo hoog            that's why the mountains are so high

Ik zou wel eens willen weten        I would like to know
waarom zijn de zee-en zo diep     why are the seas so deep
misschien tot geluk van de vissen maybe for the happiness of the fish
die 't water zo slecht kunnen missen    who can spare the water so badly
of tot meerdere glorie van God      or to more glory of God
die de wereld schiep     who created the world
daarom zijn de zee-en zo diep      that's why the seas are so deep

Ik zou wel eens willen weten        I would like to know
waarom zijn de wolken zo snel     why are the clouds so fast
misschien dat het een les aan de mens ismaybe that it is a lesson to man
die hun leert hoe                                         which teaches them how
fictief een grens is                               fictitious a boundary is
of misschien is het ook maar       or maybe is it also just
eenvoudig een engelen spel         simply a play of angels
daarom zijn de wolken zo snel     that's why the clouds are so fast

Ik zou wel eens willen weten        I would like to know
waarom zijn de mensen zo moe   why are the people so tired
misschien door hun jachten en jagen   maybe because of their hurrying and haste
of misschien door hun 10,000 vragen   or maybe because of their 10,000 questions
en ze zijn al zo lang onderweg     and they are already so long underway
naar de vrede toe  towards peace
daarom zijn de mensen zo moe   that's why the people are so tired
Notes:  the songs do a great job of getting a proper sense of the pronunciation
composer - componist
deceased - overleden
to strike - slaan

ik zou graag willen weten - I would love to know
Graag gedaan! - I did it with pleasure, was my pleasure

hemel - word is used for heaven as well as sky
de hemel is blauw -  the sky is blue
de lucht is blauw - the sky is blue

wij hebben lucht nodig om te leven - we need air to..
fast, quick - snel or vlug
Praat niet zo vlug - don't speak so fast.
Praat wat langzamer - speak a bit slower.


teach - learn   - leren
I did not learn anyhting -  Ik leerde niets
I taught him a new trick -  Ik leerde hem een nieuw trukje

ik ben moe -  I am tired
I ga even zitten -  I m going to sit down for a bit


10,000 tien duizend (pay close attention to this one, the ui
1000 duizendsound is unknown in English
100  honderd

to make the ui sound properly move lips in position for the u sound      you   and open your mouth slowly until you hear the sound changing. That's it. Close enough
De mensen zijn moe

Waarom zijn de mensen moe

Wij weten het niet
Ik weet het ook niet

Dat zou ik wel eens willen weten
Wie wil het nog meer weten
Wat wil je nog meer weten?
Wat wil je weten

Misschien door hun jachten en jagen

Misschien door hun vele vragen

Zijn de bergen wel zo hoog

Ik denk dat ze hoog zijn

Er ligt sneeuw op de toppen van de bergen

Er zijn geen bergen in Nederland

The hoogste "berg" is een heuvel bij Vaals in Zuid Limburg.
Geen wonder dat Nederland een fiets land is

Click                      here                         for a                         lot of usefullinformation on the Dutch and The Netherlands
This may not be your average, run-of-the-mill set of language lessons. They came about after I had scoured the web for some decent material for some friends who were planning a European vacation and had some connections with The Netherlands, but found the gleanings pretty slim and of dull quality.
I remember how as teeners we would sing most of our songs in English because that's what the pop songs were all about
So here I was, biking my way to school and belting out : I'm just a lonely boy, lonely and blue, with nothing to do. Most of the time we did not have a clue what we were singing, that came later, but I have a strong conviction that  when, at the time of my minor performance,  would an english girl have heard me, she would have gotten the idea : I was a boy, I was lonely, I was not in high spirits and I was most likely bored

How to study?
Always start with the song first.....!

Click on the  video,

Remember !!
The song is at the heart of your vocabulary.                      
The pronunciation and the idiom is all there.                    Only after you have listened
The song is what should play in your head                       to the song and said or sang
Like a constant dialogue  ,
Question & Answer                                                         the words out loud along,
Example :                                                                     should you move on to the
Q. Waarom zijn de bergen zo hoog?                                    exercises at the bottom of
A. Om de sneeuw te vergaren? Misschien.                           the page.
Misschien om het dal voor de kou te bewaren
The people are tired

Why are the people tired

We don't know
I do not know either

That I would like to know
Who else would like to know
What else do you want to know
What do you want to know

Maybe because of their hurrying


Maybe because of their many questions
Are the mountains really that high

I think they are high

There is snow on the tops of the mountains.

There are no mountains in The Netherlands.
The highest "mountain is a hill near Vaals in South Limburg.
No wonder Holland is a bicycle country.
Do not worry about pronunciation !

Do not worry about word sequences

Do not worry about making mistakes

Do not worry about sounding foolish

Do sound this out......Out loud!

The people that laugh at you are the ones that know even less

The ones that do know more than you love helping you do it right.

And the ones that don't aren't worth your worry
They got bigger problems
Werkwoorden  verbs
werk  woord  means   work word

De werkwoorden in dit eerste lied: verbs in this first song

bewaren - to keep,save, protect
jagen - to hunt, chase, hurry
kunnen - to can, to be able to
leren - to learn
scheppen - to create, make
weten - to know
vragen - to ask
vergaren - to gather together, collect
vissen - to fish
zijn - to be
                                                 past tense
Ik bewaar  - I keep                   bewaarde
jij bewaart -  you keep              bewaarde
hij/zij bewaart - he/she ..          bewaarde
wij/we bewaren - we  bewaarden
jullie bewaren - you (plural)bewaarden
zij bewaren  - they    bewaarden

ik heb bewaard - I have ..
jij hebt bewaard - you
hij/zij heeft bewaard -he/she
wij hebben bewaard - we
jullie hebben bewaard - you (plural)
zij hebben bewaard - they

jagen    jaagden    gejaagd
vergaren  vergaarden  vergaard
bewaren  bewaarden  bewaard

The regular verbs simply get  'de(n)'
the oft doubling of the vowel has more to do with pronunciation than spelling.

a vowel followed by a single consonant is a long one, (vragen)
while when followed by two consonants it is short. (vlaggen)

vragen is long   een a like in dad but even more open
vlaggen is short een a like in but

open is long like in open
stoppen is short like in stop

uren is long like in u but with the rounding of your lips like                                               you want to whistle
kurk is short like in null

weten is long like in haven
zetten is short like in Bev (erly)

dineren is long like in tree
dikker is short like in dinner

You will discover that some verbs take zijn/ is/ was/waren as auxilliary, while others take  hebben/heeft/had/hadden als auxilliary.
There is no hard and fast rule. The one group is called transitive, the other is called intransitive.
In English oft the difference between has seen and has been seen
De hond heeft mij gezien has seen
De hond is door mij gezien has been seen
The  special     anywhere in these lessons will connect you with the special page with all the different verbs that are of interest to us.
It is not the idea that you learn them by heart, but just browsing through them you'll get a feel for  Regular Verbs (Regelmatige werkwoorden) and Irregular Verbs (Onregelmatige werkwoorden)


Het dal is diep
De bergen zijn hoog
Het is eenvoudig
De mensen zijn onderweg
Ze zijn moe
Waarom zijn ze moe?
Ze zijn al zo lang onderweg
Waarom zijn ze onderweg
Ze zijn op weg naar de vrede toe
De vissen kunnen het water niet missen
Wij kunnen de vrede niet missen
De wereld is vol vragen
ik          I
jij          you
hij/zij     he/she
wij         we
jullie      you
zij          they
email me
Questions, Comments??
Timeframe for one lesson?
6 days of 15 minutes is better than 1 day of 90 minutes.
But:
you have to hear yourself !!

The valley is deep
The mountains are high
It is simple
The people are underway
They are tired
Why are they tired?
They have been underway for so long
Why are they underway?
They are on the way to peace.
The fish (es) cannot do without the water
We cannot do without peace
The world is full of questions
Goedemorgen          Good Morning
Hoe gaat het er mee         How's it going
Uitstekend, dank je wel            Excellent, thank you
Het weer kon beter           The weather could be better
Maar, we mogen niet klagen     But, we may not complain
Helpt ook niet   Doesn't help either
Ik wou graag een kopje koffie    I would like a cup of coffee
Melk and suiker?      Milk and sugar?
Ja, graag  Yes, please
En een koekje neem ik aan      And a cookie I assume? (presume)
Dat sla ik niet afThat I do not turn down
Hebt u de krant van vandaag      Do you have today's paper?
Die ligt op de tafel      That lies on the table
Ik zal hem voor u pakken   I'll get it for you
Verder nog iets  Anything further?
Nee,dank u wel  No thank you

My point?  Words and lines learned in a meaningful context will be a lot easier to remember

The songs I've used are by and large Classical Dutch Evergreens.  Very popular at one time, they have stood their ground and you won't find many Dutch who cannot at least hum along with more than half of them.  To give you a foretaste and proof how popular not only these songs  still are, but even the artists that performed them in the first place check these links:
Land van Maas en Waal and the classical rocker Kom van het Dak af. Both songs performed by the original artists (now in their 60's !!!)
Links
Word of Caution :
Learning a foreign language takes effort, but even more so :
It takes time
Lesson One