The complete book of 50 Dutch short stories inside the app. Read, tap any word for the translation in context, save your words and test yourself. One payment, no subscription. Free with every Dutch Daily subscription.
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50 Dutch stories you can actually finish
Dutch Daily Short Stories is the book Jaimie wrote for his own students, now inside the app. Read a story, tap any word you do not know, save it, and check yourself with the questions. One payment of €4.99 and it stays yours.
Already a Dutch Daily member?
Then you do not need this. The library is included in every Dutch Daily subscription. Log in and it is already open.
What is in the book
stories
From your first day at work to the dentist, the market, the gemeente and the history of Nederland.
words of Dutch
Written for A2 and B1, so you understand most of it and learn the rest by reading.
words with translation
A word list per story, plus every other word one tap away.
questions
Five per story, so you find out if you really understood it.
How a story works
1. Read
The story turns page by page, like a real book. Short pages, so you keep going.
2. Tap a word
The translation appears above the word, in the meaning it has in that sentence. No dictionary, no leaving the page.
3. Save it
Press Save and the word lands in My words, with your own note if you want one.
4. Test yourself
Five questions about the story, then a word game where you match Dutch to English.
Why reading works so well for Dutch
Speaking practice teaches you to produce Dutch. Reading teaches you to recognise it, and you need both. The problem with normal Dutch books is that you hit an unknown word every second line, reach for a dictionary, lose the thread, and close the book.
Here the translation is one tap away and it takes into account the sentence you are reading. De bank is a couch in one story and a bank in another, and you get the right one. That single detail is the difference between finishing a story and giving up halfway.
Two choices that make the difference
Written as “ik”, not as “hij”
Every story is told in the first person: “Ik heb net een nieuwe baan en ga voor het eerst mijn nieuwe collega’s ontmoeten.” That is not a style choice, it is the point.
You read the exact sentences you need to say yourself. The word order of ik ga, ik voel, ik besluit gets into your head by seeing it, so when you speak you are repeating a pattern instead of building one from scratch.
The same words keep coming back
One person, one first year in Nederland: the same colleagues, the same city, the same daily life. That is why 472 words return in three or more stories and 86 of them in ten or more.
You do not learn a word by looking it up once. You learn it by meeting it again three stories later and realising you already know it. That repetition is built in, so you do not have to organise it yourself.
How to get the most out of it
Read the story once without tapping anything
You will understand more than you expect, and you train yourself to keep going past a word you do not know. That skill is worth more on the exam than any single word.
On the second pass, tap and save
Save five to eight words per story, not thirty. A short list you actually review beats a long one you never open again.
Say the sentences out loud
Because the book is written as “ik”, every sentence is one you could use tomorrow. Reading them aloud puts the rhythm of Dutch in your mouth, not only in your eyes.
One story a day beats five on Sunday
A story takes about five minutes. Fifty days of five minutes will teach you more Dutch than ten hours in one weekend, because the repetition needs time between the sessions.
Use your own note field
In My words you can add a note to any saved word. Write down where you would use it, not just what it means. “Zeg ik tegen de huisarts” sticks better than a second translation.
The 50 stories
Every story is one situation you will actually run into:
2. De eerste werkdag
5. Een lastige klant
9. Naar de supermarkt
12. Een bezoek aan de tandarts
17. Een bezoek aan de markt
19. Het openbaar vervoer
23. Financiën en bankzaken
25. Feesten en tradities
31. Aangifte doen bij de politie
40. Verhuizen naar een nieuwe woning
44. De overheid en politiek
46. DigiD en MijnOverheid
47. Gezondheidszorg in Nederland
50. De geschiedenis van Nederland
and 35 more
Try three stories first
The first three stories are open to everyone, without an account and without paying. Read them, tap some words, do the questions. If it does not suit you, you have lost nothing but ten minutes.
Story 4 to 50 open after your payment, or the moment you start a Dutch Daily subscription.
One payment
No subscription, no renewal. All 50 stories, the word list, the questions and the word game, on your phone and your laptop.
Questions people ask
Is this a subscription?
No. You pay €4.99 once and the library stays open on your account.
I already pay for Dutch Daily. Do I need this?
No. Every Dutch Daily subscription includes the library. Open the app, tap Library, and all 50 stories are there.
What level do I need?
A2 is comfortable, A1 works if you are willing to tap a lot of words. At B1 you will read most stories without stopping and use them mainly for vocabulary.
Does it help for inburgering?
The reading part of the exam asks you to pull information out of short everyday texts, which is exactly what you practise here. Ten stories cover subjects from KNM: healthcare, government, taxes, traditions and history.
Do I keep the words I save?
Yes. My words keeps every word you saved, with the translation and any note you added, and you can open it while you read.
Do I need the paper book?
No, this is the whole book. Same stories, same word lists, same questions, plus the tapping, the saving and the word game that paper cannot do.
