Stories, podcasts, and videos can all help you learn Dutch when you can follow what they mean. That is the idea behind comprehensible input: learning from Dutch you can mostly understand. Some Dutch news is made to be easy to follow. Since September 2024, the NOS, the Dutch public broadcaster, has made a weekday TV news show in Makkelijke Taal, or easy Dutch. It is calmer than other news shows and avoids hard words. Many Dutch learners on Reddit watch it too.
These apps help you find Dutch at your level, or make the Dutch you choose easier to follow. For courses, speaking practice, and tutors, see our Dutch app comparison.
Custom Lessons Made for You
Bubblegum
Learn Dutch with a path made just for you. Start with your level, what you like, and why you want to learn. Your path grows as you learn, with new lessons that fit you. Bubblegum also has news and stories, so you can read and listen to a mix of Dutch about music, food, family, or daily life. Bubblegum teaches Dutch as it is spoken in the Netherlands.
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes each lesson for you and helps you understand the words and grammar.
The trade-off is that Bubblegum can't help you read Dutch you found yourself. For a book, an article, or a show you already picked, the tools in Read and Watch Dutch You Choose are the better fit.
- Read and listen to lessons, news, and stories about things you like.
- New lessons fit your level, interests, and goals.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, so you review them by reading instead of using flashcards.
- Ask Poppy about a sentence while you read.
- You cannot bring in your own books, articles, or shows.
- Lesson audio uses AI voices, not recordings of Dutch speakers.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
Read and Listen to Stories for Learners
Duostories
Duostories is a volunteer project that brings Duolingo's short stories to more languages, with Duolingo's permission. Its Dutch stories are about everyday moments, from a date to a new coat. It suits learners who like short stories with questions that check what they understood.
- 221 free Dutch stories with audio.
- Answer short questions as you read each story.
- A listening mode plays a story and skips the questions.
MobileWeb
Follow the News in Simple Dutch
NOS Jeugdjournaal
The NOS Jeugdjournaal has told children the news since 1981, and it does not skip hard topics. DutchReview calls it a gem for hearing the news in simple Dutch, and learners on Reddit suggest it too.
- Short news videos and articles for children from the NOS.
- Answer quizzes and polls about the day's news.
- A short show goes online on school-day mornings, and the full show airs every evening.
MobileWeb
Read and Watch Dutch You Choose
These tools help you learn from Dutch books, articles, shows, and videos you pick yourself. They suit learners who already know what they want to read or watch.
LingQ
LingQ lets you read and listen to Dutch from its library or bring in your own. It highlights words you have not met yet and words you are still learning, so the words you already know stay plain. Its Dutch library starts with more than 60 Mini Stories for beginners and goes up to podcasts and TV shows.
- Read and listen to Dutch lessons with matching transcripts.
- Bring in YouTube videos, books, and songs as lessons.
- Review words in context or with spaced repetition.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
Language Reactor
Language Reactor shows Dutch subtitles beside a translation while you watch. Shows move fast, so it works best once you can follow some of what you hear. It is free to install, with paid extras.
- See Dutch subtitles beside a translation on Netflix and YouTube.
- Look up words in a pop-up dictionary.
- Pause and replay one line when it goes too fast.
Browser extension
Readlang
Readlang helps you read Dutch on the web or in an e-book you upload. It suggests NOS news and Dutch Wikipedia as places to start, and saves the words you look up as flashcards.
- Click a word or short phrase on any web page to see what it means.
- Short starter stories, such as Een dag op de markt and Vakantie in Amsterdam.
- Ask for a short explanation of a phrase in its sentence.
- Flashcards
WebBrowser extension
Read Two Languages Side by Side
Beelinguapp
Beelinguapp puts Dutch beside a language you know, in stories you can read and hear. Read the Dutch first, then check the other side when you need help.
- Keep a translation beside the Dutch to check what you read.
- Listen to Dutch speakers read each story as you follow along.
- Review words with flashcards.
- Flashcards
Mobile
More Dutch to Watch, Hear, and Read
Many free videos are made for Dutch learners. Easy Dutch asks people on Dutch streets about all kinds of topics, with Dutch and English subtitles, and its Super Easy Dutch videos are for beginners. Learn Dutch with Kim, also called Dutchies to be, teaches in Dutch through short scenes from everyday life. Learners on Reddit recommend Juf M for complete beginners, because she explains with pictures and almost no English. They also like Dutch Today, where the teacher Michel makes videos about the language and podcasts on topics such as history, in simple Dutch.
For listening, Een Beetje Nederlands is a podcast for B1 and B2 learners about Dutch culture and history. It is spoken in clear Dutch, with a free transcript for every episode. Zeg het in het Nederlands is a podcast in slow Dutch about life and history in the Netherlands. On the Easy Dutch Podcast, two of the Easy Dutch hosts talk about life and culture in the Netherlands.
To keep up with the news, NOS op 3 explains it in clear language, and Clipphanger, from the public broadcaster NTR, makes fun one-minute videos that explain topics such as politics. In Belgium, Wablieft writes the news in easy Dutch for its subscribers. When you are ready for TV made for Dutch speakers, NPO Start is the free streaming service of the Dutch public broadcasters, and Het Klokhuis explains how things work, from cranes to peanut butter.
To read a whole book, try the Leeslicht series. Its books are written for adults in plain Dutch, with stories by well-known and lesser-known writers.
Learn Dutch in Your Language
These counts cover menu-language choices, including script variants. Other apps’ counts and full lists come from their iPhone listings, except Language Reactor (Chrome Web Store) and Readlang (its help forum). Word meanings, lesson explanations, and other platforms may differ.
| App | Supported Display Languages | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Full list
|
| Duostories | 1 | Full list |
| NOS Jeugdjournaal | 1 | Full list |
| LingQ | 17 | Full list |
| Language Reactor | 27 | Full list |
| Readlang | 1 | Full list |
| Beelinguapp | 22 | Full list |
Other Apps We Looked At (9)
- LingopieDutch TV shows and movies with subtitles you can click for a meaning, plus short stories with Dutch and English side by side and video flashcards.
- EppikaWell-known books retold for learners from A1 to B2, in Dutch and other languages, with audio and tap-to-translate.
- EasyDutchNewsDutch news rewritten in simple language, with sentence translations in seven languages, words you can click to save, and flashcards.
- ReelangA feed of short videos from Dutch speakers in the Netherlands and Flanders, sorted by level and by how fast people speak. It is new and growing.
- LangoPodA search engine for Dutch podcasts that you can filter by speed and difficulty.
- Learn Dutch With YasA podcast for B1 and B2 learners, with episodes for A1 and A2 learners on YouTube with Dutch and English subtitles.
- DutchPod101Short audio and video lessons in which teachers explain every word, with slowed-down audio and line-by-line breakdowns.
- Lingua.comFree Dutch reading texts for beginners, written by language teachers, with questions and worksheets you can print.
- WikiKidsA Dutch encyclopedia for children aged 8 to 15, with easy articles on history, science, and much more.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much Dutch do I need to understand?
Researchers Hu and Nation found that readers can follow a story on their own when they know about 98% of its words. That is about one new word in every 50, so choose stories and shows where you only look up a word now and then.
How long does it take to learn Dutch?
The U.S. Foreign Service Institute expects its students to need about 24 weeks of full-time classes, or 552 class hours, to reach a professional level in speaking and listening. That is the same as Danish and Swedish, and six weeks less than French and Spanish.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Hu and Nation (2000), Unknown vocabulary density and reading comprehension
- NOS, Nieuw: NOS Journaal in Makkelijke Taal (2024)
- NOS, NOS Journaal in Makkelijke Taal
- r/learndutch: What's the most useful Dutch learning resource you've discovered that isn't very well known? (2026)
- r/learndutch: Dutch YouTube channels with good subtitles, sorted by level (2026)
- r/learndutch: Does anyone know good YouTube channels to learn Dutch? (2026)
- U.S. Department of State: Foreign Language Training (FSI language categories)
- Bubblegum
- Duostories
- NOS Jeugdjournaal
- LingQ
- Language Reactor
- Readlang
- Beelinguapp
Checked on October 8, 2026 against each app's own pages.
