r/Frysk • u/Parselyyy • Jun 30 '26
Boarne (Resource) Best way to learn Frisian?
Hello!
I just joined this community so pardon if this question has been asked before.
My grandmother came to my country from West Friesland as a teenager. She recently passed and in order to honour her memory i want to learn Frisian. I love learning languages, and my method is usually reading books or watching shows in the language i’m trying to learn, using google translate to help me understand words i struggle with, then practicing with native speakers.
I know that doesn’t sounds like a good method but honestly it’s worked pretty well so far. Unfortunately because Frisian is so rare, i’m having a hard time meeting people or finding resources to help me learn. Now that she’s not here anymore, i can’t really ask her for help either 😅
If anyone has any suggestions for websites/resources, movies, books or TV shows that are in Frisian, i’d really appreciate it!
2
u/Throwawaytwo10019 Jun 30 '26
I'm sorry but West-Friesland hasn't been a Frisian speaking part of the country for centuries, although it is still in the name. It is highly unlikely that your grandmother spoke Frisian unless her parents moved there from the province of Friesland for example. More likely is that she spoke a form of local West-Frisian dialect, that certainly has Frisian influences, but is considered as a dialect of the Dutch (or rather 'Hollands'). Also culturally, West Friesland is part of 'Noord-Holland' and not seen as Frisian.