In America, native Dutch speakers are concentrated mainly in California, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Michigan and New York. If you live in one of these states, you may be able to locate a private language teacher, or native speaker, to help you learn. Check sites such as Language School Teachers (see Resources) and Craigslist, or in your local newspaper, for teachers. If there is no teacher near you, contact teachers farther away and ask if they are willing to teach via Skype.
If you are the type of person who learns well on your own, you can purchase a Dutch language course. These generally come as a package with reading books, instruction books and CDs. Courses such as Intensive Dutch Course (see Resources) are designed to allow you to work on your own, with a structured approach, to learn grammar, vocabulary, reading, listening and speech. Look for course packages -- in bookstores or online -- that are designed for use in a classroom, as these will be the most comprehensive. Search for courses that teach communication strategies, such as how to alter your tone according to who you are talking to.
Check with your local college, community college or university for Dutch language courses that available part time, such as evening or weekend courses. You can also contact Dutch-American associations for lists of Dutch language courses and teachers. Organizations such as the American Association for Nederlandic Studies (see Resources) may have lists of teachers and language courses in your area, or may offer language courses themselves.
Another option is to sign up with an online teaching resource. These are paid sites, and once you pay a fee you have access to tutorials, podcasts, MPS downloads, daily vocabulary via email and other language teaching features. You can also use free sites, such as Laura Speaks Dutch, which is a podcast aimed at teaching the Dutch language informally. You can also find Dutch language clips by searching on You Tube. You can use these in conjunction with commercial language books.