So I have taken up the task of trying to learn Dutch/Nederlands. This is mainly because either next year or the year after, I plan to take either one of my Co-Op Semesters with a Dutch Organization or do a year of my studies in an exchange program with University of Amsterdam, or both perhaps if I love the country hah! Anyways, I was wondering if any native Dutch speakers in the community would be willing to help me out occasionally if I had questions or needed assistance with pronouncing words/phrases, and maybe even having a conversation in Dutch with me occasionally to help me practice.
I appreciate the willingness from you all to help. Ill be sure pester you when I am in need Dutch assistance, hah. VolcaniaNL, At least you guys use the same alphabet as English does and there seems to be quite a few cognates with Dutch. As far as languages as a whole, I feel it would be one of the easier ones (as far as learning a language goes) for an English speaker, compared to like Arabic or Chinese, but hey, maybe I’m wrong! xD
[quote user_id=“5987844” avatar=“https://assets-cloud.enjin.com/users/5987844/avatar/medium.1575874194.png” name=“Brandeyn”] As far as languages as a whole, I feel it would be one of the easier ones (as far as learning a language goes) for an English speaker, compared to like Arabic or Chinese, but hey, maybe I’m wrong! xD
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learning to speak is okayish but never learn our written language I still have issue’s with it 22 years later
Kaleo, you do make a good point. German does sound like it might have a lot more far reaching value to learn as opposed to Dutch. However, as someone who is interested primary in being in the Netherlands, would knowing German there actually be applicable? Is German widely understood by Netherlanders? And also, if I was to learn Dutch first, would it be then easy to go on and learn German as well? Or is that a lofty goal?
If you want to learn a language that is widely understood and not understood by everyone then English is good enough.
I really suggest learning German instead of Dutch, it’s more useful and Dutchies will understand you anyway.
Valid points Chris. In comparison of the two, is German considerably more difficult to learn than Dutch, or are they similar in difficulty? I heard from some that German was a lot harder than Dutch and that Dutch was very easy for English speakers. Also In the Job market in the netherlands, would speaking Dutch give me a competitive edge over say another foreigner who did not? My assumption is it would. And considering the main reason for going there was to study (Some of my classes would be in Dutch) and to work on my Coop Semesters, I feel dutch would be valuable in that regard.
I guess one other question, do Netherlanders appreciate wen others learn there language or are they content with just using English?
My experience with Dutch has made it seem like German as spoken by the Swedish Chef from The Muppets.
It really depends on what trade you are looking to join. Engineering is a fairly German heavy trade, but others are dominated by other languages (Trade Shipping Insurance is massively and globally based in London, for example).
My overall suggestion is to get the fuck out of this shithole and migrate to Germany. They’re expecting 800.000 people so the welcoming party will be grand
Haha, I’m wanting to emigrate from the U.S., for various reasons, so I’ve been looking heavily
Into Europe, especially since you Europeans are the masters of Urban Planning! A question though, is there a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment in Western Europe or is is fairly welcoming of immigrants? And is Ntherlands really that bad?? Seems like a rather nice place to me, especially compared to rural Ohio lol!
[quote user_id=“5987844” avatar=“https://assets-cloud.enjin.com/users/5987844/avatar/medium.1575874194.png” name=“Brandeyn”]Haha, I’m wanting to emigrate from the U.S., for various reasons, so I’ve been looking heavily
Into Europe, especially since you Europeans are the masters of Urban Planning! A question though, is there a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment in Western Europe or is is fairly welcoming of immigrants? And is Ntherlands really that bad?? Seems like a rather nice place to me, especially compared to rural Ohio lol![/quote]
As someone who just went through the immigration rigimaroll in Germany, I can say that it was quite welcoming. The only problem we ran into is one little douche who didn’t know his job (everyone at the office in the department I was dealing with were like "Oh yeah, that fuck") kept at blocking my wife and kids from their legal citizenship (her mother was a German citizen and she has a bunch of family here)…so I’ll say that on the immigration side, they are super helpful…especially if you are educated and ‘look’ like a typical middle-class ‘german’ might. I’ve heard they are a little hard on immigrants from other places (I knew this one Somalian refugee that was going through a ton of trouble), but they seem to fuckin’ LOVE Americans.
Can’t speak for other parts of Europe, but Germany has been awesome for me so far…and most people will speak English to you. I’ve had a bunch apologize for speaking German to me when I’m like "Ehh, my german isn’t that great…"
As much as a bad rep Germany gets for being full of ‘angry’ people, I’ve met very few dicks here…most have been wonderful, just make sure you learn the ‘what to do/what not to dos’ or expect being corrected. Its happened a couple of times to me for things I just didn’t know…oh, and learn how to drive a stick-shift if you don’t know already. Also: Don’t forget to get your groceries on Saturday if you really need something.
[quote user_id=“5987844” avatar=“https://assets-cloud.enjin.com/users/5987844/avatar/medium.1575874194.png” name=“Brandeyn”]Haha, I’m wanting to emigrate from the U.S., for various reasons, so I’ve been looking heavily
Into Europe, especially since you Europeans are the masters of Urban Planning! A question though, is there a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment in Western Europe or is is fairly welcoming of immigrants? And is Ntherlands really that bad?? Seems like a rather nice place to me, especially compared to rural Ohio lol![/quote]
Like most west European countries in these times, a lot of people are very wary of immigrants from either Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa for reasons that we all "know". Last time I checked the US of A isn’t in any of those regions so you’ll be welcomed by most.
Well the Netherlands is just currently going in a political direction that I’m not a big fan of which is why I want to get out of here, but that’s up for you to decide (I’m talking about people like Geert Wilders and the overal anti-eu vibe you get from a lot of people). But then again, you’re coming from a nation which produced Trump, so it’ll be fine here I guess.
This shit just went way to political, so back to language:
Hey in English is also Hey in Dutch. Beer is Bier and Beach is Naaktstrand in Dutch.
