Learning Dutch (or speaking English)

As an English speaker, we have a unique luck of being understood in many places in the world, and by most everybody in the Netherlands. While language is often seen as a secondary study in the US, it is expected in many other countries (including the Netherlands) that every child learns at least a second language, and that second language is often English.

As a result of this, I’ve been able to converse with any Dutch person I’ve encountered in English, picking up a few of their words along the way. There have been a couple situations, however, when a Dutch speaker hasn’t understood certain English phrases that have led to some comical roundabout methods of explanation. One that stands out in my head was when we were attempting to ask a question in the greenhouse about how they enforce the pollination of their plants. The owner of the greenhouse, not quite understanding the question, went on to explain how they use organic materials from Brazil to ensure that parasitic bugs can’t molt, and therefore die off. I was personally pretty happy about the misunderstanding because I don’t think this information would have come out any other way.

There are two key expressions that everyone has taken to in our group and those are ‘dank je well’ (thank you) and ‘Alsjeblief’ (literally, here you go; practically, you’re welcome). These two expressions are used very commonly with servers and cashiers and these interactions probably make up the majority of my Dutch interactions. Mispronunciations of these have led to waiters and waitresses cracking a laugh at our group, and even an occasional impressed Dutch person by one of our accurate pronunciations. While these are the ones that are often said, the other words that I’m becoming familiar with are those related to road signs (‘straat’=street, etc.) as those are the ones we use in class.

Hanging out on the quad

Playing soccer a couple times a week