TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Europe - Holland
-- the dutch and the english language
Pages (2): [1] 2 »

the dutch and the english language

In the past 15 years, I have realized that the dutch are probably the most fluent english speakers out there. It fascinates me because it is the one country where I can speak to a citizen with no consideration of a "language barrier". I can simply talk as I normally do.

Whats also interesting is the neighboring countries dont really have this feature, and the dutch language is far from similar to the english language. The difference isnt so much that they speak the language fluently, but its the word usage and overall accent that seperates them from any other country.

I believe at one point someone in the netherlands told me that english/american professors are very popular in the netherlands and many students go through grade school in only english. But ofcourse, lots of countries, one being greece, sometimes follow this a lot as well. But rarely do they master it, without using their original language accents and habits.

Any wish to shed more light on it?

Re: the dutch and the english language

quote:

Originally posted by SportTrance In the past 15 years, I have realized that the dutch are probably the most fluent english speakers out there. It fascinates me because it is the one country where I can speak to a citizen with no consideration of a "language barrier". I can simply talk as I normally do. Whats also interesting is the neighboring countries dont really have this feature, and the dutch language is far from similar to the english language. The difference isnt so much that they speak the language fluently, but its the word usage and overall accent that seperates them from any other country. I believe at one point someone in the netherlands told me that english/american professors are very popular in the netherlands and many students go through grade school in only english. But ofcourse, lots of countries, one being greece, sometimes follow this a lot as well. But rarely do they master it, without using their original language accents and habits. Any wish to shed more light on it?

Countries like Germany translate all English tv programs and movies, while we watch most of the movies and tv-show in English (as it should be watched in English ) This contributes to our level of English imo.

Another reason is that our country is quite small so in order to keep up with the rest of the world a second universal language is needed. This need is smaller in Germany or France as far more people speak Germand and French.

Re: Re: the dutch and the english language

quote:

Originally posted by Asperge Countries like Germany translate all English tv programs and movies, while we watch most of the movies and tv-show in English (as it should be watched in English ) This contributes to our level of English imo.

When I was a child I watched Super Channel, BBC and Sky Channel for the cartoon without subs

Re: Re: Re: the dutch and the english language

quote:

Originally posted by MaGiK54 When I was a child I watched Super Channel, BBC and Sky Channel for the cartoon without subs

Same here Teenage mutant hero turtles!!!

Re: Re: Re: Re: the dutch and the english language

quote:

Originally posted by Asperge Same here Teenage mutant hero turtles!!!

they called it hero turtles?

funny you mention that though, it was only a few nights ago that I watched the movie on tape again. It has been atleast 10 years since I last saw it.

(being much older, I ofcourse got bored and eventually turned it off)

i always watched Match Of The Day on BBC

(vraag me niet waarom, maar vandaag gebruik ik de hele tijd de/het--smilie)

Re: Re: the dutch and the english language

quote:

Originally posted by Asperge Countries like Germany translate all English tv programs and movies, while we watch most of the movies and tv-show in English (as it should be watched in English ) This contributes to our level of English imo. Another reason is that our country is quite small so in order to keep up with the rest of the world a second universal language is needed. This need is smaller in Germany or France as far more people speak Germand and French.

And the quality of translation is sometimes really

Soo sad!!

I think not to translate all is the better way to learn english....... but most Germans are lazy or they think they don�t understand a movie if they see it in original......... I prefer looking english....... but........ alone is sometimes

In my opinion, people from Scandivanian countries like Sweden and Norway also speak English very well.


Ofcourse it has to do with watching English/American programmes and movies a lot, but I think our school system also has a big roll in this.
Dutch schools offer many language courses like English, German, French, Hispanic and sadly enough also Fries

I believe our school system is better than, for example, the French system. It also helps to merely subtitle movies and programmes, in stead of rather converting them to the own language of a country, like Germany, and again, France do.

Re: Re: Re: the dutch and the english language

quote:

Originally posted by MaGiK54 When I was a child I watched Super Channel, BBC and Sky Channel for the cartoon without subs

Me to

quote:

Originally posted by TranceZoner In my opinion, people from Scandivanian countries like Sweden and Norway also speak English very well.

I work with sweedish people a lot and they talk engelisch very very good.

it's a very fascinating phenomenon indeed.

i agree that the media have a lot to do with it. i remember i could speak a bit of English even before i took the course at school, simply because i had been watching subtitled television shows in English. it's the best way to learn, because you immediately have a translation for what you hear.

subtitling is a lot cheaper than dubbing, so it's only natural we (in the very small region that is the Benelux) resort to subtitling. but apart from that, i think there's not as much chauvinism as in some of our neighbouring countries. the French would not dub foreign films if there was no market for it.

I agree that most dutch speak english very well but I think the scandinavian people are better.

Another reason why the dutch can speak foreign languages well is because our country is a trade country. This goes back several hundred years so even our ancestors were used to talk in different languages frequently.

quote:

Originally posted by basvh I agree that most dutch speak english very well but I think the scandinavian people are better. Another reason why the dutch can speak foreign languages well is because our country is a trade country. This goes back several hundred years so even our ancestors were used to talk in different languages frequently.

I agree with Bas, it's a matter of being a professional businessman. If you want to sell your stuff (gold, slaves, cheese, wooden shoes, trance, drugs or whatever) it is important to let your customer know you are professionaly interested in him. A way to do this is to talk his language. As Dutchmen saw this ages ago, it is common to speak English for us!

btw, I also like to watch MOTD on BBC and when I was young I always watched Sky Channel with a very young Linda de Mol and this hairy little puppet (anyone knows what I mean?) and shows like G.I.Joe.

...and Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles is also known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... (whats in a name )

quote:

Originally posted by Phat B this hairy little puppet (anyone knows what I mean?)

Dj Cat

Re: the dutch and the english language

quote:

Originally posted by SportTrance Whats also interesting is the neighboring countries dont really have this feature, and the dutch language is far from similar to the english language. The difference isnt so much that they speak the language fluently, but its the word usage and overall accent that seperates them from any other country.

Dutch language is more similar to the english language then you think. Lot's of words are looking or sounding the same for us. This makes it also easier to learn.

A dutchman can communicate with english or german (which is the closest related language) people without knowing the language. For the reason above we can understand/interpret those languages a bit, but in the other hand we can't communicate with french or spanish people without having some basic skills.

And education is very good here.
On a young age we allready got english classes.

quote:

Originally posted by New Wave And education is very good here.

mmm, don't agree! Dutch Education is good/mediocre. Very good is just b/s

Our education WAS good 15 years ago

quote:

Originally posted by jp Our education WAS good 15 years ago

You're from that time aren't you

Ontopic: I also thought it has to do with the way the dutch language developed through the years. It's something in relation to some core languages from ages ago. Like said above we're good at learning other languages (e.g. English, German). Maybe some language experts here could explain it to us.

Yes I am

My gf is a school teacher and she says everything went downhill, especially the last 5 years

Well despite some apparent 'downfall' of education the dutch are still famous for their learning, working and building capacities in the world.

E.g. recently a European research was conducted and the outcome was the dutch kids were good at math, despite their disliking of it.

quote:

Originally posted by New Wave And education is very good here. On a young age we allready got english classes.

I agree with NewWave's point. I think it has to do with the educational system, but also the media has a lot of influence (together with music). The fact that German dub everything (instead of using subtitles) is a perfect example, as mentioned earlier.

But i think that in a lot of countries (like France, for example) people CAN speak English, but they just won't. Maybe its arrogance, maybe is something else, but i think they are a bit nationalistic in a way. If you try to talk in their own language first and if that doesnt work, switch to English, it usually isnt a problem.








JP: How come you got the gift to make sure every topic ends offtopic.......

I'll give you 5 cents for every Italian or French TA you can find that speaks decent English. In other words, some countries are less willing to open up to other culture and/or languages.

By the way, my guess is that in a year or ten the English grammar of Dutch people is much worse, and also the percentage of people speaking proper English drops.

Why? All those retards that use 'internetlanguage' (English or their own language, that doesnt matter) as a 'real' language. In a while they wont see the difference.

Pisses me off..... I cant communicate with morons on MSN who use that kind of language. Use capitals and interpunction goddamnit!

quote:

Originally posted by jp Yes I am My gf is a school teacher and she says everything went downhill, especially the last 5 years

Has she taught in an innercity highschool in the united states? She MIGHT change her mind!

No she works one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Amsterdam. 90% non-Dutch kids (Morocco/Turkey/Surinam). If you can teach there, you can teach at any school. Although they don't have metal detectors yet it's still crazy. 50% of these kids will end up in jail at some point in their childhood.

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.