And wow, you've been practicing Dutch? One of the things that blows my mind about the Netherlands is how very, very well every Dutch person I've ever encountered speaks English.
That's because if Dutch is what happens if you take the average of English and German, both in grammar and vocabulary.
There's a Dutch dialect called Flemish that is the average of Dutch and German. The south end of it is mutually intelligible with German. I believe there may be an English-mutually-intelligible corner of Netherlands Dutch.
I am told it will be completely impossible for me to practice my spoken Dutch except for saying things in Dutch, having the shopkeeper grin and speak English to me, and continue doing my best to respond in Dutch. :P
I'm going for two weeks, departing on Saturday! That is why I did all the laundry.
I believe there may be an English-mutually-intelligible corner of Netherlands Dutch.
Perhaps you speak of Frisian. I would think, though, that given the amount of vocabulary & grammar that English has absorbed from Norman French over the last thousand years, that mutually-intelligible corner may no longer be so.
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And wow, you've been practicing Dutch? One of the things that blows my mind about the Netherlands is how very, very well every Dutch person I've ever encountered speaks English.
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There's a Dutch dialect called Flemish that is the average of Dutch and German. The south end of it is mutually intelligible with German. I believe there may be an English-mutually-intelligible corner of Netherlands Dutch.
I am told it will be completely impossible for me to practice my spoken Dutch except for saying things in Dutch, having the shopkeeper grin and speak English to me, and continue doing my best to respond in Dutch. :P
I'm going for two weeks, departing on Saturday! That is why I did all the laundry.
Reply
Perhaps you speak of Frisian. I would think, though, that given the amount of vocabulary & grammar that English has absorbed from Norman French over the last thousand years, that mutually-intelligible corner may no longer be so.
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