Posted: 10/29/2005 10:37:32 AM EDT
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Do you speak Dutch? I am trying to decide on a second language for graduate studies, and I am considering Dutch. I have a BA in German and am currently a German language graduate student, but to get my degree I must prove basic reading proficiency in a second foreign language. I want to stay in the Germanic family, and I assume that Dutch would not be all that difficult since I am already relatively fluent in German. What do you think? Of course, if you only speak Danish, if I remember correctly you are from Denmark, then "I like Pie" will be an adequate response... 
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I'm not a linguist so I speak no languages other than english, but half my family is directly from the Netherlands. I can understand Dutch and have a good selection of nouns I can use. I just lack the verbs and all the other words used to create a full sentence. That said, I don't think it is a very difficult language to learn, though it is significantly different than German (ETA: or so I'm told by my Dutch relatives). I wonder about the usefulness of learning Dutch. It would be useful for me as I visit family in the Netherlands on occasion but in the grand scheme of the world I doubt it would be too useful. Kent |
Isn't Dutch used in South Africa? Some Carib & Pacific islands also IIRC. |
Well, to get a Masters in German (I assume it is the same at all major universities), you must prove reading proficiency in a second foreign language. I would probably not use it much after that. Who knows though, it could be useful. As to its usefulness per se, I doubt I will stay in Texas after I am finished, so I am not worried about learning Spanish, nor do I have any desire to. Dutch is very similar to Low German. Modern High German and Dutch are fairly different, but not too drastically. "I am" in German is "Ich bin". In Dutch it would simply be "Ik ben". You can see the similarity. |
Dutch and Afrikans are used in South Africa IIRC. |
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Y'all are bastards!!  I used to speak Dutch, when I lived in Holland as a kid, but it was somehow displaced and lost when we moved to Germany and I spent 5 years speaking German. (Partly because it is very similar to German). So, if you speak German pretty well, I don't think you'd have much trouble at all with Dutch - it is pretty close to German. (Other Germanic languages - like the Scandinavian ones are much more distant from German.) Personally, I don't think there is much USE for Dutch, so I guess it's pronbably a tradeoff for you in terms of how easy it would be, compared to how useful it might be in the future. Sorry I can't be more helpful  |
Well, it's useful if you work for a German company that does business in Dutch speaking countries. It's not all that useful here in the States though. |
Yup - I guess that would be really useful then!! Good luck. Like I said, if you've got a handle on German, I think Dutch will be a breeze for you. |
If you were born in Holland you cant be Danish 
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 Now you're really going to confuse people.In most european countries (including Denmark and Holland), nationality derives from your parents, not where you are born. The fact that I was physically born in Holland never had any effect of my nationality, since both my parents are Danish. |
But you lived there as a kid, so you are a bit Dutch. Make a trip to Orange City, Iowa next summer for the Tulip festival and explore your roots. |
Tham's fightin' words !!! 
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Well Europe's a small place. That's like a Texan being born in Ohio or something like that. 
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Quick test: Does your last name start with a "V"? I worked in Orange City for 6 months, and the A-U took up about 8 pages in the phone book, then there were 30 pages of "V", and then one mroe for X-Z. |
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