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To: ScreamingFist
America seems to be the only country in the world where the average person doesn't speak at LEAST two languages.

Not true. Germans speak German and little else, but applaud any visitor who attempts to speak German. The French speak French and little else and show gross disdain for any visitor who tries to speak French but fails to speak it perfectly. Most Belgians are truly multilingual, speaking Flemish (Dutch), French, and to a lesser extent English, with equal felicity.

Then there are the Dutch. Dutch persons under the age of about 50 speak Dutch (of course), but also either French or German--often poorly. On the other hand, the younger Dutch especially do speak English rather well. That's what makes doing business in the Netherlands tolerable and visits relatively pleasurable for Americans. You don't have to speak Dutch to get along relatively well in the Netherlands. Just walk into a store and ask, "Does someone speak English?" and the stranger on your immediate right who was just doing a vigorous throat-dance with a wad of phlegm (i.e., speaking Dutch) will turn to you brightly and say with an almost Eastern American accent, "Yeah. I speak a little English. Whaddya want?"

I credit the Dutch English-speaking abilities to the fact that American culture including films, music, and television shows overwhlmed that tiny nation long ago. Being a people who "go along to get along" they easily and willingly embraced American culture including our language.

140 posted on 11/04/2001 4:37:15 PM PST by Kevin Curry
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To: Kevin Curry
Glad you had the wherewithall to notice most Dutch speak English. This is not, however, to the credit of Hollywood, neither is it confined to people under the age of 50. It is to the credit of our educational system where children start learning English from the age of ten, or so, nowadays. Children have always learned English, German and French in school; this started in the 19th Century. with the expansion of basic education more and more people learned those languages.

Moreover, the Dutch are a fairly pragmatic people. If someone doesn't speak Dutch (which is most likely given that it is such a small language) we will speak whatever is the common language. There are few hang-ups about that. As for the American accent: sure, American film and TV influence the way peole pronounce English. But of equal importance is that the American accent is in fact closer to our own tongue and thus easier to pronounce. In school, people learn to speak Englsih-English, which is, however, more difficult to pronounce properly.

156 posted on 11/04/2001 11:48:14 PM PST by NewAmsterdam
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