amshterdam

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

i spent the bank holiday weekend in amsterdam.

its a really interesting place, with bars serving similar stuff to
what we're used to at home (although i'm not to sure if that's down to
dutch cuisine or another case of 'brits-abroad' syndrome).

what was impressive was the fact absolutely EVERYONE speaks english.
now this isn't just the drug dealers or hookers, this is young and
old, bus drivers and car park attendants, the freshen-up guys and the
bloke you're stood next to...the lot.

the ability of the entire population to switch between dutch and
english is nothing but staggering. so much so, i learnt not one dutch
word all weekend - it just wasn't necessary.

i'm told the reason for this is that they learn their second lanuage
(english) from the same age as their first (dutch), making them just
as competent in both languages. phenomenal.

i'd like to ask one simple question: why don't we do that in britain?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 at 2:13 PM.
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:: Anonymous Anonymous commented Wednesday, August 30, 2006 6:16:00 PM

There isn't that much call for us here in Britain to know Dutch.    



:: Blogger Matt commented Thursday, August 31, 2006 6:52:00 PM

true but we should surely make a bit more of an effort with other languages shouldn't we?    



:: Blogger Unknown commented Friday, September 01, 2006 12:06:00 AM

I've thought about this myself actually...

Whilst it would indeed be laudible for our kids to learn a foreign language from a young age, the question remains - which language do we choose?

Historically it seems like French is the answer, but then Spanish is spoken by more people and Cantonese is more likely to be the language of commerce in the future. So who knows?

That's my two cents anyway.    



:: Anonymous Anonymous commented Friday, September 01, 2006 8:21:00 PM

It is truly embarassing to be struggling along in a language (which you really love studying) when the person you're talking to is practically fluent. Worse again if they're several years younger than you.

When the GCSE's came out this year they were talking again about how the number of students studying languages is declining. For a moment I thought 'Woohoo! Maybe that'll make me more employable!!!' which is true perhaps, but it could also be a sign that there will be more people out there going 'abroad' and seeking out their local all day english breakfast. Meh.

Going to Madrid on monday!!! I'll buy several smoothies and sit in the Retiro for old times sake.

xXx    



:: Anonymous Anonymous commented Saturday, September 02, 2006 11:20:00 PM

My comment was made in jest. The British lack of language skills (as a nation) shames me. Yet I do nothing about it.    



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