2020 20/20 Reissue, Where are you????

[westen44]

So, like I said, this would have never happened if Chris hadn't been Dutch and the Dutch word for unfortunately hadn't been "Jammer."

That is why you should always address them in German (copiously interjected with either "Schnell, schnell!" or "Sofort aufmachen!"). They all speak it.

Once in the Netherlands, for some reason I really needed to talk to a lady about something.  It became immediately apparent she knew no English at all.  Then, however her face lit up and she began speaking loudly in German.  That was even worse since I know even less German than Dutch.  I believe that's the only time anyone ever tried speaking to me in German. 

[uwe]

You weren't wearing a uniform by any chance, were you?

[westen44]

You weren't wearing a uniform by any chance, were you?

No, nothing like that.  But there must have been something about my look which made her seem so sure that I would understand that German she was speaking.  She was more frustrated than I was about it. 

[Basvarken]

How do you know it was German she spoke?

[gearHed289]

Here's a 2020 I might could see myself playing. 

[uwe]

How do you know it was German she spoke?

Rob, I think Michael needs all the help he can get with the two languages:

Dutch ("Kate Middleton" speaks Dutch at 1:23):



German ("Kate Middleton", yet again, speaks German - with hardly a Dutch accent, credit where credit's due, her German is pretty brilliant and faultless, I'm impressed - at 0:43):




It is easy to tell the difference between the two languages, Michael:
German is the high art of sonic sophistication,

Dutch is more like, how shall I say it ... perhaps animal sounds?



That was deliberately mean and untrue. Actually, Dutch sounds pleasant to German ears, a bit heavy on the throaty "huccchhh"s (we don't really have those), but endearingly - and the Dutch hate it when we say that - cute. A nose wrinkle language that can do no evil (except in South Africa, those throaty Afrikaans sounds are less popular with the majority of the population there!).

How German - a language that did plenty evil - sounds to the Dutch, I can only guess, but one of my Dutch clients once said: "It always sounds like you're either being yelled at or admonished for something."  But then that same client would always say: "I came in with the Luftwaffe ...", when he was referring to a Lufthansa flight.  (Historically, he wasn't that far off, after Versailles German military flight operations had to be undercover and the Lufthansa served as the foil for what would later become the Luftwaffe. Hence a lot of later German war birds were initially "transport airplanes".)

The languages are no doubt closely related, Dutch is a former German dialect that died out in Germany, but not with our cherished neighbors.

Interestingly enough, Germans have less issue reading Dutch (you understand about every third word), but a hard time understanding it when spoken (the pronunciation is quite a bit different). Dutch people tell me it's the other way around for them, they find spoken German more accessible than written one. Maybe the Robs and Chris can chip in their part on this!

[uwe]

Here's a 2020 I might could see myself playing. 

Dieser Bass ist arschhässlich.

[westen44]

It's true I need all the help I can get with Dutch and German.  But I can easily tell the difference between the two languages.  I like both Dutch and German, but have studied neither one.  When I was much younger, I did study some Spanish and Portuguese.  Of course, that is of little or no help at all when it comes to other languages.  I liked all the different accents of Dutch I heard when I was over there.  I have no preference on that.  I've taken four trips to the Netherlands--some of them lasting a few months.  The last was in 2016.  I've traveled much less to Germany.  But with German I do have to say I liked hearing the pronunciation from the northern and central parts of Germany more.  When I took the train from Frankfurt to Munich, it took my ears quite a while to adjust to the sounds.  I liked Munich as a city, but the way the German sounded there, I just couldn't get used to it.  Maybe I should have stayed longer.

[Basvarken]

I thought maybe that lady spoke a dialect. I grew up in Limburg which is a province in the south near the German border.
Nearly every village has its own dialect. For most Dutch people it's hard to understand.

This one is actually quite funny (Steven Segal: give him 100 kilograms of horse meat and in no time he'll assemble you a pony)




A bit more up north, in the eastern Gelderland you have The Achterhoek (back corner)
Their dialect is a bit similar to the dialect from (the north) of Limburg. Pronounced different, but similar Germanisms
With their very own band Normaal.

[westen44]

I had a friend from Friesland who had told me about how different the Limburg dialect is.  But I had never heard it.  Of course, I've been to cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam and various other places.  But it's mostly Friesland and North Brabant that I'm familiar with.  But I've visited Groningen several times.  I've been to Leeuwarden a lot.  A friend and I took a trip once to the Drenthe province and had a very pleasant time there.  I'm told that's not considered standard Dutch.  But to me it sounded pretty interesting.  Supposedly. the Haarlem accent is a kind of model.  I have a friend from there.  But her Dutch to me doesn't sound very much different than anyone else's.  I think I just don't know enough about Dutch to say much about it with any kind of specificity. 

[Chris P.]

We understand 'aufmachen' yes.

And Friesland has it's own language. No dialect, but an official language.

[westen44]

We understand 'aufmachen' yes.

And Friesland has it's own language. No dialect, but an official language.

In Friesland I was often addressed in Frisian.  Overall, I've spent more time in Friesland than any other province.  Of course I can't speak Frisian any more than Dutch.  Linguists say Frisian is the closest language to English.  In its spoken form, though, I found it to be completely unintelligible.  Written Frisian, however, does have some similar words to English.  My best friend there in Friesland had lived there a long time, but was from another area.  She understood Frisian, but didn't try to speak it and didn't seem to like it much I must say.  If anybody spoke to her in Frisian, she would just respond in Dutch.  It seemed to me the Frisians were as fluent in Dutch as in Frisian. 

[Dave W]

Dieser Bass ist arschhässlich.

Compared to what? Granted, it's not as elegant as a Zoot Suit SG or a Fireturd X... 

[amptech]

Dutch is more like, how shall I say it ... perhaps animal sounds?

I always found Dutch to be one of the most beautiful languages, even more so than Norwegian, Icelandic and so on.
I'm 14 days in a row in Dutch on the duolingo app now, so keep posting those talkshow vids

[Basvarken]

It seemed to me the Frisians were as fluent in Dutch as in Frisian.

Yes, that's because they are part of The Netherlands and 99% of the education they get is in Dutch.
However the Frisians are extemely proud of their language. And they do not miss an opportunity to show their Frisian identity.