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? ![Rimshot :rimshot:](https://bassoutpost.com/Smileys/default/rimshot.gif)
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."
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](https://bassoutpost.com/Smileys/default/mrgreen.gif)
But then that same client would always say: "
I came in with the Luftwaffe ...", when he was referring to a
Lufthansa flight.
![Smiley :)](https://bassoutpost.com/Smileys/default/smiley.gif)
(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!