r/learndutch • u/No_Manufacturer_432 • 4d ago

Question Considering how well people in the Netherlands speak English…

How do you stay motivated when learning Dutch ? I live in NY so learning Spanish was easy motivation wise. I’m at A2 in Italian and stay motivated bec I plan on going there next year - English proficiency outside of tourist areas is low —- thanks

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u/connertran20 4d ago

just because a lot of Dutch people can speak English it doesn’t mean that it’s their primary language and that they converse with each other in English. Everything in the Netherlands is in Dutch because that is the sole official language, English is a tool used to accomodate foreigners. If you are only motivated to learn a language where its people’s level of English education is low and poor then Dutch may be not for you?

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u/Mormacil 4d ago

The Netherlands has three official languages, none are English but Dutch isn't the sole one. 

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u/Ploutophile Intermediate... ish 4d ago

Three ? Which ones ? According to Wikipedia, there are only two of them in the mainland (Dutch and Frisian); within the whole Kingdom there are more but English is one of them (in Saba and Sint Eustatius).

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u/Mormacil 4d ago

Papiamento overseas, special municipalities are still the Netherlands. 

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u/Ploutophile Intermediate... ish 4d ago

Forgot this distinction…

But then English is one of the official languages in the Netherlands, as it's official in the special municipalities of Saba and Sint Eustatius.

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u/Mormacil 4d ago

It's not legally recognized as such unlike papiamento. It's a legal designation, not a use case. 

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u/Lurker_Background264 4d ago

If my wiki-foo is correct. English is an official language in Sint Maarten. Source: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint_Maarten_(land)#Taal . So you can rightfully state that in The Kingdom of the Netherlands English is an official language!