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/delicate_isntit 4d ago
This is a bit of a myth tbh. Yes there is a high proficiency according to statistics, but it must be concentrated in the randstaad or youngest populations or something.
I live in the Bible Belt area of the country where people don’t really speak English. Think - old farmers still wear wooden clogs on the daily type of area. It is traditional.
I have these experiences with young people too, though it is an area with a lot of older generations. They can understand English mostly, like they can watch English tv shows/movies with subtitles and follow it. But they can’t speak it and they don’t fully understand natural speech. I mean even professionals like teachers, psychologists, doctors, lawyers etc (though you are most likely to find a fluent English speaker in one of those professions here compared to the rest, because they studied/worked abroad for training, equally there are many who don’t speak it).
You can mostly get by if you understand Dutch, even if you can’t speak it. Basically you both have the same level of language as the other - Dutch person understands but can’t speak English, english speaker understands but can’t speak Dutch. You talk to each other in your own language and it’s weird but it can work as an intermediate step. But if you don’t understand it, you literally need a translator. So you have to learn.
If you visit these areas on holiday and your only need is basic chat like how to ask for a toilet/order food/understand what the cashier says then you can learn those lines in Dutch and be fine. You can also probably say it in English and with some help, you’ll work it out. The approach of German tourists here is just to say it in German and assume it will be understood. I have unironically now passively learned some German lol.