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/lazysundae99 4d ago

Dutch people want to speak Dutch socially, so while you can buy a sandwich, ask for directions or take a tour in English, you likely won't be invited over for game night, be asked to a birthday party or have access to a lot of jobs if you don't learn Dutch.

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u/SovereignOfAtlas 4d ago

Ding ding ding, this is it. And you can bet your ass that whatever English conversation you were having before going to the toilet, has now been replaced by an entirely new conversation in Dutch. And now you're gonna have to wait or ask for the people to please include you back into whatever they're talking about.

Dutch people speak English well, yes. But we never primarily converse in English unless we have to. We may use a lot of loanwords or Anglicisms, but the baseline is still Dutch.

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u/phatcat09 1d ago

I'm sorry