Re: OT: Why welfare doesn't work!

bill.sloman@xxxxxxxx wrote:
On Sep 9, 1:05 am, Joerg <notthisjoerg...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
bill.slo...@xxxxxxxx wrote:
On Sep 8, 2:37 am, Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-I...@My-Web-
Site.com> wrote:
On Sat, 6 Sep 2008 23:58:28 -0700 (PDT), bill.slo...@xxxxxxxx wrote:
On Sep 7, 5:46 am, Joerg <notthisjoerg...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
bill.slo...@xxxxxxxx wrote:
On Sep 6, 3:54 pm, "Jon Slaughter" <Jon_Slaugh...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
<snip>
Employers preferred to
hire youngsters -because they were cheaper and more biddable, and we
frightened of hiring adults who had had to drop out of work - for
whatever reason - for fear that it might happen again.
Aha! So that's your excuse ?:-)
No Jim, it isn't my "excuse". I never had to "drop out of work". Dutch
employers don't like hiring people over forty, and get even less
enthusiastic over more elderly applicants. I'm good enough that I
managed to get hired in Venlo when I was 57, but when I lost that job
I was three years older, and I haven't been able to beat the odds
since then.
Do you speak Dutch?

Ja, graag.

At one point - when I tried to start on an IT course at Nijmegen
University a few years ago - I sat the Dutch as a second language
tests (NT2) and passed the speaking, listening and reading parts with
comfortable margins - my reading was particularly good. Sadly, I got
499 on the written part against a pass mark of 500. I can write Dutch
fluently but not correctly - there's about one minor error per
sentence - mainly because none of my Dutch employers ever wanted me to
write in Dutch. It was always "write it in English, Bill - that way
the Russian graduate students/buitenlandse filiallen will be able to
read it". My Dutch colleagues could always read English so they
weren't fussed.


I learned Dutch and thought I had it licked, that now I could work and write my module specs in English. Then they told me no, it has to be in Dutch. How embarrassing. That was in the days when secretaries typed it all up. So my boss read and corrected my text, said I made pretty much the same grammatical mistakes his (foreign born) wife makes. Now the surprise: He gave it to the secretary and then most of my mistakes were back in!

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT: Why welfare doesnt work!
    ... frightened of hiring adults who had had to drop out of work - for ... Full immersion is the only way to learn a language properly. ... I learned Dutch that way, ... respond in English for the first year we were there - and some still ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: OT: Why welfare doesnt work!
    ... frightened of hiring adults who had had to drop out of work - for ... My wife and I did an hour a week with a Dutch teacher in Cambridge ... University language centre for a couple of hours per week until we ran ... respond in English for the first year we were there - and some still ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: OT: Why welfare doesnt work!
    ... frightened of hiring adults who had had to drop out of work - for ... Do you speak Dutch? ... comfortable margins - my reading was particularly good. ... My Dutch colleagues could always read English so they ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: OT: Why welfare doesnt work!
    ... frightened of hiring adults who had had to drop out of work - for ... Do you speak Dutch? ... My Dutch colleagues could always read English so they ... Bill Sloman, Nijmegen ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: OT: Why welfare doesnt work!
    ... frightened of hiring adults who had had to drop out of work - for ... I can write Dutch ... I'm incompetent. ... Bill Sloman, Nijmegen ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
Loading