Re: URL: Nova goes belly up in Japan.

Phil wrote:
On Fri, 02 Nov 2007 08:51:55 -0400, Kevin Wayne Williams wrote:

I see there is a debate going on in Italy about making English
a compulsory school subject (it isn't at present.) My experience in
Italy is that despite it not being compulsory in schools, English
competence, while low compared with Germany, the Netherlands, etc.,
is higher than in Japan, where it is compulsory.

I would describe them as equivalent. I had the occasional Italian tour
group stay in my hotel, and we always found it best to shift to mutually
broken Spanish to communicate. The Dutch do tend to do fairly well with
English, the only real exception being the group that was in school
during the Nazi occupation, when English instruction was not permitted.
Dutch is the language closest to English. English speakers have some
difficulty learning Dutch because of the pronunciation but Dutch speakers
find it very easy to learn English.


It's the damn vowels that drive me insane. They claim to have about 20 distinct vowels, but I can only hear about 10. I mispronounce words even when I do my best, because I can't distinguish the sounds properly. I've finally got that abomination they say for "g" mastered to the point of being comprehensible, even though I still have a strong accent.

Reading Dutch is not so bad. I read "Panorama" (a true-life mystery magazine, written at about the fifth-grade level) and "Donald Duck" every week when they come out. I can make it through most of our newspaper, the "Antillianse Dagblad" without a dictionary now. I go through the exercises and stories in "Bobo", a magazine intended for second-graders, whenever it comes out. I'm about halfway through Kurt Vonnegut's "Slachthuis Vijf of De kindercruistocht", and, as usual, find that Vonnegut's simple writing style turns into a simple book when translated. I don't know how well I would be doing if I hadn't had two years of German in high-school, though. You might be able to see the parallel between "Slachthuis" and "Slaughterhouse", but the parallel is certainly stronger between "Schlachthaus" and "Slachthuis."

Since my ancestry is Dutch and because I've had quite a few opportunities
to go to the Netherlands (although most of them are just an overnight stay
at the airport, I've made several attempts to start to learn the language.
However, I can't find anyone to speak with me even in Amsterdam.



In Amsterdam, and specifically anywhere near the Dam, I often joke that Dutch is the second language. Every store, restaurant, whatever that you walk in to you get addressed in English!

As someone who has never lived in the Netherlands but speaks Dutch well enough and even has a localized accent I run into a worse problem: how to ask stupid questions. Always wanting to speak Dutch while in the Netherlands I might ask someone how to use a cash card (I forget what they are called, "knipsnip" or something?) or whether this train stops in Amersfoort but get an incredulous, rude responses: "Weet je dat niet??!!" or "Dat zie je toch??". Now when I have to ask stupid questions I ask them in English and I get the most helpful, kind responses - with people going well out of their way to help me!

Speaking Dutch and English, by the way, does allow me to understand quite a bit of German - enough to get the gist of what is going on anyway. To bring this topic full circle and slightly back on topic - I watched the German movie "Nackt" with Japanese subtitles while living in Japan - between my English, Dutch, and (barely) JLPT level 3 Japanese I was able to basically fully understand it!

.

Relevant Pages

  • We need Language Exchange Partners, we can teach you Dutch
    ... We can teach you Dutch in exchange. ... I want to learn: French ... I know: Dutch, English ... Jennifer Kaster, 25 years old, Netherlands ...
    (soc.culture.netherlands)
  • Re: URL: Nova goes belly up in Japan.
    ... Italy is that despite it not being compulsory in schools, English ... the only real exception being the group that was in school ... Dutch is the language closest to English. ...
    (sci.lang.japan)
  • Re: URL: Nova goes belly up in Japan.
    ... Italy is that despite it not being compulsory in schools, English ... the only real exception being the group that was in school ... Dutch is the language closest to English. ...
    (sci.lang.japan)
  • Re: URL: Nova goes belly up in Japan.
    ... Italy is that despite it not being compulsory in schools, English ... the only real exception being the group that was in school ... difficulty learning Dutch because of the pronunciation but Dutch speakers ...
    (sci.lang.japan)
  • Re: URL: Nova goes belly up in Japan.
    ... "English teachers" fully employed in the school system who really ... and competancy can be seen, with barely a private school in sight. ... Italy is that despite it not being compulsory in schools, ...
    (sci.lang.japan)