Which language should I attempt to learn
- Thread starter ARon
- Start date
It was really just a joke. Dutch is spoken in The Netherlands obviously, Belgium, Suriname (my dad's from there), Netherlands Antilles and I think it's spoken in some parts in Germany.
In regards to Belgium ... Dutch is the official language of Flanders (northern half of Belgium), Flemish isn't an actual language. Even calling it Belgian Dutch is a bit of a stretch. There are big enough differences to differentiate between Flemish literature and Dutch literature but that's about it. There are a shitload of dialects in Belgium, which can make it a bit difficult for a Dutch person to understand them and vice versa but for the most the difference is about as big as British English and American English. The biggest problem is that Belgians use a lot of dialect words. You can call their take on Dutch a de-evolution of the language. For example the word Japanese in Dutch is 'Japans' (Japan + s). Belgians often say 'Japanees'. I'm guessing it's because Chinese is 'Chinees', Vietnamese is Vietnamees etc. and they're all the same right? Right, so it's 'Japanees' *facepalm* Duke can confirm how fucking stupid 'Japanees' sounds. They also managed to make the word 'poepen', which means taking a shit, a slangword for sex. If you tell a Dutch person "Ik ga poepen" he'll think you mean "I'm going to take a dump", if you say that to a Belgian person he'll think you mean "I'm going to have sex".
Yeah Afrikaans is very similar to Dutch. The pronounciation differs wildly but like Duke said if you read it, it's not that hard to decipher for a Dutch person. The name 'Afrikaans' itself is a Dutch word. It's basically a direct descendant of Dutch, with some other languages mixed in, which makes it a creole language I think... or partly at least. It's in the Germanic language family.... damn Germans.
In regards to Belgium ... Dutch is the official language of Flanders (northern half of Belgium), Flemish isn't an actual language. Even calling it Belgian Dutch is a bit of a stretch. There are big enough differences to differentiate between Flemish literature and Dutch literature but that's about it. There are a shitload of dialects in Belgium, which can make it a bit difficult for a Dutch person to understand them and vice versa but for the most the difference is about as big as British English and American English. The biggest problem is that Belgians use a lot of dialect words. You can call their take on Dutch a de-evolution of the language. For example the word Japanese in Dutch is 'Japans' (Japan + s). Belgians often say 'Japanees'. I'm guessing it's because Chinese is 'Chinees', Vietnamese is Vietnamees etc. and they're all the same right? Right, so it's 'Japanees' *facepalm* Duke can confirm how fucking stupid 'Japanees' sounds. They also managed to make the word 'poepen', which means taking a shit, a slangword for sex. If you tell a Dutch person "Ik ga poepen" he'll think you mean "I'm going to take a dump", if you say that to a Belgian person he'll think you mean "I'm going to have sex".
Yeah Afrikaans is very similar to Dutch. The pronounciation differs wildly but like Duke said if you read it, it's not that hard to decipher for a Dutch person. The name 'Afrikaans' itself is a Dutch word. It's basically a direct descendant of Dutch, with some other languages mixed in, which makes it a creole language I think... or partly at least. It's in the Germanic language family.... damn Germans.
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