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Why are you learning Dutch?


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I think most people learning Dutch have a good reason to learn it, other might be learning it for fun or just to reconnect with their ancestral roots!  My reason to learn Dutch is quite simple: I might be moving there very soon (maybe next year). 

I'm going to be traveling there on january next year, I'll stay for just one month tho.  I haven't learn a lot Dutch other than: ''Ik spreek geen netherlands!''.  LOL, yep it's pretty bad, but I'm not very worried since I'll not be staying over there too long this time :P  So not worried about that exactly! 

I'd love to know why you decided to start learning Dutch :) Please share your story with us!

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I want to study Dutch because my aunt and cousins live in Holland and my cousins' children can't speak Chinese/English at all. I would like to communicate with them so I plan to learn Dutch before my trip there (which probably won't happen till a few years later...)

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Hi Miya!!!  I'm traveling to the Netherlands next year on january!  I can't speak the language yet, but I'm not worried at all!  When are you planning to travel there?  Where in Holland is your family?  I'll be in Hoorn :)  It's a few minutes away from Amsterdam... I'll be in Blokker :)  That's a really small village in Hoorn, but since Holland is a really tiny place, you can get everywhere so fast by car... Amsterdam included!

By the way, you have a great reason to want to learn Dutch!

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Every time I tell someone that I'm learning Dutch, they comment that everyone speaks English in the Netherlands.  I guess it depends on the kind of work that you plan on doing, but if you'll just be socializing, apparently, there's not much point.

Any Dutch folks that can attest to this?

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Hi Miya!!!  I'm traveling to the Netherlands next year on january!  I can't speak the language yet, but I'm not worried at all!  When are you planning to travel there?  Where in Holland is your family?  I'll be in Hoorn :)  It's a few minutes away from Amsterdam... I'll be in Blokker :)  That's a really small village in Hoorn, but since Holland is a really tiny place, you can get everywhere so fast by car... Amsterdam included!

By the way, you have a great reason to want to learn Dutch!

I'll probably go there within the next 2-3 years so I still have plenty of time to study  :laugh: One of cousins live in Amsterdam, but I can't remember where the other one lives (I'll most likely be staying with the other one if I do end up going).

Every time I tell someone that I'm learning Dutch, they comment that everyone speaks English in the Netherlands.  I guess it depends on the kind of work that you plan on doing, but if you'll just be socializing, apparently, there's not much point.

Any Dutch folks that can attest to this?

I'm not Dutch, but my aunt told me kids in Holland are required to study 2 or 3 foreign languages in school. So even if they don't use English as their primary language, they'll probably understand you if you try to talk to them in English.

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Yes, most people speak English well enough. If you try and speak Dutch, they sometimes talk back in English too, so you wouldn't be learning anything from that. Of course, if you really want to go live there, it would be recommended to learn Dutch anyway, so you can keep up with Dutch tv broadcasts, and for the few people that don't speak English.

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I'm not really thrilled with the idea of moving there, mostly because your language :P  I'm sorry, but it's really hard to learn for me!!  The pronunciation specially... I have no choice but learning it tho.  I'm moving there because my boyfriend's family lives there and he wants to be close to them.  I love him, so I accepted the fact I might end up moving there maybe next year. I'm trying really hard to learn everything I can :)

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I am learning - still learning Dutch, as I live in the Netherlands and I married a Dutchman! I started learning Dutch before I moved here as I wanted to,. but it is also a requirement to be able to speak the language if you stay in the Netherlands. If you have an EU passport, it is not officially required, but recommended. If you have a non-EU passport, then you are required to learn the language and sit the Staatsexamen, which consists of 4 separate parts - reading, speaking, writing and listening.

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Hey there!!!  I'm so glad you took the time to reply to this!!!  I might be in the very same situation you are now, I might be getting married to a dutchman soon, and that's why I want to learn some Dutch.  Unfortunately I have no EU passport :(  So yeah, I guess I'll be forced to learn the language :(  It seems the dutch goverment isn't a big fan of integration :( They are so strict!

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I learnt Dutch because I moved to the country when I was 14 years old. I had to learn it. Now I am a little older, and I am really happy that I put so much effort in it to learn it. I even almost lost my accent!

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That's awesome.  How old are you now?  I'm also on the same boat, well the only difference is that I'm not in the Netherlands yet, but I might be moving there soon.  I'm actually going there next year... I have my ticket already!  My flight is on january 27. So right now I'm starting to feel more and more motivated to learn the language!

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