Learning the Dutch Language

So now that I've been here for over 5 months, I thought it was about time to talk about how I'm going learning the Dutch language. It's not easy, let me tell you that! Learning a second language isn't easy, especially if you're from a country that doesn't put much emphasis on it. That said, I've always wanted to fluently know another language. To be able to make sense of something that sounds like 'gobble de gook' to others. I think it's amazing.

I've taken one 7 week course already, and today I started another. One of the best things about these courses are that the common language that the participants have is Dutch, so Dutch is spoken for 2 hours straight. Everyone's pretty much at the same level as well, which means that the language is easier to understand than conversations with Dutch people. Another great thing is that I'm actually starting to learn some of the grammar and the sentence structure. Today we looked at asking questions and although that sounds simple enough, the structure is important, and in my case, different to the structure of a question in English. Let me try to give an example:

The question- Weet je of ik deze computer mag gebruiken?
Literally- Know you if I this computer may use?
Not literally- Do you know if I can use this computer?

Can you see the difference? I mean it's not really that hard, but I have to think about what I want to say before I say it, and that takes time. And that's only one aspect of the language. Another is pronunciation of words. Some combinations of letters just stump me! The worst being 'schr' as in schrijven.

My biggest problem at the moment is that I'm shy. Other than in class, I don't really speak Dutch. I listen to Dutch when I'm working with the Dutch students, but I don't really speak it much. My Dutch housemate and I are working on talking in Dutch more, so that should help. Tonight I'm going to dinner at a Dutch couple's house, one of which doesn't speak much English, so that should also be a good chance for me to practice. Another problem is that the Dutch people are so nice! When I say things sometimes they automatically switch to English because they notice my accent. This is happening less, so maybe that means my pronunciation is improving- at least I can think that!

To finish off this post, I want to leave you with some of my favourite Dutch words so far. If you have any questions about the language (or corrections if you're Dutch), feel free to comment!

Gezelig!- There's not really a translation that really fits this word. It's kind of like 'comfy' or 'nice' but it's so much more than that. I think that's the reason why I like this word (despite it being hard for me to say!)
Ongelofelijk/Ongelooflijk- 'Unbelievable'/'incredible'. I love saying this word
Slaap lekker- literally means 'sleep yummy'. Means sleep well, but makes me laugh
Pannenkoeken- 'pancakes'. Not only tasty, but fun to say!

Planes and Trains

Travel itinery for the past few days was as follows:

Melbourne- Abu Dhabi 14hrs

Abu Dhabi- Frankfurt 6hrs

Frankfurt- Oldenburg 4hrs

That’s 24hrs of travel with transit times in between. Either I was lucky, or I planned well, because the longest time I had to wait was 2 hrs. Once at the airport in Abu Dhabi (where once I’d found the gate for my next flight I lay on the cool tiles reading) and now at Frankfurt (where I’m sitting in a McCafe writing this). I know what you’re thinking. How could I fly across the world and end up in a McCafé?! Well it’s a bit of the familiar in a very unfamiliar place (plus they have soy milk, whereas another café I tried didn’t). I’d forgotten what it was like to be in a foreign country- especially one where I don’t know the language. I find myself eaves-dropping on conversations. Anything I can’t immediately understand, I ignore. When I hear English, a little spark goes off in my chest as I recognise the words and the meaning behind them. It sounds strange, but I'm in a place when the most German I know is bits and pieces that I can pick up due to my limited knowledge of Dutch. It’s a strange feeling knowing that people are talking about everyday things and it sounds like a mash of sounds that could never be deciphered. Language intrigues me.

Anyway, back to the travel. Last time I flew to Europe I slept a lot. This time I hardly slept. I think it’s because I’m older and find the seats harder on my body, especially my back. I know it sounds like I’m and old woman, and I know I’m not, but the fact is, I’m not 18 anymore! Getting comfortable was hard, but the whole experience was made better by Etihad. Individual screens with a plethora of movies, tv shows, music, games and news. A constant stream of food and drinks. Kind hostesses who bring extra blankets so you don’t freeze to death mid-flight. All of these things made my air travel quite comfortable, despite my sore back and my frequent need to go to the toilet.

So now I know what you’re thinking again…if I’m currently writing this from Frankfurt, then how about the train aspect of my journey? I haven’t taken the train to Oldenburg yet. Seeing as thought I can’t seem to connect to the internet to actually post this, I’m doing this in two sections. My next section will be either tonight or tomorrow, depending on how tired I am when I arrive at Julia’s place. By the way, that’s what’s in Oldenburg. It’s a random town in the North-West of Germany. A friend, who is more like a sister, lives and studies there, and I couldn’t come to Germany and not visit! I haven’t seen her in almost 6 years, so 2 days/3 nights won’t really cut it, but at least it’s a start.

So I went with the ‘tomorrow’ option. Yesterday’s train travel was not as easy as I had hoped. It wasn’t bad, but I was totally exhausted. The trip was also made more difficult by the last minute change in the leaving platform, as well as the added stop to change trains in Bremen (feel free to use Google maps to help locate these towns if you're interested). The first couple of hours were pretty good though, as I talked to a really nice German girl that helped me out with some information about the train. I'll call her V, as that's what her name starts with, but I've forgotten the rest. She's writing a thesis about religion and the way that it is intertwined with culture. Was great to have a friendly face and to find out a bit about her life and such.

Getting off that last train and finding Julia waiting for me on the platform was the best feeling. Seeing her after so long was coupled with the fact that I hadn't seen anyone I knew for over 2 days. This made me quite emotional (I think the exhaustion also had something to do with it!) Anyway, talking about exhaustion, it's time for me to head to bed. Hopefully tonight I won't keep Julia awake with my snoring!