I was visiting a friend in the Netherlands, who had to work one day which left me exploring Rotterdam alone. I commented that I was worried about what I was going to do for lunch, since I didn’t speak Dutch and didn’t know how I was going to order food.
He said, “just go into a Burger King and start speaking English - the cashier will understand you unless they completely failed highschool.” I always appreciated that about Dutch culture. They all speak 3 or 4 languages seemingly effortlessly.
Okay but why go to Burger King except maybe to ask, “where can I get some good food in this town?”
Surely the waitstaff in other places would have at least the same education.
Almost every Dutch person does speak English, but if you get outside of the cities it’s often not very good Dutch.
I spent a few years feeling like shit because of my terrible Dutch, until my sister came to visit. My partner had a birthday party during the visit, so lots of the people I had known for years but only spoke Dutch with had to switch to English to chat with my sister. Imagine my surprise to discover that my ridiculous Dutch was better than their English!
I was visiting a friend in the Netherlands, who had to work one day which left me exploring Rotterdam alone. I commented that I was worried about what I was going to do for lunch, since I didn’t speak Dutch and didn’t know how I was going to order food.
He said, “just go into a Burger King and start speaking English - the cashier will understand you unless they completely failed highschool.” I always appreciated that about Dutch culture. They all speak 3 or 4 languages seemingly effortlessly.
Okay but why go to Burger King except maybe to ask, “where can I get some good food in this town?” Surely the waitstaff in other places would have at least the same education.
I dunno, that’s what my friend said almost 20 years ago. My time machine is outta gas so I can’t go back to ask him.
Visiting fast food in other countries can be fun for comparison / novelty purposes, fwiw
Almost every Dutch person does speak English, but if you get outside of the cities it’s often not very good Dutch.
I spent a few years feeling like shit because of my terrible Dutch, until my sister came to visit. My partner had a birthday party during the visit, so lots of the people I had known for years but only spoke Dutch with had to switch to English to chat with my sister. Imagine my surprise to discover that my ridiculous Dutch was better than their English!