• Tar_Alcaran
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    971 day ago

    Dude, everyone in the Netherlands speaks English. This map can’t be right.

    • @[email protected]
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      261 day ago

      I went to a party while I was living in The Netherlands. Everybody else at the party was Dutch. They spent the entire evening speaking to each other in English for my benefit.

        • @[email protected]
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          61 day ago

          So fucking hard trying to learn Dutch when I was working over there, everyone switched to English on me as soon as I started speaking.

          Weaponized politeness.

          • @[email protected]
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            312 hours ago

            It’s not weaponized politeness. It’s a love for efficient communication; everyone speaks English, so why not use it.

            • @[email protected]
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              212 hours ago

              Weaponized efficiency

              I know it’s not meant to be shitty in any way it was just one of the funnier frustrations I had, I was genuinely trying to learn the language lmao

            • @[email protected]
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              213 hours ago

              If you try speaking their native language, they can definitely tell by your accent, though.

              • @[email protected]
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                213 hours ago

                yeah,I got a turkish accent. also, unless you’re SUUUPER anglo, people can just tell you have an accent, not a specific accent.

    • @[email protected]
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      221 day ago

      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.

      • @[email protected]
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        81 day ago

        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.

        • @[email protected]
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          101 day ago

          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.

      • @iknowitwheniseeit
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        41 day ago

        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!

    • @[email protected]
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      91 day ago

      In the Netherlands the person would not respond to the question:

      ‘Dove’ means deaf person in Dutch

      I know I shoehorned that joke in, but a friend of mine dated a partially deaf person that was angry because of that brand name and that was so absurdly funny to me that I needed to share