Dutch is the official language of the Netherlands, but in Amsterdam most natives speak English—and speak it well. Thanks to mandatory English education in schools and to English-language media exports, most locals have impeccable grammar, vast vocabularies, and a soft Continental accent that makes conversing relatively easy. Knowing a few key Dutch words and phrases can’t hurt, particularly in smaller towns where English is not spoken as widely. Dutch spellings frequently resemble German, but pronunciation is very different. To initiate an English conversation, politely ask, “Spreekt u Engels?” (SPRAYKT oo ANG-les?). Even if your conversational counterpart speaks little English, he or she will usually try to communicate, an effort you can acknowledge by thanking them: “Dank u wel” (DAHNK oo vell).
Most Dutch consonants, with a few notable exceptions, share their sounds with their English versions, sometimes rendering Dutch into a phonetic version of English with a foreign accent. Vowels are a ...more
englishDUTCHpronunciationHello!/Hi!Dag!/Hallo!Dakh!/Hallo!My name is..Mijn naam is..Mayn nahm iss..Do you speak English?Spreekt u Engels?Spraykt oo ANG-les?I don’t speak Dutch.Ik spreek geen Nederlands ...more
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