The joys of knowing the local language

[gusl]

Coming back from giving a math lesson, there were two little girls (around age 6) staring at me, giggling, as I unlocked my bike.

Dialogue in Dutch with the two 6-year old girls:

Me- zo grappig ben ik, eh?
- ik dacht dat je Engels was.
Me- dat ik *Engels* was?
- ja.
- We hebben je net Engels zien spreken.

- wij willen dat je Engels spreekt.
Me- jullie willen Engels horen? Spreken jullie Engels?
- ik wel, zij niet
Me- how did you learn English?
- from my father.
Me- is he English?
- ja.

- Waarom spreek je Engels?? Je bent toch Nederlands!
Me- nee hoor, ik ben niet Nederlands.
Me- ik geef bijlessen wiskunde.
- he???


Anyway, their childish energy lifted my mood for half an hour or so.

I noticed something unusual: this little girl had a distinct Dutch accent when speaking English. I guess I'm just not around children much, especially not multilingual children. It's not common to hear children speaking with an accent, in any case.

I was also amused by the fact that they thought I was Dutch.

My English is much much better than by Dutch, but my English sounds foreign everywhere, because my accent is somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean (maybe because I spent 4 years in England, followed by 5 years in America, followed by an English girlfriend).

Yet, in Dutch, my accent is convincing. So, before my "advanced Dutch" (grammar, vocabulary, fluency) gets tested, I can keep the appearances. (although this could easily change if I go live in Belgium)

So in Holland, I can pass for English (or American, depending on the person) and I can pass for Dutch (but only for a while).

Comments

[troyworks.livejournal.com]

wow i don't even speak dutch but my german let me at least get the gist of what was said, though I doubt the accent is the same.

Sometimes a perfect accent still isn't enough

[z3synchrony.livejournal.com]

This post made me smile and remember some of my own experiences with trying to speak the "native tongue." I lived in Prague for a while and my accent became good enough that most people couldn't tell that I was a foreigner. But especially in conversations my grammar was far from perfect (Czech has 7 cases and they decline everything). This situation posed a severe challenge for some people, because they couldn't formulate the idea that a foreigner might be living there and trying to speak Czech (the country was closed for so long and many people are still not used to foreigners). Their response to me would then be to assume that I was mentally deficient and treat me like a total idiot. That used to really piss me off. Prague is a beautiful city to visit, but living there (and trying to do science there) was torture.

Re: Sometimes a perfect accent still isn't enough

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

haha... this is hilarious! Sorry. I wonder if sometimes I come across as a brain-damaged Dutch person.

Was this the only reason why living in Prague was torture?

Re: Sometimes a perfect accent still isn't enough

[z3synchrony.livejournal.com]

Dutch people know how many foreigners are living here, and they are sophisticated enough not to assume that someone speaking imperfect Dutch is a brain-damaged idiot. I am sure they appreciate the fact that you learned Dutch.

There are too many reasons why living in Prague was torture.