It's all Dutch to Me

From now on, unless I get my butt in gear and write during Fien’s nap, there will not be posts on Wednesdays.  Because I get home at 11:30 which is bedtime.  Would you like to know where I am going that is apparently more important than writing this blog?  Well I’ll tell you…Dutch classes!!  Hooray, I’m finally going to start learning some serious Dutch and learn how to put it all into sentences.

My first class last night went pretty well.  The class consists of ten people from all over – India, Peru, Spain, the US, and Iraq.  Some of them have been here for only three months like me, while some have been here for over five years, but since they work for an International English speaking company, learning Dutch has never been at the top of their To-Do list.

We started out the class with what is taught in most language classes –

Hello my name is… (and other various ways of saying it)

I come from…

I live in…

Pretty simple.  Then we delved into the informal vs., formal, the alphabet, addresses, and numbers…most of which I already knew, so GO ME!

Our teacher is pretty funny.  She’s from Leiden and apparently people from Leiden are known for their “accent.”  So some of the things she was teaching us, I’m thinking to myself, “That’s not how the majority of the people I talk to pronounce it.”  It would be like someone from Boston teaching you how to say “car” or someone from New Jersey teaching you how to say “coffee.”  Technically, they’re saying the word, but in your mind you’re thinking “this is not how most people pronounce this.”  She kept going “say it with me “mmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyynnnnn” and I’m thinking it’s pronounced “mine.”  I know this because of all the words a two year old can say, “mijn” is definitely one of them.

But you know, I’ll get over it.  I’m still going to learn the language, and chances are I’m gonna sound funny no matter what.  And I think I’m doing alright.  I already know more Dutch in three months than three years in Logan Spanish ever taught me.

It’s quite exciting learning a new language.  I’ve never thought of it that way, because I was always forced to attempt to learn something.  But in this case, I’m presented with the opportunity, and the necessity for knowledge, and I find myself actually willing to spend an hour on a bus to go to class, and do homework, and an hour and a half back (stupid train schedules.)  So look forward to more entries about how much I’m learning/not learning.  I’m sure there’ll be interesting things you never knew (and were dying to know.)

Word of the day: Ik been… - I am…