Dutch vs. German

[XmisterIS]

I've often wondered how Dutch should be pronounced compared to German.

I speak German and when I read written Dutch, I tend to pronounce it in my head in the German way.

For example (bear in mind that it's hard to write down German pronunciation in English!):

"Mag ik even bestellen?", I would pronounce this "Magk ik air-ffen beshtellen"

or "Zullen we met de fiets gaan?", I would say, "Tsoollen ve m-air-t de feets garn"

and another: "Ik wil graag een broodje kaas." I would say "Ik vil grarg air-n broad-ye karss"

I wonder how accurate that is? I know there's a few people on here form Holland, perhaps you could tell me!

P.S. I don't speak dutch.

 

[Haitch]

Pretty good. The 'g' is like the 'ch' in loch, the 'e' in Dutch met is like the 'e' in English met. 'Een' is usually pronounced just 'n' (mag ik n broodje kaas).

Take a look at this wiki article

 

[John the Monkey]

Wot Alan said, from what little I know.

If you want to hear some spoken, the "Laura Speaks Dutch" podcast has episodes available for download, and is at www.lauraspeaksdutch.info

 

[User169]

You could always take the Sshhteve McClaren approach

 

[Haitch]

Nope. If you want to improve your Dutch, try singing along to this.

 

[upsidedown]

More OT, the German support act for Stewart Lee last night had a weird accent, not just German, weird German.

 

[Haitch]

I've never heard that before. Who is it?

Mezzo Macho. Wiki artikeltje hier

 

[XmisterIS]

Those links are interesting. I'm thinking of a trip to the Netherlands in the summer. If I speak to them slowly in German will they understand? And will I understand them if they speak slowly in Dutch?

So here's a test and you're not allowed to use the Google translator (also note that my German is far from fluent!):

Zum beispiel, wenn ich dir auf deutsch spreche, koenntest du dann mich verstehen, oder scheint's dir dass ich etwas sehr fremd sag?!

If I walked up to you in Amsterdam and said that, would you look at me blankly? Lol!

 

[WeeE]

The Dutch "ch" sounds pretty rough and coughy compared to the Scottish one - to Scottish ears, anyway...but to a Scot, a lot of the rest of the Dutch language has a startlingly familiar ring to it - vocabulary, obviously, but also maybe the intonation.

And vice-versa: I used to have a Dutch flatmate who rated her homesickness by the number of times in a week she ran after someone in Sauchiehall Street (pedestrian street in the middle of Glasgow) ready to introduce herself to another Dutch student, only to find she'd stopped yet another Keelie.

 

[Haitch]

If I speak to them slowly in German will they understand?

Yes, they probably will. German is compulsory at school but be careful who you talk to. Germans aren't always welcome. They'll understand you a lot better if you speak to them in English. At any speed you want.

And will I understand them if they speak slowly in Dutch?

You'll probably get the gist of it if not the fine detail. But they'll speak to you in English. Instantly. Without asking permission. Even if you ask them to speak Dutch.

 

[XmisterIS]

Do you know the international phonetic alphabet?

(Otherwise this will be a bit of a struggle and depend on how you pronounce things).

Nope ...

Nope. If you want to improve your Dutch, try singing along to this.

WTF???

 

[Haitch]

WTF???

It's a jazzed up version of this traditional children's song

 

[XmisterIS]

Yes, they probably will. German is compulsory at school but be careful who you talk to. Germans aren't always welcome. They'll understand you a lot better if you speak to them in English. At any speed you want.

You'll probably get the gist of it if not the fine detail. But they'll speak to you in English. Instantly. Without asking permission. Even if you ask them to speak Dutch.

They still don't like the Germans? That's a shame - the war was 70 years ago now! All the nasty nazis are baggy old socks living in nursing homes, drinking their lunch through a straw and occasionally shouting "Sieg Heil!" in a fit of galloping dementia ...

I have heard that the Dutch speak extremely good English!

 

[XmisterIS]

Well a lot of Dutch people speak several languages including German), but in you example some of the words are very different in Dutch - 'strange' is 'raar' or 'vreemd', 'example' is 'voorbeeld'.

I would understand "raar" because its similar to "rare", and then "vreemd" is similar to "fremd".

It seems to me that Dutch looks like a weird mixture of English, German and something else (probably the Dutch part!).

 

[XmisterIS]

Danke schoen