Shhhh !
Don’t tell them that the invasion will be in Normandy not the Low Countries !
The correct pronunciation for Scheveningen is almost impossible to write for an English speaker, cos the “Sch” sound does not exsist in English or German - English people tend to say “skaiveningen” or “shraiveningen” (the more clued-up will even drop the “n”), germans say “shaveningen”, and the correct pronunciation (as far as I can write it ) is “Sckhaiveningeh” with lots of phlegm on the 1st syllable. “Sch” is one of the Dutch-specific sounds that you have to learn. Others include “ui”, “g” (sounds like “ch” in “loch”), and “ei / ij”.
What’s really fascinating about language in Holland is that pronunciation & local dialects change over very short distances. A big difference from region to region is the pronunciation of “v” - where I am it is very much an “f”, whereas in other areas it’s definitely “v”. Also the ending “-lijk” (similar to the German ending “-lich” but sounding different) can either be pronounced “lijk” or “lik”. “w” in some places in Belgium is the English “w” instead of the english “v”. Another great thing designed to confuse is that “d” and “t” on the end of a word sound the same… :roll:
Don’t get me started on Scottish regional dialects 
Any one who lives north of Watford and west of Slough does not speak proper English, and there are parts of London who have not spoken the language in years. I have noticed that people who have learnt English from the US have US accents. It is not just the difference in words but the accent.
Dutch & English are actually quite closely related languages - a couple of pieces of early Old Dutch is in dispute as to whether it’s Old Dutch or Old English :shock: - “Visc flot aftar themo uuatare” (“A fish was swimming in the water”) and “Gelobistu in got alamehtigan fadaer” (“Do you believe in God the almighty father”).
Some words in Scottish dialect are Dutch-related:
kirk (spelt kerk in dutch but sounds the same) - church
ken - know someone “d’ye ken John Peel” “ken jij John Peel?”
A lot of Dutch words (woord [singular]) also sound pretty (prettig = nice) much alike (gelijk) to English words, either exactly, or with a few letters changed. The spelling is often different. Some examples include:
foot = voet (sounds the same in my area)
school (ever wondered why it’s spelt pronounced with a hard “sch” & not a soft one? Here’s your answer)
find
ye = je (you)
better = beter
table = tafel
Another interesting thing is that, like English, there’s often a germanic-derived word for something, and a French-derived word (although not necessarily for the same word pairs!). e.g.:
exposition = tentoonstelling / expositie
pavement / sidewalk = stoep / trottoir (borrowed word)
inspection = onderzoek / inspectie
Oh, and something else random - Dutch can have 3 of the same letters in a row, both in compound "Sir Winston Churchilllaan"and non-compound forms “ideeën”. That thing that looks like an umlaut isn’t - it’s a diareses (“trema”) and signifies that the vowel over which it is placed forms a new syllable, and does not form a dipthong with the previous vowel. We use it in English too, but most people don’t seem to understand why - “Noel Edmonds” vs. “noël, noël, noël, noël, born is the king etc”, “coöperation”, “reënact” (although very few people use it for these latter any more - New Yorker magazine & MIT’s Technology Review are publications which still do).
Fascinating things, languages! Anyway, I’ll stop boring you now.
Frightfully sorry, old man, but for many years the purest, most accentless English in these fair isles was spoken in the environs of Inverness.
It’s deteriorated these days since more people are raised as English speakers, the origin of the purer form being that it was learned at school, rather than at the (Gaelic speaking) mother’s knee.
A lot of the words are very closely related to German:
Kirk = Kerk = Kirche
Ken = kennen
word = Wort
gelijk = gleich
foot=voet= Fuss
better=beter=besser
table=tafel=tafel (only used for a formal dinner or a blackboard, normally table is Tisch)
Jan
Dutch is a Low German, and didn’t undergo the High German Consonant Shift (Wikipedia has a good article about this).
Having learnt German before Dutch, and having been told that many English words came from German, I was amazed to discover that actually the Dutch words are far closer in pronunciation than the German.
e.g.
foot - voet - fuss
alike - gelijk - gleich
pipe - pijp - pfeife
apple - appel - apfel
I tend to describe Dutch as 1/2 way between English & German, with some random French bits thrown in. The Dutch have an arrogance that they think their language is difficult - but the grammer is similar to German but simplified (e.g. the strict genitive is VERY rare, and usually only occurs in standard phrases like “'s octends”, “'s nachts”). I’ve not had a single lesson, I’ve been living here 20 months & speak reasonably well (but not fluently yet) - I’ve learnt most of it by reading the Dutch subtitles on TV programmes with spoken English (the Dutch only dub for children).
If I remember right from Lord Brag’s “The Adventure of English” (BBC Radio 4 series) English owes more to Frisian than it does to the more northern Saxon Germanic dialects, so it’s not surprising that Dutch and English have much in common.
On the other hand dies Dutch have fewer Latin via French derived words for higher status objects and concepts e.g. a word for pigmeat closer to swine than porc?
There is a distinct east-west line that seperates the southern German dialects from the northern German ones. It runs inbetween Frankfurt/Main and Kassel and is jokingly called the “Weißwurstäquator”. The northern German dialects are closer to Dutch.
Jan
Pork in Dutch is Varkenfles. This is related to the German word Ferkel and Fleisch, Ferkel being a piglet.
A pig in German is a Schwein.
Jan
Pig-bottle? :lol: It’s varkensvlees.
Sorry, I should have checked it on the packs of the Conimx Indonesia food packaging I buy whenever I’m in Holland…
Stupid mistake! :oops: :lol:
Jan
You dont come from London perhaps?
I agree we dont 'ork ropper in west Cunnry. Buu tis right gud when we get vem posh people out 'ere wiv dere farncy tark.
I heard if you speak British us in usa,you will be rejected,and the same when you speak American in britain.
Not true - they normally seem to love our accents. The wife’s relatives did seem to, although asked Mrs occasionally if she had difficulties understanding me!
Mrs has also had no problems in the UK due to her US accent.
You dont come from London perhaps?
I agree we dont 'ork ropper in west Cunnry. Buu tis right gud when we get vem posh people out 'ere wiv dere farncy tark.[/quote]
Ahhhh, now all we need is Miriam Margolies as the Cadbury’s Caramel bunny…lol
Broke my heart when I discovered she did that voiceover…
Marriella Frostrup! - nggggg nggggg nnggggg
argentinian of buenos aires (porteño)= che pibe,pasame la birra :
argentinian= pibe,alcanzame la cerveza
spanish= niño,me pasas la cerveza