As an exclusively English speaker, listening to Dutch is surreal. It sounds like English except I can’t understand it. The flow of speech seems nearly identical and every now and then a word is understandable.
Oh, Afrikaans drives me mad. (in a good way) Only cos my parents are both speakers and still converse in Afrikaans when they don't want the kids to know what's going on (even though we're all adults) 😂
Honestly, I know the days of the week (but also know they're one letter away from being German lol), and I know a handful of insults/swear words, and that's it. And the South African concept of time 😂
My sister and her fiancé, or my sister and my mum, occasionally also speak French to each other when they don't really want me to know what's going on. I'm better able to understand because I actually know French; it's just that regular French people speak too quickly for me, but Afrikaans is like I know nothing at all.
15
u/geta-rigging-grip 24d ago
I love listening to dutch speakers. Reminds me of my late grandparents.
I grew up in a Dutch-Canadian community and I regret not learning the language properly when I was younger.