Steve's Wanderings ...

Languages

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Nederlands vs. Vlaams

Belle wants me to learn Flemish, i.e., the Flemish Dutch dialect (at least for spoken Dutch).  I’m looking at some possibilities to make this work.  In the meantime I hope that she might make me some .mp3 files of her using common phrases, counting 1-10, etc., so I can hear what it sounds like ("Please, Belle?").  I think once I have the basic pronunciation it will help me progress from there ...

This looks interesting - a software package for learning Flemish which I can download - Flemish - Languages of the World


Tot ziens ...

The Sounds of Dutch …

For the past few weeks I have enjoyed learning bits and pieces of Dutch - especially since Belle has encouraged me by writing to me in both Dutch and English - and she has been very patient and tolerant of my frequent mistakes!  Buying a Dutch-English dictionary has helped me immensely since now I am free to try to construct sentences and phrases on my own instead of relying on the Google translator to do it - often with hilarious results!

However, there is one thing I realize now that is missing - hearing the pronunciation of Dutch.  When I write in German I can “hear” what I’m writing as I go.  Of course the same is true with English.  But with Dutch at the moment I cannot do that - I have SOME idea of how things should sound but often its an educated guess - and that in the end isn’t really good enough ... (at least for me ...).  Even with my Chinese lessons I have opportunities to tie words and sounds/pronunciation together.

So ... I will work on remedying this.  I need to hear the sounds of Dutch so I can read most any word and know how it should be pronounced.  I also need to learn basic grammar, but knowing German grammar I believe will be a great help since there are similarities between the two.  I have some audio CD’s which I will listen to, and I will look for a Dutch tutor if possible (not forgetting my Chinese of course, which is important!).  With those possibilities I think this will make the Dutch language come alive for me ...


A nice website which I plan to use ... - http://www.dutchgrammar.com/

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Ni Hao Hallo Hi

I have always loved and been fascinated by languages.  Even while in high school I wanted to translate French novels into English (in this case, Camus).  Later I became fascinated with German - I had a German girlfriend at the time, and wanted to be able to converse with her as well in German as she could talk to me in English.  I also felt a challenge since many people told me that German was “too hard”.  I didn’t believe them and set out to learn the language well enough to be able to rely solely on it when traveling to Germany or Switzerland.  At one time I even wanted to read Thomas Mann’s “Der Zauberberg” ("The Magic Mountain") in its original German (but later realized that this was perhaps beyond what I really wanted to do - and that was to be able to carry on a conversation about almost anything ...).

I believe that languages are, in a sense, windows to our souls, as that is how we express ourselves to others and to the world beyond gestures and body language.  In a sense I feel left out if someone else I interact with can speak a language that I either don’t understand well or perhaps not at all.  My latest challenge is learning Chinese.  I don’t expect to become proficient easily but at least be able to have a simple conversation.  I am taking the first in a series of Chinese classes at a local community college.

Likewise my friend Belle speaks Dutch (actually Flemish, but close enough ...).  Another challenge.  Her English is very good and there is no need whatsoever for me to learn any Dutch at all.  But that’s not the point; I want to be on at least somewhat of an even keel, so ideally a conversation could happen in either English or Dutch without missing a step.  I’ve come close to that in German, and similarities in vocabulary and grammar will hopefully make this task easier - certainly easier than Chinese!  Unlike the Chinese class this is entirely a “home” project with no classes, schedules or deadlines, though I did find a jovial Dutch colleague at work with whom I can practice when I begin to become a bit proficient.

I learned German basically by endless self-drilling of grammar and vocabulary.  This (at least for me) is the way to transform oneself from merely a “parrot” to a true speaker of the language.  Its also a nice mental challenge and a way to keep the mind sharp!  Now two new languages to learn!

Tof!  Spass!