The Dutch Government have apparently passed new laws requiring immigrants to become fluent in Dutch within two years or face deportation. In this video, a Muslim woman is worried about being returned to Pakistan (where she fled religious persecution) 16 years after entering Holland.... Interesting how someone can live in a foreign country and never bother to learn the language for 16 years (a bit like British ex pats on the Costas i suppose)...also isnt it ironic how so many people flee religious persecution in their own countries, and bring their bigotry with them? The Netherlands Tells Immigrants to Learn Dutch or Get Out - Video - TIME.com
Who cares bout them dutchies , I've been trying to learn French with an iPhone app , I can't get it what with all the damn gender this and gender that for every other word
Went to Amsterdam a few weeks ago and everyone speaks English, doubt any Brit would learn Dutch living there.
I was born in the West Midlands, and many say I have still not mastered English. I can ask for up to 4 beers in most European languages. Not sure if that would qualify for citizenship though!!!
If you had a French girlfriend - of a different gender from you - you might learn the nuances of the French tongue more rapidly.
Double Whammy Michel Thomas and Pimsleur mate..I've been doing it obsessively with Spanish and bugger me, i think it's actually working... I've also taken to watching various movies and tv shows online either in Spainish with English subtitles or in English with Spanish subtitles...i pause the film and try to translate... I've also been going onto the Spanish versions of sites like motogp and reading the interviews..i can highly recommend these methods.
We in Ireland grew up having to learn native Irish, as well as English as our first language. Does no harm to be bilingual. We're a little different from Britain, as in we weren't really used to seeing foreign people here, it was a pretty big thing to see someone of a different skin colour or nationality. When the eastern europeans flooded over from 04 on for work in the building boom it inspired some pretty major racism, especially on construction sites, where a lot of immigrant workers were told "speak English, or f*ck off" in no uncertain terms. Took around 5 years for things to settle down. The upside is the majority all have excellent English now. On a lighter note, my grandfather first seen a black person around 15 years ago and was absolutely flabbergasted! Talked about it for weeks how he seen him walking up a hill near where he lived and I quote him "Twas like something you'd see on the telly!" :biggrin:
in amsterdam they speak english,but if you go out off the big city you better speak dutch. i think it is a good idea that sombody who lives in a country can speak the language of the country. 2 years is maybe a bit fast. henk!!!
I used to go to Turkey a lot on business and I remember on one visit taking a short holiday after the work part was done. One day I bumped into some Brits who had emigrated to Turkey and they all lived on a purpose built complex around swimming pools. You know the type of thing I`m sure. The local council were proposing some changes to the town and Brits had asked if the literature could be translated to English so they could read it. The simple answer was " No, you are living in Turkey, learn Turkish! " Sounded fair enough to me, I wish we did the same here .
