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Dutch

Dutch is spoken in Western Europe and former colonies of the Netherlands. Besides the Netherlands, it is also spoken in Flanders, the northern part of Belgium, although called differently – Flemish, Belgian Dutch or Vlaams. “Belgian Dutch” is almost completely similar to the Dutch language spoken in the Netherlands. The main differences are in accent and slang. Flemish is also divided into four principal dialects: East Flemish, West Flemish, Brabantian and Limburgish.

In other countries, such as Suriname, Aruba, West Indies, South Africa and Indonesia, which are former Dutch colonies, the language is spoken in a local dialect, such as Afrikaans in South Africa.

There are 28 million Dutch speakers in the world, 23 of them are native speakers: 15 million in the Netherlands, 6 million in Belgium and the rest are located in Suriname and other former colonies. Dutch is the official language of these countries.

Many native English speakers refer to Dutch as one of the easiest languages to learn, probably due to the common Germanic roots of both languages. Actually, you already speak some Dutch, since many words sound quite similar to English: appel (apple), groen (green), tomaat (tomato) and many others. In a similar manner to English, Dutch is known for borrowing words from other languages. However, Dutch took it to the extreme with about 75% of words originating from French. Some of them are even spelled the same: horloge (clock), jus d’range (orange juice), plafond (ceiling), chantage (blackmail).

As a Germanic language, Dutch has multiple compound words created by adding up several short words. Ready for you diction lesson? Try pronouncing this: “Kindercarnavalsoptochtvoorbereidingswerkzaamhedenplan”, which means “children’s carnival parade preparation planning”.