"I speak very little Dutch." That's the title of this post. I knew some Dutch words growing up, like broek (pants), op Zontag (on Sunday) and preutse (prude). They were words I heard family members and neighbors use. My grandparents emigrated to west-Michigan from the Netherlands in the early 1900s. I heard them speak Dutch when we would visit them, especially at Christmas when they would read about the birth of Christ from a large Dutch Bible.
I wish I would have learned Dutch growing up. Being bi-lingual would be so cool. I had the opportunity to be in The Netherlands for a couple days in 2011 -- and hope to be there again in 2012 for a longer time. Maybe for five weeks in mid-May to early-June for a mission trip? My PhD work in worldview theory can help Dutch and American Christian students better understand post-modernism and becoming equipped with effective ministry philosophy and skills.
I bought the first Dutch Rosetta Stone language software and have been spending 30 minutes most days. I think I know 300+ Dutch words and can form simple sentences. I'm amazed how many words are the same in English or sound so similar. Makes it so much easier to learn and speak. (Same word in Dutch and English: park, restaurant, computer, plastic, kat (cat), is, man, vingers (fingers), and many more.)
I can hardly imagine what it takes for International graduate students to come to the University of Michigan and do Master and PhD work not in their native language. I've got a long way to go even to speak Dutch at a kindergarten level, let alone do graduate work.
No comments:
Post a Comment