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Old July 21, 2014, 02:57 PM
Manuel Manuel is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Posts: 117
Native Language: Dutch / holandés
Manuel is on a distinguished road
I think people here are a bit too lenient regarding foreigners when it comes to language!

I live in the Netherlands and we have plenty of foreigners here who don't speak Dutch at all, mainly because they can get away with English just fine because almost all Dutch people speak English well enough!

But I have to say that as a Dutch person I find it quite strange, to say the least, to go into a bar or restaurant and having to order in English because the person serving me doesn't speak a word of Dutch!

I think that when you move to a new country, you should integrate as best as you can. That means learning the language of the country, too. You cannot expect the majority to conform to YOUR preferences; you are the minority in this case, so you should conform to THEM. It's only natural.

If you don't bother to learn a country's language because you speak English and you know that most of the people in that country already speak English you are incredibly ARROGANT. This happens a lot over here in the Netherlands. Almost everyone here speaks English well enough, so foreigners often don't bother to learn Dutch. But I think that shows a great disrespect for the culture.

It's fine if you also want to maintain your own culture within your private life, but if you live in a country with a different language to your own native one I believe you should really make some effort to learn it. If you are Spanish and you live in the Netherlands, fine, speak Spanish with all your Spanish-speaking friends over here but also learn to order something in Dutch because you LIVE HERE! Do you honestly expect all Dutch people to speak to you in English just because you are too lazy to learn Dutch???? Think about it! It makes no logical sense whatsoever.
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