I have always thought that, if you're going to visit somewhere, it might be nice to learn some of the lingo.
When I visited Bangkok on a business trip a few years ago, I learned the standard "Hello," "Goodbye," "Please," "Thankyou," and of course "Hotel <hotelname>," in case I got lost and had to try some of the local public transport. Aside: travelling by tuk-tuk in rush hour is an exhilarating experience. The main roads appear to have four lanes marked on them, but the traffic somehow manages somewhere between seven and eight. It changes from moment to moment.
Anyway, being the citizen of the Great British Empire living in the Netherlands that I am, it's probably a good idea to learn how to talk to the locals, right? After all, not all of them speak English. Especially, in my experience, doctor's assistants. Good that I've learned enough to be able to arrange an appointment, then.
Which leads me to the name of this blog.
"Reuze uien en eieren," which roughly translates to "giant onions and eggs," is one of the hardest things for me to say. When people are learning Dutch, they naturally think that the g or ch sound (tech: the voiced and unvoiced velar fricatives, respectively) is going to be the hardest thing to do. For those not in the know, it's nearly the same as the "hocking" sound experienced in a proper Scottish pronunciation of the word loch, and is the sound that caused Dutch radio commentator Tom Meyer to say, "Dutch isn't a language; it's a disease of the throat."
But really, once you've gotten over geschikt (suitable/appropriate) and graag (gladly, frequently used where we would use "please"), you're set.
No, it's the vowel digraphs.
eu - sounds a bit like the "oof!" sound you would produce if you've been hit in the stomach. Approximates to "oh", but is also close to "eww". Start as if you're saying "eh" and end as if you're saying "ooh". Listen to neus (nose) in Google Translate.
ui - doesn't look at all like it should sound. It look like an "ooey", but is actually closer to an "ow". Start as if you're saying "ah" and end as if you're saying "oh". Listen to huis (house) in Google Translate.
ei/ij - there's supposed to be a slight pronunciation variation between the short- and long-ij sounds. They start as if you're going to say "eh" but ends sounding like "eye". Almost. You can get away with saying "eye" most of the time. IJ -- note, the capitalisation is correct. IJ is one letter in the Netherlands. It's two letters in Belgium, however -- means "island", and ei means "egg," so you can listen to them in Google Translate as well.
But anyway, learning a language is a continuous experience. I encounter new idioms, words, and situations daily. So this is my blog about those encounters. I encourage any reader, be they native Dutch speakers or learners like myself, to leave comments and corrections. Especially corrections. But comments are nice too.
