Holland has not yet been too affected by the problem of heterogeneity of the population and the share of people speaking languages other than the official language in the Netherlands is negligible in the country. The Dutch or Dutch language belongs to the Germanic group, but despite the common roots, it has a significant dialect fraction. In other words, peasants from the Dutch provinces who have come into large numbers in the capital may experience difficulties in understanding the urban dialect for quite a long time.
Some statistics and facts
- In addition to the Kingdom of the Netherlands proper, the Dutch language is also widely spoken in Belgium. There, about 60% of the population speaks it, and in Flanders it is the only official one.
- The official language of the Netherlands is not only spoken in the former Dutch provinces, but also serves there as an official one. For example, in Suriname, the Antilles, Aruba.
- Older people in Indonesia still remember Dutch from the days when the country was colonially dependent on its big European brother.
A monument to the Dutch language was even erected in 1893. It is located in South Africa in the city of Burgersdorp. The original version is a partially destroyed sculpture of a woman in draped clothes with a book in her hand and the inscription "Victory of the Dutch" in Dutch. The new version of the monument was presented as an apology by the British, who in 1901 destroyed the original copy during the colonial showdown.
Lost in translation
Despite the small size of the state and adjacent territories, inhabited by native speakers of Dutch, the official language of Holland has more than two thousand dialects. It feels like in every village and even in every tulip field they use their own dialects and dialects.
In schools, on television and in the print media, the exemplary language is used, which has been approved as common language by the language union of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Arriving in the land of tulips and wooden shoes, do not rush to get upset about your own incompetence in Dutch. Most people on the streets of cities speak English to one degree or another, and tourist information is duplicated on it. In museums and on excursions, there is always the opportunity to use the services of Russian-speaking guides who cooperate with travel agencies.
