Most people here speak English... which has taken some pressure off me, so I felt like I could really try to adjust to a new home, new culture, and new people, before needing to learn and get by with a new language.
Now that my life feels much more "normal" (or maybe it's me that feels more normal), I find myself noticing, following and being a little more confident with the Dutch language. I still have a very limited vocabulary, but I feel like a two-year-old, who keeps repeating words, and asking "what does this mean?", as I'm trying to learn new words each day. I think this is a good exercise for my brain!
One thing that has surprised me is that I think I have learned some Dutch grammar by noticing some mistakes Dutch people have made when they speak English. When a Dutch person makes a grammatical mistake in English, it's often because they are translating word-for word. I know this is frustrating for some Dutch people who are trying to improve their English, but it's actually helpful for me, as it highlights some of the grammatical differences between our languages.
Two significant and notable differences are the way you address people, and nouns that have genders. The word "you" is translated differently, based on your relationship with the person or people. "U" is used to address people in a formal relationship, or elders. "Je" is used to address friends or kids. I'm still working on differentiating between these situations (for example, which do you use with a cashier at the supermarket? What about a waitress that's serving you?) I'm also working on pronouncing them clearly... apparently my "uw" and "je" sound almost the same. I think in English, we use a much lazier "u"... to make the "uw" sound here, I think you actually have to purse your lips.... I think that's the trick.
One thing that has given me a chuckle is this phrase, which I have heard a few times: "I will take him for a wash tomorrow" (him, in this case, is a car.) It reminds me that nouns have genders here. I have to be careful not to laugh, though, because if you're speaking in Dutch, it's perfectly normal. To me, it sounds like your car has become your personified prized possession. Of course, this may be true of some people, but I don't believe it's true of the people who I have heard it from. The nice thing is that I *think* you can also use "het" which means "it" to refer to something... so I think I can get by, for now, without knowing the genders... I think.
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