Cough* Flemish Cough*

Dutch the official language of Suriname

In a fierce foreign language debate we argued which language is the most endangered. The center of the conversation was German. I raised my voice, "If there is any language that is in danger of becoming extinct it would be Dutch," I said. "Most Dutch people speak English, and the Netherlands is so small." "German is spoken in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and in communities in the United States and around the world." The conversation concluded and we all went back to our tasks at hand, but a lingering thought still circled around in my head. Did I misspeak? Are Dutch people themselves worried about the legacy of their language? And where exactly is Dutch spoken?
Dutch people do speak English a lot and very well. According to the 2005 Eurostat statistics the Netherlands has the highest percent of English speakers in Europe in the 80% zone; with Belgium, Germany and France taking the next places. However although even some Dutch people might also think this way, Dutch is not an endangered language. In fact there are about 30 million speakers of Dutch throughout the world. So yes although Dutch people speak English their own language is not endangered. Dutch is spoken in the Caribbean, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname (right next to French Guiana on the Northern coast of South America) And dialects of it are spoken in the US and South Africa as well as Polynesia. What is Flemish you might ask? Flemish is the Dutch spoken in the north of Belgium. One language however that is endangered that is older than Flemish but is also from the Netherlands is the Frisian language, but I'll save that for the next post. I'm back!

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de Vries, Hans de Vries. Almost.

In 1967 THE James Bond (Sean Connery) decided to step away from the world of James Bond films. EOS studios thus had to find a replacement. It came down to 5 men. 2 Brits, an American, a Australian, and a Dutchman. John Richardson, Anthony Rogers, Robert Campbell, George Lazenby, and Hans de Vries. None of those names ring a bell? George Lazenby won the part for the 6th Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. A movie that has been lauded both as the worst and one of the best Bond films in the franchise. If you haven't seen it, you should. It was the Bond film that 'Breaks the Fourth Wall', Bond gets married, wears a kilt, and goes skiing. But the reason for this post is instead of this; (Yes, THAT is James Bond) We could of had this. Improvement? Probably not. He looks a wee bit angry. Plus, no one watches OHMSS anyway. So, did de Vries have a movie career after Bond? Ha, no. The only notable movie rolls I can find for him were pre bond. And that was

General Recommendations for Amsterdam

Do not be sucked in by Argentinian or Italian restaurants, they are everywhere instead go to the outskirts of town for some excellent local food. Come in through central station-> if coming with luggage prepare yourself to wheel your bags over rough cobblestones to your hotel. Walk streets before biking them, otherwise you will get hopelessly lost. Rental bikes- find one close to hotel or a spot that you want to see as you walk back to the hotel, scout out prices, check your bike before you leave to see if you have a small map attached on the back, be careful about brightly colored bikes because they mark you as a tourist [which tells the Amsterdamers to take it easy on you when biking but also draws unsavory types], always lock your bike completely Try to get off Damrak (main tourist street)- it's really crowded with luggage wheeling tourists, full of souvenir shops, and lousy restaurants Canal boat tours are worth it especially if your feet are tired from walking

Voedsel

If you enjoy eating delicious food and/or being gastronomically adventurous your entertainment surrounds food. That being said I will try almost anything once and the Netherlands does not have many foods that really scare me ( cow tongue, squid, chitlins) When we set our feet down in Amsterdam I immediately thought of all the foods I wanted to try. Some words that I quickly became familiar with were 'gesloten' (closed) and open and the abbreviations for the days of the week The food. Pickled herring-> no I didn't try them. I know, I know; during the winter they only have the canned variety so you need to wait until May-June to get the years fresh catch called 'hollandse nieuwe' Bitterballen-basically hush puppies. They can be filled with different things. Frites-normally with frites sauce which is most similar to mayonnaise, but it is a tad lighter with a hint of lemon in my opinion. The food to eat in Amsterdam, no you can not start a diet while tr

All Things Holland

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