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 pl...