All Things Holland

Being interested in my family culture, Dutch/German, etc., I have heard the name Friesland, Frisian and Friesian pop up time and again.  Firstly, I heard of the region in association with the horse breed that originates from that region, the world famous Friesians .  They are beautiful black horses that trace their origins from the forest horses found in that area.  They were used as light war horses in medieval times and today they dominate in whatever equestrian field they are put in; they are to put it simply, fancy. The second occurrence of the name Friesland comes from playing a very nerdy but oddly educational game which taught me the ancient provincial names of Europe, the Middle east, the Mediterranean and Northern Africa.  Friesland at one point in time was a power in and of itself.  They were originally called the "Frisii" and they inhabited the coastal Netherlands as well as northwestern Germany, they even had a distinctive pottery style called "Te...

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...