2006-08-08 20:44:14 · 18 answers · asked by trio3true 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Here are a few reasons:
1. Almost all Dutch learn English in school.
2. TV programs and movies are in the original language subtitled, so the Dutch ear is tuned to - in this case - the pronunciation of English.
3. The Dutch love English language music, so they know all the lyrics of songs and make an effort to learn what they mean.
4. The Dutch travel a lot and English is the language that can be used almost everywhere in the world.
5. There is only a relatively small number of Dutch speakers in the world, so in business, science, etc. they need to communicate in another language. And English - again - is the world language.
6. Dutch and English are closely related languages.
2006-08-09 10:35:18 · answer #1 · answered by Hi y´all ! 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most Dutch people speak both English and German fluently as Dutch is a language which is not learnt anywhere else. Countries which do learn 2nd languages prefer to learn the big languages - English, Spanish, French, German - as this will be more useful to them.
I also find it interesting that so many British people complain about our ignorance and how uncultured we are in not learning other languages but then don't make the effort themselves. There are plenty of night classes, books or cd courses around.
2006-08-09 03:59:43 · answer #2 · answered by Stroyd 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm from Belgium (...neighbour from The Netherlands :D....)...not that difficult to answer that question, here in Belgium students learn English already in their second year in middelschool I guess it's probably the same in the Netherlands, we also learn German and French so thats pretty much the reason why all Belgians or Dutch citizens can speak English, German or French quite well.
2006-08-09 05:11:47 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it has something to do with the location. The Netherlands are surrounded by so many different countries...learning German and English come natural to them...and even French, too.
2006-08-09 04:11:07 · answer #4 · answered by justmemimi 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because their education system is so much better than that of the uk - the same can be said for France and Germany. Most of the population have a great grasp of the English language unlike most of the people living in the UK.
They only have a grasp of the English language, but is that due to the UK being over-run by immigrants?
2006-08-09 03:49:41 · answer #5 · answered by The one 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dutch is linguistically mid-way between German and English, so it's not too complicated. I hope it's not because they have been able to receive Coronation Street since the early 70s.
2006-08-09 06:13:35 · answer #6 · answered by cymry3jones 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because historically they have interacted with the English and so culturally they place some significance on speaking English.
2006-08-09 03:52:38 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they take the time to learn english.
The english are so arrogent that they think the whole world needs to learn their language and they dont need to learn any others...
I'm English by the way !
2006-08-09 04:01:11 · answer #8 · answered by the thinker 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is because every male in the UK will pass by one of the shopping windows in good old Amsterdam at one stage in their life.. and ask .. how much for ..well you get the picture...So they learn English to be able to conduct business..
2006-08-09 03:50:51 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
not only in nederlands ut almost all in the world elieve that english is the internationally recognised language and they learn how to speak english.
2006-08-09 03:57:25 · answer #10 · answered by pinkcloud2015 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋