For everyone who feels like speaking English....

Well for me it doesn't really matter since Katrina hardly speaks any Dutch at all, so the few times that I speak Dutch it sounds weird.
Even with Hans from Sara the other day I spoke alot of english to him, he said... that is ok, I have to practise anyway... :-D.
However when we had a look at some cars we went back to speaking Dutch because than we could say what we thought about the car without shitting the sales person. :wink:

One of them even said, I speak fluent Dutch, so I tested him, and he was saying something back in jibberish, with a big smile on his face, so Katrina turned arround to him and said in english, I know how you feel mate, thats what I said to him last time as well.... :-D
The sales person could see the humor in it and spoke to Katrina further.

It is handy now and then to speak more than one language. :cool:

:bye:
Koen
 
It's funny how another language takes over  :).  When I came to NL 13 years ago I couldn't speak a word of Dutch but now I hardly speak English anymore.  I forget English words and my English spelling (wasn't that brilliant anyway) gets worse and worse.

My Dutch partner laughs when I speak to my parents on the phone, especially my father, as I then revert to my Scottish country dialect.   I'll be 'home' 2 weeks next month and by the time I come back I'll be back to talking/thinking in English and it'll take a couple of days to get back into Dutch.

Once I live in Australia I want to keep up my Dutch, for our daughter too.  Having this forum is great, I'm sure we'll be able to meet enough Dutch people so that Shea and I can keep up our Dutch.
 
[quote author=Koengaroo link=topic=2886.msg65899#msg65899 date=1153271993]

One of them even said, I speak fluent Dutch, so I tested him, and he was saying something back in jibberish, with a big smile on his face, so Katrina turned arround to him and said in english, I know how you feel mate, thats what I said to him last time as well.... :-D
The sales person could see the humor in it and spoke to Katrina further.
Koen
[/quote]

Oh my god, that is hilarious!! Must have been a funny situation! LOL  :-D
 
My Ozzie BIL (Brother-In-Law) used to date a Dutch girl for a while, he even lived in NL for a bit.
But he doesn't remember much of the language at all. One of the first things he said to me was "mag ik een ijsje?" Took me a while to figure out what he was saying, coz that's not what you expect an Ozzie to remember. :?

An the other day he came out with: "op je kleedje"...  :| He was referring to " on your mat", which he kept telling the dogs.

Hmmmm, all written out it doesn't seem that funny anymore...guess you must've been there to have a giggle about it...

Inacar
 
Hi every1
Liam here from Ireland, Hope every1 is well and enjoying this great weather that we are having in Europe at the moment.It was even 31 degs in Ireland thats unheard of!!!!Anyway i have a question to ask about getting sponsorship in Aus.I am getting sponsored by a company who i was working for last year in Perth but that company is not yet registered to be a business sponsor as of yet but they have applied to be one a few weeks ago..Has anyone come across this before and does anyone know how long it should take for my future employer(hopefully)!!!to become a business sponsor????????
Cheers every1 enjoy the weather
Liam
 
Hi Liam,

Sorry can't help you with your question.

Glad you are enjoying the weather :happysun:.  I shouldn't complain but it is a bit hot here (hottest July in Friesland - the province where I live - for 100 years!).  I need to keep my pale Scottish skin out the hot sun.   It's sleeping at night that is the worst, my little girl won't go to sleep in the evening until it cools down a bit.

Never thought I would say this  :-o  but I am actually looking forward to the weather in Scotland, I go there for 2 weeks next Friday, it's been hot there too, but cooler than here.

Still it's great to have all our meals outside and I love sitting outside in the evening once it's cooled down a bit.  It feels like being on holiday being able to sit outside till late.

This weather is a great excuse too to eat lots of ice cream to cool down.  :)

Have a great weekend everyone,
Susan
 
Hi Susan (and everyone else),

Sounds great, your holiday to Scotland. How are you doing by the way, is your little one growing fast?
When (if I'm not too impolite) is your due date? And the icecream part suits me too  :-D :-D.
Doesn't matter what kind of ice it is, as long as it is cold  :lol: :lol:

take care,

Miranda
 
Hiya all!

Good to hear that the weather is nice in Holland, enjoy!!

Just want to put my few cents worth in  :) regarding the following:
than we could say what we thought about the car without shitting the sales person.
Click to expand...
you have to be oh so careful with that, really..you will be surprised as to how many people can understand Dutch.  Besides the fact that it is rude it can also cause embarassing situations.  I was walking behind two "ladies" in the local super one day and they were being so rude about a rather large lady in front of them....little did they know that I could understand every single word.........

Not saying that I never speak Dutch "out in the open" but I do try to be aware of my surroundings and will revert back to English when I feel it is more appropriate.

Just curious....what do other people think?

Bye for now
Syl
 
I'm always careful! I keep my thoughts to my self or merely whisper them - but even your face shows. In general, I speak English when there's only Australians around, like Syl suggested.

And the Dutch are everywhere! Besides, I feel no need to be rude just because I think I can get away with it. I don't like myself like that.

That's how I think about it.

Cheerios,

Irene :)
 
I always try to keep in mind that speaking another language isn't a
free call to open your mouth and say everything you want or think.
It's really rude and besides that.....you never know who understands you  :-D.

My dad had it once when he was visiting an factory in Belgium for business,
two employees were talking (not too nicely  :-D ) about him in 'het Limburgs'
(which is a Dutch dialect). Of course they didn't know my father was born in
Limburg (he doesn't have an accent). He looked around, did what he came
for and when he left he just told them in 'het Limburgs' that you never know
who is listnening when you say something. The look on the faces of those men
were enough for him  :-D :-D.

Ok you had to be there, but it was really funny.

Miranda  :)
 
Hey,

My boyfriend is born in Australia but his parents are dutchies (who met eachother in Australia). Until he was 4 years old he could only speak dutch and had to learn english the summer before his first schoolyear. His dutch (he is now 33) is not so good anymore but still with him and his parents we throw in a lot of dutch words. Everyone in the family says "opa", "oma", "papa", "mama" etc. Even the little ones!!!

And ofcourse... GEZELLIG is a common word. I couldn't find another word for it or explain it in english.

Ivette
 
I just love it when cloggies have no idea you can understand them. When they hear me speak with my Aussie accent they have absolutely no idea. I've had lots of laughs letting them go on and on and then scaring the crap out of them telling them in dutch you never know who understands you  :-D :-D :-D :-D
 
@Miranda:  We are doing great thank you.  Shea is almost 15 months, crawling, climbing, walking along the furniture, but not yet walking 'loose'.  No2 is due 20th October, so not long now, after my holiday only 5 weeks to work and then maternity leave. 
Keep enjoying the ice cream!

All, I imagine I will experience it too in Australia, no-one will expect me with my Scottish accent to understand Dutch.  Already had 2 'funny' experiences on holiday with my Dutch ex-husband.  Even though I speak Dutch I usually revert to English on holiday, after all it's my native language.

1)  In a Paris hotel at breakfast I was speaking English to my husband.  These 2 older Dutch guys sat at the table next to us talking Dutch of course.  They proceeded to complain about everything in France, the weather (too hot), the people (too arrogant), the food (yoghurt not like Dutch etc).  They then proceeded to fill their bags with sandwiches they made and fruit to of course save money by not having to buy lunch!  I then started to speak Dutch to my husband, the picture on their faces was priceless!  Of course they weren't talking about us, but embarassed I think when they knew we'd understood everything they'd said.

2) On holiday in an Italian country pension, everyone ate dinner at the same time and sat outside for coffee after.  There was a mix of nationalities, Dutch, German & British.  After dinner 2 Dutch couples started talking and were slagging off the Germans (rude, loud, etc) and British (arrogant, comments about our clothes etc).  We were talking to an English couple, but later when on our own I started to talk Dutch the faces of the Dutch just dropped and turned bright red  :oops:.

I guess they all just thought that since Dutch is not spoken by so many people who are not Dutch that it's OK to talk about others.  I guess the moral of the story is not to be rude about others in their presence!
 
Hahaha!

I do hope people will continue to make a fool of themselves in front of me, while thinking I'm an ozzie. It is a great feeling to see jaws dropping and faces turning red when they figure out you understood every word they said!!  :-D

When I was backpacking around Oz, I travelled around the country the opposite way of what other people did, ie; Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, WA, North Qld and then down the coast to all the touristy backpacker places. This meant that by the time I landed in a Backpacker's in Brissie, all the newly arrived 18-year old Dutch backpackers who came travelling up the coast believed I was Oz or British or kiwi. I left it that way, enjoyed listening in on conversations, and couldn't be bothered chatting with them in Dutch, as most conversations were about who snogged who the night before or the next night.... I knew all the goings-on, without having to join the goss!
Couldn't fool the real natives, though, they just thought I was a 'Saffa'! (South African)

Cheerio!
Inacar :drive:
 
Well.....

I thought i tell you all that i have a job interview to go today at the Ferntree gully Hotel , and on the Appication form i wrote i lke to be a 1.Bartender 2. Assistant bar manager. 3. Gaming Attentant .
So i hope today will go well and i get it , it would be much much better then where i'am working now  As i can't stand doing split shifts  and of cos only working for 2-3 hours and then off be for returning for my shift later on that night 

Other then that we are doing ok , Koen has not got a job , but we all have our fingers crossed  for him  ( He will find one )

Hope you are all enjoying the weather over there as we and whoever else is in Australia are not enjoying the cold weather 
Well i must be off and go figure out what should i wear to job interview and well give that comptuer to Koen    ..lol

Talk to you all soon
And thankyou again for talking on my topic and making it interesting to read  and reply and all

Bye for now

Katrina 
 
I got the job at the ferntree gully hotel , also called the Middle.First shift is next wensday and thursday day and evening. i will let you all know how it will go..OKE  :up: :up:
:later:
Katrina
 
Hiya Katrina!

Congrats. Which job did you "score" ? 1., 2, or 3?...and .....no more splits??

Bye
Syl
 
Yes Katrina, congrats again! You must be very happy! Still crossing my fingers for Koen though!

Good luck and thanks for looking after my Hans  :wink: !
Once I am in Oz as well, we'll come and visit you and buy you a big dinner, also for Freckles and Marcel ofcourse!

Groetjes,
Sara
 
Congratulations with the new job!  :happysun:
Sounds like an improvement.
Good luck with the first couple of shifts.

Whereabouts is the Ferntree Gully Hotel? In Melbourne?
Hope they'll treat you nicely, over there!

Fingers crossed for Koen, indeed, job hunting is not a fun place to be in.... :|

Groetz
Inacar
 
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