Originally posted by Stilgar
On the other hand, I hardly speak any German, but when i German speaks very slow to me, i can translate 90% of what he's saying.
Same goes the other way arround.
Only the huge problem with German is the eeeeh how do you say.
Well I try to explain.
the word "the" is differnt in German for male/female/nosex words.
And then also different in different sentences.
That makes the German language rather difficult (but alot of people will say the same about Dutch)
Perhaps it's best to hear it from a Dutchman - my boss; he was the one who encouraged me to take up German.
I once asked him how he would rank the major European languages in ascending difficulty. He said the English language is the easiest to master, followed by French, Spanish, German and Dutch. He himself speaks all these languages fluently.
Since I speak and write passable English and French, I asked him if I could master Dutch too. He gave me a long look and hinted politely that I should pick up German first! And that's how it came to pass.
You think German and Dutch are very similar? Can't say I do, except in the grammar. Pronunciation and the way the languages are used in writing and conversation seem very different to me.
Got it in one. It's just like Chinese dialects; sound the same but very distinct from one another. And I will be damned if I can speak Shanghainese!
For instance, the word "procrastinating" would translate into "zögernd" in German. Something like that. Very different from Dutch.
...and he's probably the grandson of Max Euwe.
Max Euwe was a fine World Chess Champion and a true gentleman; I am not worthy to be his grandson.
I read his biography from cover to cover - nice.
Triple A bank?
ABN Amro Bank. It's one of the few banks in the world with that credit rating.
Cheers.
