Xenops wrote:Just curious--why the Netherlands or the Scandi-Three? I have more own reasons, I was wondering what yours are.
1. Dutch was the first language I studied that I didn't totally suck at (the scrapheap** includes French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Mandarin and Japanese - as well as Latin from school.)
2. I've only been to the Netherlands and Belgium sparingly, but I genuinely love the places I've been to and really would like to go back when I have time/money to do so.
3. There's some very good university programs for the fields I'm interested in, so lots of potential for some placement abroad (including at universities where my friends study and even KUL itself where the CNaVT is administered.)
Re the Scandinavian languages - again, the relative ease of the language comes into play here, I studied some Swedish at a beginners class and found I made better progress there than I ever did in French or Spanish. I have a number friends who live in the Nordic nations (four or five in Sweden, one in Denmark and one in Finland.) I also found that there's far less interference between these three and Dutch compared to what I was getting with German. I guess if I can't learn German due to so much interference, learning all the languages that surround it might at least give me decent passive skills *shrug*.
I also really love Nordic crime dramas - season one of
The Bridge is probably my favourite series of TV
ever. I remember watching it for the first time and picking up the odd word that was a cognate with Dutch (
pratar<->
praten was the one my brain zoned in on the most.)
I've never actually visited any of the Nordic nations, but am hoping to finally journey to Sweden this summer (and might spend a little time picking up the basics before I go.) A little sad to see there's nowhere one can currently sit the Swedex exam in the UK though (while Dansk prove and Norskprove require journeys to their respective nations in order to sit - but would be a hell of a niche on a CV if I ever got them.)
[**When I'm a more accomplished learner I have every intention of going back to French and Spanish (and probably Russian owing to one of my very best friends being a native speaker.) But right now I'm studying the languages that actually appeal to me instead of the ones that society tells me are useful.]
Languages: English (N), Dutch (passed A2 exam in May 2021, failed B1 in May 2023 - never sit an exam when you have food poisoning!)
Seeking: Linguaphone Polish and Linguaphone Afrikaans