Introduce Dutch or not?

[PeterMollenburg]

My French is B2... likely B2.something...

I'm considering introducing Dutch... The question is Should I do it?

This morning I thought I should. This afternoon I'm no longer convinced. This is a serious case of wanderlust, but if you know me, you know i've been rather patient for a long time. I've wanted to get my French to C1 or C2 before introducing any other language, but i'm thinking I might be better off introducing Dutch now. The idea is I'll be (potentially) in Belgium in 2019/2020 and Dutch will make my experience more enjoyable and the likelihood of me finding work more of a possibility.

However I don't want to hurt my French. Can I still progress to C1 in French in your opinion if i'm doing Dutch as well?

3 options I think are possible in my mind

1. I introduce an hour of Dutch each day, the rest of my study time and language exposure remains in French, which is likely to be realistically around 2 hours a day- perhaps 1 hour at the desk, and an hour of French squashed into opportune moments such as commuting, during exercise etc.

2. I divide my time equally between French and Dutch, thereby further decreasing my French compared to option one above, but increasing my Dutch compared to option one.

3. I don't introduce Dutch until I reach C1 in French, even if that means I do not attain this goal before arriving in Belgium.

Some pertinent pieces of information:

• Dutch is likely to help my employment opportunities but not strictly be required, as I will be aiming for work in predominantly Wallonia or Brussels- predominantly Francophone areas of Belgium, in particular Brussels- officially bilingual and does contain Flemish (ie Belgian Dutch) speakers, but nowhere near the amount of French speakers. I think from memory French is spoken by 80% of the Brussels population, while Flemish by around 5%.

I really really really really really really do not want to hurt my chances of reaching C1 in French by introducing another language. This is why I guess i'm here to ask opinions, as I also would like to introduce some Dutch.

• I have reached B1 (not officially) in Dutch before with home study and in country study in the Netherlands 6 years ago.

• I'd be going to Belgium on an EU passport (Dutch), actually speaking the language would provide credibility, but it's not essential, and doesn't need to happen right now.

• My highly insightful and highly experienced French tutor that I utilised prior to my B2 exam in May '17 claims that I'm midway between B2 and C1 in French and a hard 12 months of study might see me pass a C1 exam in French. I personally feel her opinion on my level is accurate.

• I've asked such questions (about introducing another language) prior to reaching C1 in French before... but such questions were raised at different times in my French journey, and I think now is a good time to ask again.

• Max time I could study (all languages combined) a day is 4 hours. This is absolute best case scenario- an hour commuting, 3 hours study at home. Realistically it'll be somewhere between 2 and 3 hours on any given day in total - ie one hour less study at home, and not commuting every day.

• At times, like most of us, I struggle to stick to my French study routine. I'm thinking that introducing Dutch as well could work postively for my French by realising that I have to use my time very wisely as it's more limited.

[smallwhite]

My decision would be guided solely by employment needs in target country and nothing else. The answer should be clear. If it isn't clear then I haven't done enough research for an answer to be clear. I cannot imagine not knowing what is needed for better career prospects. I cannot imagine making emigration plans not basing on career prospects.

[aravinda]

Your situation is something I can relate to. Having read your posts in your log and elsewhere, and based on my own experience and some (foolish?) assumptions, I think you would do better if you stick to French for the moment.
First, I am not the person who takes decisions based on career prospects but even from a career perspective, improving your French to C1 seems to be more useful than improving your Dutch which is already at B1. (This is not a comparison of languages). In my opinion, for getting a job and/or working in a Francophone region, French C1 plus Dutch B1 would be more desirable than French B2+ plus Dutch B2+. In the (unlikely?) event of meeting non-Francophone people at work, you have nothing to worry: your Dutch is good enough and more than that they will most likely speak English. While working, you can pick up your Dutch without worrying about French.
Seeing how sensitive/careful you are about your French time, even if you manage to successfully incorporate some Dutch time into your schedule, you will likely to have the nagging thought that Dutch time is eating into your French time or the guilty feeling that you could have done better if you had concentrated on French. If that happens it would be bad for both languages.
However, just my thoughts, nothing more.
Good luck whatever path you choose!

[tarvos]

If you're aiming for employment, go for French C1 first (and ramp up the speed to get there). C1 is just waaaaay more useful.

You can always dabble in Dutch on the side without taking it too seriously.

[tommus]

However I don't want to hurt my French. Can I still progress to C1 in French in your opinion if i'm doing Dutch as well?

I am somewhere around B2+ in Dutch and around B2 in French. I have three other languages in my profile. But I find that when I study French or these other languages, my attention to Dutch suffers. So recently I have concentrated just on Dutch. Personally I find any division of effort takes away from my L2 progress.

I think that Dutch and French are so different that doing both at the same time would not be mutual interference from the language perspective. (not like Dutch and German).

If Dutch is important for job prospects, that might justify Dutch. However, it would seem that progress in French for Wallonia is probably much more important than improving your Dutch at the moment. If I were you, I'd concentrate as much as possible on French, and once in Brussels, start improving your Dutch where you already have an ability.

[Ogrim]

PM, you are asking a question only you can answer in the end. Here are my two cents worth: If you consider Dutch from a utilitarian perspective only, then maybe you should do a bit of research to find out if knowledge of Dutch would be required for you to find a job in Belgium. I lived in Brussels for almost seven years and met lots of people from Wallonia who spoke little or no Dutch, and in that part of Belgium I don't think knowledge of Dutch is required for most professions. As Brussels is the only offical bilingual community, it is possible that you need both languages for certain jobs in the public sector, but to what extent and at what level I don't know.

Why don't you give Dutch a try for a week or two? You will soon find out whether you feel that it takes away time from your French studies, and if that happens, just stop and go back to French only. If not, you will have the benefit of continuing your progress in French while brushing up your Dutch, and when you arrive in Belgium one day you have the benefit of both langauges.

[Systematiker]

As many have said, this is something only you can answer for yourself, especially with your commitment to French and it being the core of your employment ability there. That said, if you're really thinking of adding in a small amount of Dutch, have you considered doing it exclusively through a French base? As I recall your rotating schedule, you might be able to place a francophone Dutch course in some of your desk time without making that spot in the rotation completely French-free (and I know how much you love courses ). That's the only condition I would think you might want to do it - getting your French better seems to be a bigger advantage to you.

(Edit because I hit the submit button before I was ready)

[Whodathunkitz]

PM, you are asking a question only you can answer in the end..

Toss a coin... But in a particular way.

Just before you reveal what the result is, consider how you feel. Just after the result, how do you feel?

Sometimes it reveals the answer.

Me and my wife often settle decisions based on a coin toss.

Only once did we change the action due to her feeling bad/unhappy with the result.

I/we reckoned that told us that one direction was more important to her. As usual, I didn't care!

[Xmmm]

I think you agonize over the decision for another week, and then firmly rededicate yourself to exclusively continuing with French. That would be the most PM-like thing to do.

[PeterMollenburg]

...Yep, French wins again....

Thanks everyone who replied It was all useful feedback which helped me arrive at my decision.