As 2024 rapidly slips away, I want to thank you for reading my columns. For sending me kind messages and the occasional like.
I also want to thank my students, from 43 different countries and counting, for having taken Dutch classes with me and for teaching me as much as I teach them.
For, teaching is a two-way street.
Some people say that the Dutch language is on the verge of disappearing, due to the influx of migrants.
I tend to disagree.
Of course, my language will change, as it always has throughout the centuries.
A language is a living thing.
We might lose some of the articles, as already happened in certain youth cultures who solely use ‘die’ instead of ‘de’ and ‘het’ now: die meisje, not het meisje.
We might even throw out some prepositions, as is also already happening amongst the youth who for instance talk of ‘in tien jaar’ instead of ‘over tien jaar’.
Dutch-speaking youth, mind you.
Is that a bad thing? Somewhere in the past the Dutch language lost its cases. You know, those that are still actively used in German: nominative, genitive, dative and accusative. But is there one Dutch person sorry about that?
Dacht het niet. (didn’t think so)
I can’t help thinking that the people who come to the Netherlands to live, love and work here, might just as well turn out to be the very saviors of our language. The ones that will keep it alive and even give it a new impulse.
With a few tweaks here and there, for sure.
The enthusiasm, curiosity and perseverance they show in learning Dutch (and Dutch proverbs!) is endless. And not just because they have to, due to government rulings.
Instead, they want to speak Dutch, because they want to be a neighbor, a friend, a colleague, a lover, a parent, a relative - in short a full member of the Dutch society.
With or without articles or the ‘correct’ preposition.
Nieuwjaarslingo
Goede voornemens voor 2025 - New year’s resolutions for 2025
Vrede op aarde - Peace on earth
Stop de oorlog - Stop war
Red de planeet - Save the planet
Blijf gezond - Stay healthy
Koop een boek - Buy a book
