Sure, I am Always Talkin’ Food, but I teach NT2 (Dutch as a second language) on the side. Mainly to young foreigners who came to Amsterdam for or with love. For privacy reasons the names in these columns are fictitious.
What makes a non-native speaker sound like a native speaker? A certain amount of vocabulary comes in handy. Some knowledge of grammar is useful too. Just like correct pronunciation and the use of idioms.
Of the latter, stopwoordjes (filler words, but not exactly) are the most effective. Those words that every native speaker constantly uses without giving it much thought. Words that are sometimes difficult to translate, precisely because they are so idiomatic and versatile.
And especially words you rarely learn in class.
For this kind of idiom you have to go out onto the streets and listen to songs, movies and tv series. And sometimes it involves some real puzzling to pinpoint the true meaning of these carelessly interposed words.
Like sowieso, a Dutch loan word from the German language.
Raven asks what it means, because she hears it around her all the time (not least from me). The Brit thinks it's a meaningless word that you can throw in anywhere, just like the American primal filler word “like”. At least, that's how she's been using it in order to come across as a native speaker.
But this often results in - like - raised eyebrows.
Raven is sowieso right, in the sense that stopwoordjes are in most cases of little significance.
Still… It is precisely those stopwoordjes which seem meaningless that are the most difficult to apply. That is why you sound genuinely Dutch once you know how to use them properly.
It's a bit like hand gestures: ‘Je gaat het pas zien als je het doorhebt.’ (You only start noticing it when you see it). Thus in the words of Johan Cruyff, the legendary Dutch footballer who was a master in entire filler phrases - if such a thing exists.
And if not, he invented them.
Cruyff’s most famous one: 'Elk voordeel heeft z’n nadeel.' ('Every advantage has its disadvantage.')
Back to sowieso. Equivalent of überhaupt, another German loan word that has become a Dutch filler word.
But what exactly does it mean? After my explanation, I ask Raven to make an example sentence with sowieso.
Following a few unsuccessful attempts, she suddenly sees Cruyff’s light: 'Dit is sowieso heel erg lastig.’ (This is in any case very hard to do).
Food lingo
Egg - het ei
Breaded pork cutlet - de gepaneerde varkensschnitzel
Sweet - zoet
Sando: loan word for loan food
Like in many cities, the Japanese sando has its moment in Amsterdam. The word is a Japanese derivation of the English ‘sandwich’. But the Japanese have the Dutch (and Portuguese) to thank for introducing them to bread in the sixteenth century. Legend has it the real breakthrough only came when the Americans introduced sliced white bread after WWII. The Japanese “japanised” this into shokupan (milk bread) which became the basis for the sando. Two square slices enclosing a tonkatsu (a breaded pork cutlet and a european loan food in itself) resulting in a katsu sando, or egg + mayonnaise (tamago sando), or even a sweet filling.
You can buy sando’s at Ranchi, which started out as a pop-up during the Covid period.
Ranchi, Albert Cuypstraat 260 Amsterdam. Open: Tuesday-Sunday 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM.