I've been home in Canada now for 2 weeks as of yesterday and each day I can feel the Dutch dripping slowly out of my head into oblivion! The words aren't coming as quickly when I try to form sentences in my head and as I read the Dutch newspaper, I find myself using the Dutch translator more and more each time. Since I've decided to give a small presentation this coming May about what I've found during my year in Rotterdam, the gradual dissipation of my language is more than just a little worrying!
To combat this I've contacted more than a couple of seniors' residences this week concerning whether or not they have some Dutch residents who might have some extra time on their hands to help a girl out. Luckily it turns out that they do. After getting permission from their families and getting myself a police check, I'll be chatting away in Dutch again to some new Dutch friends here in London, ON. Hurrah!
I think it will be very interesting however to see what kind of Dutch I'll be speaking when I come back to Rotterdam next year. The people that I'll be practicing with here are my mother (who left Limburg province with her family in 1954), and these Dutch residents. My question is, will I be speaking 50s and 60s Dutch? How will that sound? This time-capsule Dutch will have me singled out more for the old fashioned words than my Canadian accent, at least. Ah well. Some practice is better than no practice at all, I guess.
All in the name of bettering my Dutch (te verbeteren mijn Nederlands)!
hey meisje,
ReplyDeleteJe kan natuurlijk ook mij gaan mailen over hoe het gaat in Canada ;)
Oh en correctie: het is 'mijn Nederlands te verbeteren' (in het nederlands plaats je eerst het onderwerp (dus mijn nederlands) en dan het werkwoord 'te verbeteren' ;)
Ik mail je vandaag even over hoe het hier nu gaat. Dat zal ik in het nederlands doen, haha
Knuffel!
what a great idea jenn! you're just full of em.
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