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a lot of schools mostly have basic english and german. at my middle school or mbo. i was like: can i skip english... cuz seriously. i learned most from gaming tons of ps1/2 games :D and then my bestie still. chimed in with me to sir. this is BORING :D we still had to take the exams. but we switched out english classes for more computer time. i wanted to learn coding. and he used the computer to learn french.
We had the exact opposite. We are Dutch and our car broke down on a Saturday afternoon in Germany (Offenbach), all repair shops were closed from that afternoon until Monday morning. Our insurance payed for a super luxury hotel, our food and our transport in Germany. Best free holiday of our lives 🤣
@@aeiouaeiou100 Then things must have chanhed enormously in the last 25 years :-) Because in our international school at the time the Dutch students always spoke English...with each other. Besides that I have never met a Dutch person who is unable to hold a conversation in English.
@@bolchong-lou4084 Conversation; yes we more or less could have a conversation in English in a very superficial way, since no matter how you look at it: English is a foreign language to us Dutchies; just like German is or Spanish is... as they probably are to you as well, right? Exceptions obviously do exist of Dutchies whom are actually capable to have more than a superficial conversation in English, but again that would be the very exceptions. English it not even close to our mother language; Dutch is. Because in normal daily life the convincing vast majority of the Dutch population does not use English at all, exceptions of course are here also available. So when does a Dutchy sporadically use English at all then..? Well in case we meet a foreigner or when we go abroad for the holidays. In general....that's it. Now how often do you speak a to you foreign language..? Your experiences may just as well have been with the very few people who came from wealthy educated families who were able to put their children at a costly International school (what, $30.000,- a year I guess?) and so your vision towards English being spoken by Dutchies may be slightly misty, since these people do not represent the Convincing Vast Majority of the Dutch population.
@@dutchyjhome According to the search results, between 90% and 93% of the Dutch population is fluent in English and able to hold a full conversation in the language. The Netherlands is ranked as the top non-native English speaking country in the world, overtaking Sweden in the latest EF English Proficiency Index. The high level of English proficiency in the Netherlands is attributed to factors such as the lack of dubbing of foreign media, the country's global business mindset, and the similarities between the Dutch and English languages as Germanic languages.
I was sent to work in 1999 for 4 years by my employer British Telecom to their Dutch subsidiary, Telfort. I was offered Dutch classes, but I was working shifts. I never went, I would be either working or asleep and my Dutch colleagues told me not to bother. Everyone spoke great English all the staff from managers to fault reception. In my 4 years I only met one elderly lady that couldn’t understand English. The Dutch could understand my jokes and had no trouble with my S Wales accent. Mu colleagues just wanted my English because a lot of technical terms don't translate.
The Dutch have a great sense of humor! Also, my guitar teacher (the late and great Paul Chapman) was from Wales! He also had a great sense of humor. 😎 Glad you had a good experience!
I knew about the English proficiency, being Dutch, but I am really glad that people were nice and kind to you. Language barriers are easier to deal with than unkind or indifferent people. I also think the garage is bad, I have never ever (and I've always lived in the Netherlands and had cars for almost 40 years) had to wait a month for a repair. Not even a week I think. But our car broke down the first day of our holiday in France and our insurance company (ANWB, Dutch ADAC) was rather incompetent. It ended up with us not getting any news about our car for >2 weeks, not getting a repair, changes in rental cars, our car being repatriated to the Netherlands but severely damaged during transport.... a total clusterfuck. Back in the Netherlands our garage had it fixed in 3 days.... aarghhh...
That sounds like a nightmare! Thanks for the info! We are still waiting on them to bring the car to Germany. How long will it take? We still have no idea.
@@AdventureTimewithRobert I, as a Dane got hit from behind on the Autobahn (drunk driver - Police) and got a rental car to drive home to Denmark. I could deliver it back at our local Rescue Station, taking the car back to Germany. My car was transported to Denmark and then repaired in my local shop.
Hmm, some educated guesswork. The gas station is in Vleuten, I live within 10 minutes from Vleuten just forget to brake at kasteel de haar. The hotel is in Utrecht zuid (did not look that up but recognized the bus stop nearby the meubelboulevard), the directions said take the sneltram("what is this") to Neuwegein. That would be the light rail behind the bus stop. That Opel dealer, there is a corner with car garages in nieuwegein. ;) ps. yes, the brand dealerships workplaces are booked full. (that reminds me that I have to book a spot for the upconing apk for my car)
"it can be done". Bro, my 6 year old is already watching Paw Patrol and "Life on our Planet" in English and I have been gaming/watching movies in English from 12 or so. I think a lot of millenials read Harry Potter in English. We grow with English as a 2nd language 😊
i learned it mostly from games and then had to translate quite some games for friends -.- cuz quite some games never got translated to dutch. so it was like looking at russian or japanese for them. most friends at school paid me with marbles pokemon cards etc as a thank you.
Going to a brand dealership always sucks in the Netherlands. It's always at least 2 months of waiting time. Really sucks. Better go to a more obscure garage. They have more time and are way cheaper as well.
If you speak any Germanic language, like Scandinavian, English or German, Afrikaans, Yiddish, Frisian, Low-Saxon, you will have no problems communicating in the Netherlands, there is a lot of overlap between the languages.
I am very surprised about the month waiting, never heard that one before. Very happy to see my hometown treated you right, I hope you used some time to look around. Both English and German should work fine overhere but English will work better in most cases. Maybe we see you back one day to visit Utrecht for real without the bad luck reasons. :)
It's not only in the Netherlands, it's the same in Belgium. A planned appointment takes about 2 to 3 weeks depending on the period but an unplanned one such as this one is "indefinite". I assume this is still a consequence of Covid where they reduced their staff and now are either unable or unwilling to rehire the necessary people.
Now you know and it’s definitely worth coming back to our beautiful country. Indeed most speak English, and plenty also speak German. So you should have little to no issues.
Estimates for English proficiency in the Netherlands range from about 90-93%. The Netherlands has taken the number one spot in the world ranking of non-native speaking nations for English language skills for many years, with Amsterdam leading the list of cities worldwide. Levels of fluency vary among the native population, and fluency also varies geographically. But in general, us Dutch speak great English. So, have a nice stay over here, not speaking our language is no problem at all... ;-)
Nice to see my hometown of nieuwegein in the video, and well at least you broke down in the best place of the netherlands, Utrecht is beautifull, despite it all I hope you liked the small mini vacation, and hope the car is ok. and yeah communicating in english in the netherlands shouldn't be that much of a problem.
This weekend we are going to the castle. We have been looking forward to seeing it. I just hope that this time the car doesn't break down again 🤞🏼. Maybe some advice on where to go to eat?
@@des_83 bet the car will hold out this time, asking me for food advise is not the best idea, i am a great meatlover, and we have the best grillestaurant here in Nieuwegein, and if you like spareribs it's all you can eat :) it's called jacks grillhouse so if you like that kind of food, it's a real good one to try. but Utrecht itself has all kind of great restaurants. Have a great time, and have fun at the castle
Ik ben vrachtwagen chauffeur en kwam wel eens in het Spaanse binnenland. En daar kun je het wel vergeten hoor ! Ja, langs de kust waar veel toeristen komen daar gaat het wel !
You meant to say upwards of Vlaanderen in Belgium , the Wallonians only speak French ( with exceptions of course ) , they don't even speak their other national language , Dutch. Flemmish people mostly speak Dutch( Flemmish ) , French and English, it's for agreat deal the reason the Flemmish have become the richer people of Belgium , they are far better equipped for the trade business.
This weekend we are going to the castle. We have been looking forward to seeing it. I just hope that this time the car doesn't break down again 🤞🏼. Maybe some advice on where to go to eat?
AWESOME! Really enjoyed it but so sorry things aren’t working out the way that you planned. Sometimes, things happen for a reason. Keep a positive mindset…❤️🙏😘
The Dutch are taught English in school from an early age and, for decades, have had at least some of the main UK television channels on cable for decades, so are usually fluent. They often speak several other languages well, in addition to Dutch (and English), although possibly less so in the case of the elderly.
Sometimes I feel a little uncomfortable when I don't speak the language, but I try as much as possible. So far I can speak German (going to start working on Spanish soon) and I think Dutch is on the list now! The people were so nice regardless. Glad to hear you haven't had any issues! 😎
@@AdventureTimewithRobert ah, well I'd say don't worry here in The Netherlands. We hear English (British and U.S.) here alot on TV, radio and internet so we are generally very much used to hearing English. Not that everyone understands it all but it's not strange or anything like that at all. Feel welcome and enjoy my friend ;)
@@AdventureTimewithRobert forgot to mention: I myself communicate in English whenever I go abroad even in Germany. I'm going to Turkey in a couple of months, I hope they speak English there a bit. Its also common for Europeans to speak English when abroad in eachothers countries unless we have the same mother language.
awe.. so sad to see the car at just what the nice ANWB guy didnt want it to end up, a shout out for help on social media gets a long way sometime, nice vid
we once had a customer at my job. and they nearly left cuz no one spoke english. rushed over and helped em :D my boss was pretty happy. but also weirded out no one on our team spoke english. only dutch french and german.
10:04 as u probably have the same thing when u are in germany, u just know when u see someone thats about to try and interact with you that the person is not from where you are, so in our case, we often open in english because we knew/felt it already. or when we see u comming while talking to you're wife for example, and we dont hear dutch, we know. so we open in english:)
I'm Dutch and broke down in southern Germany (some 30km from the Austrian border). There was a German man at the stop where we stranded that called the ADAC for us. The man from the ADAC was very kind and drove us to a Toyota dealer and managed most things there and got us booked into a hotel as well. The entire experience was pretty amazing (aside from the incredible stress 😅). But I did learn that southern German is nothing like standard German and I learned that close to no-one in the south speaks English. So that was definitely challenging. If you can speak English you should be able to get most things done in the Netherlands :)
My prediction is that within 20 years English will become the fourth official language in the European part of the Netherlands, after Dutch, Frisian and sign language (!). Within a few years 100% of the Dutch will speak English.
You don't look Dutch at all, you wouldn't have been speaking Dutch with your wife, and most foreigners don't speak Dutch, so why bother trying to speak Dutch to you?
I just watched your vid and you’d be surprised if you would visit South Limburg. Over here we speak German and English fluently. Mostly due to being close to the german border and the vast majority of American soldiers living nearby. Interested in getting a tour of this area? Let me know if
Your car went to a opel garage, those have more waiting time and are more expensive. Next time go to a local garage if the insurrence agrees. You would have been able to go to castle Haar with public transportation.
It wasn't planned and I was just trying to make some lemonade out of a bunch of lemons. The people were really cool and understanding. We're definitely going back (our car is still in the workshop there as I type this) and it's on the list of languages to learn!
@@AdventureTimewithRobert it is more like most Dutch people would help you and do that for you anyway. So in the hotel I am very sure they would help too. Fyi I would help and I can't imagine anybody I know not helping you with that phonecall. But be prepared, as soon as we get a human on the line we will complain that they don't have multiple languages as an option in their menu system. Before handing you the phone 😎
people at a hotel.reception are trained to and love the job because off helping people and give them information. I am most certain they will.help.you out! You can ask them anything and they will help.you.
Yikes, having a broken down car somewhere in Netherlands. And yes, the hospitality of Dutch people is great which compensate the unlucky moment a lot, right? The most people (> 95%) understand and speak English, so that makes the life in Netherlands a lot easier. Anyway, please don't feel bad about our country and when possible, visit us again.
only two things i want to know is, did you get your car back and did it cost a lot ( inc renting a other car ) i don't know if you could have called your own opel dealer in germany...
fun fact we dutch hate it when people talk german to us, speak english because we are actually understanding that better. german is annoying and hard to speak!!
Given that everyone has English as a mandatory secondary language in secondary school they will be able to speak it to some degree, at least enough to have a functional discussion about basic things like getting a car fixed etc.
Not sure why you tried to speak German. Most Dutch people do understand English a minority speaks German however it sounds familiair for foreigners. Small warning I hope you have a good insurance because the garage (you call it a workshop) can charge the whole time as a kind of parking. take care.
"Stallingskosten" ... in Belgium. Though they usually don't charge these when your car is waiting for a repair as it's obvious that in many cases the car can't drive anywhere.
If you meet someone in the Netherlands that doesn't speak English.. 90% chance it's a tourist. :D And you are asking for trouble when driving an Opel Meriva. ;D
Like you said "Go with the flow". "Travelling in the Netherlands WITHOUT SPEAKING DUTCH" of course was not a question, but a statement of fact. But mainly if you are English-speaking. And if you are German-speaking you will have a hard time, unless you make clear to be from Switzerland.
"And if you are German-speaking you will have a hard time, unless you make clear to be from Switzerland." Just about any country besides Germany and Austria. Most Danes speak quite good German as well (and as Dutch tourist in Denmark first make clear you are from the Netherlands, not from Germany).
I think we should all help eachother out. Or atleast try. On the first place because of decent manners but also because it's a win-win situation is kinda how I see it aswell. If you are able to understand and help someone get directions to lets say a shop or restaurant or w/e they'll probably spend a few dimes there... Which benefits the economy a bit, and the traveling foreigners are happy and more likely to visit again. Also something to be proud of to be tourist friendly. I do get why people who live in touristic hot-spots don't like tourist anymore but thats a diffrent story haha
Alot of us speak engelsh and german in specialy in the eastern part of the country i live in groningen and we understand german beceus in delicact german and groningen are both germanic launges
Hey guys, nice video! I do feel the need though to nuance your statement about the English language spoken here in The Netherlands by us Dutchies; To foreigners we will try to speak the best English we know. English however to us is like Italian or German: it really is a foreign language in which we did NOT grow up. The first 11 years of our lives the only language we are exposed to in daily life is Dutch. At the age of 11 the foreign languages are for the very first time being introduced to us in a very basic level. Later on we will be exposed to foreign languages as long as we go to school. At school however one can opt to drop foreign languages and gain different subject to study. English however as a foreign language will be obligated for as long as possible. Most of us, even after studying English, will barely ever use English at all and so all gained skills in English will slowly but surely vanish like snow does in the bright sunlight. So do not expect to have a deep conversation in English with any given Dutchy, maybe if you're lucky a Dutchy will be able to give you some directions, when you're looking for something. And when you're really lucky you'll meet a Dutchy who's obviously been practicing a lot more in English, and so a brief conversation will be possible. When you're here to live though it will be a necessity to learn Dutch all the way, since to strangers we will talk chitchat level English but to friends we will talk Dutch and Dutch only, just like in Germany, or any other non-native-English speaking country you have no choice but to learn the local language.
Thanks for the detailed comment! As the saying goes: "When in Rome". When I moved to Germany I made sure I could speak the language. It's always important for me to try and speak as much of the language as I can when visiting a country, but my brain doesn't have much room for all of them lol. Next on my list is learning Spanish and if I can get that at a good level I actually want to start learning Dutch as well! It seems almost as if it's this interesting mix between English and German, but with Dutch wild cards thrown in the mix!
Age 11? I think I was like... 8? When I was introduced to the English language & had classes for it. That said, I did have special education (I'm physically handicapped), so that might make a significant difference.
Me? English, German, and working on Spanish. Desi speaks German, Spanish, and is working on her English. We've added Dutch to the list of things to learn. 😎
As an English speaker...you DO SPEAK AT LEAST PART of the language, learn to use what you already know, but don't know you know... Learn the history of English, how sounds change... it is NOT difficult.
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a lot of schools mostly have basic english and german. at my middle school or mbo. i was like: can i skip english... cuz seriously. i learned most from gaming tons of ps1/2 games :D
and then my bestie still. chimed in with me to sir. this is BORING :D
we still had to take the exams. but we switched out english classes for more computer time. i wanted to learn coding. and he used the computer to learn french.
@@miciso666 that's awesome! Did he say "Sir, this is boring" in English? That would have been golden 👌🏼😅
Fun fact: The Netherlands actually has the highest proficiency of non-native English speakers in the world.
Another fun fact: there are shops in the Netherlands that sell boxers and t-shirts.
We had the exact opposite. We are Dutch and our car broke down on a Saturday afternoon in Germany (Offenbach), all repair shops were closed from that afternoon until Monday morning. Our insurance payed for a super luxury hotel, our food and our transport in Germany. Best free holiday of our lives 🤣
Are you in our mirror dimension or something? 😅
Over 90% of the Dutch population can converse with ease in English...
@@aeiouaeiou100 Then things must have chanhed enormously in the last 25 years :-) Because in our international school at the time the Dutch students always spoke English...with each other. Besides that I have never met a Dutch person who is unable to hold a conversation in English.
@@bolchong-lou4084 Conversation; yes we more or less could have a conversation in English in a very superficial way, since no matter how you look at it: English is a foreign language to us Dutchies; just like German is or Spanish is... as they probably are to you as well, right? Exceptions obviously do exist of Dutchies whom are actually capable to have more than a superficial conversation in English, but again that would be the very exceptions. English it not even close to our mother language; Dutch is.
Because in normal daily life the convincing vast majority of the Dutch population does not use English at all, exceptions of course are here also available. So when does a Dutchy sporadically use English at all then..? Well in case we meet a foreigner or when we go abroad for the holidays. In general....that's it. Now how often do you speak a to you foreign language..? Your experiences may just as well have been with the very few people who came from wealthy educated families who were able to put their children at a costly International school (what, $30.000,- a year I guess?) and so your vision towards English being spoken by Dutchies may be slightly misty, since these people do not represent the Convincing Vast Majority of the Dutch population.
@@dutchyjhome According to the search results, between 90% and 93% of the Dutch population is fluent in English and able to hold a full conversation in the language.
The Netherlands is ranked as the top non-native English speaking country in the world, overtaking Sweden in the latest EF English Proficiency Index.
The high level of English proficiency in the Netherlands is attributed to factors such as the lack of dubbing of foreign media, the country's global business mindset, and the similarities between the Dutch and English languages as Germanic languages.
@@bolchong-lou4084 I don't know any Dutch people who can't hold a conversation in English. And it's longer than 25 years ago that I went to school 😅
Hmm I'm not sure of that percentage and with ease. (Dutchman here). But I think its def above average if you talk about central Europe.
I was sent to work in 1999 for 4 years by my employer British Telecom to their Dutch subsidiary, Telfort. I was offered Dutch classes, but I was working shifts. I never went, I would be either working or asleep and my Dutch colleagues told me not to bother. Everyone spoke great English all the staff from managers to fault reception. In my 4 years I only met one elderly lady that couldn’t understand English. The Dutch could understand my jokes and had no trouble with my S Wales accent. Mu colleagues just wanted my English because a lot of technical terms don't translate.
The Dutch have a great sense of humor! Also, my guitar teacher (the late and great Paul Chapman) was from Wales! He also had a great sense of humor. 😎 Glad you had a good experience!
That was funny to watch, you got picked up by one of my coworkers with the tow truck. And Utrecht is a very nice city so not too bad after all
Your coworker was really fun to speak with tell him I said hi!
I knew about the English proficiency, being Dutch, but I am really glad that people were nice and kind to you. Language barriers are easier to deal with than unkind or indifferent people. I also think the garage is bad, I have never ever (and I've always lived in the Netherlands and had cars for almost 40 years) had to wait a month for a repair. Not even a week I think. But our car broke down the first day of our holiday in France and our insurance company (ANWB, Dutch ADAC) was rather incompetent. It ended up with us not getting any news about our car for >2 weeks, not getting a repair, changes in rental cars, our car being repatriated to the Netherlands but severely damaged during transport.... a total clusterfuck. Back in the Netherlands our garage had it fixed in 3 days.... aarghhh...
That sounds like a nightmare! Thanks for the info! We are still waiting on them to bring the car to Germany.
How long will it take? We still have no idea.
@@AdventureTimewithRobert I, as a Dane got hit from behind on the Autobahn (drunk driver - Police) and got a rental car to drive home to Denmark. I could deliver it back at our local Rescue Station, taking the car back to Germany. My car was transported to Denmark and then repaired in my local shop.
I(dutch) had to plan my two year/30k maintenance interval two months in advance to get a spot at a brand garage. ( I even bought the car there)
@@nielsdebakker3283 Wow, really? Where do you live? I live in Haarlem and I really never had to wait that long
Hmm, some educated guesswork. The gas station is in Vleuten, I live within 10 minutes from Vleuten just forget to brake at kasteel de haar. The hotel is in Utrecht zuid (did not look that up but recognized the bus stop nearby the meubelboulevard), the directions said take the sneltram("what is this") to Neuwegein. That would be the light rail behind the bus stop. That Opel dealer, there is a corner with car garages in nieuwegein. ;)
ps. yes, the brand dealerships workplaces are booked full. (that reminds me that I have to book a spot for the upconing apk for my car)
"it can be done". Bro, my 6 year old is already watching Paw Patrol and "Life on our Planet" in English and I have been gaming/watching movies in English from 12 or so. I think a lot of millenials read Harry Potter in English. We grow with English as a 2nd language 😊
Ja ben je goed gekoloniseerd door die kut Engelse ? Waarom spreekt er dan bijna niemand Nederlands op dat kut eiland .
i learned it mostly from games and then had to translate quite some games for friends -.-
cuz quite some games never got translated to dutch. so it was like looking at russian or japanese for them.
most friends at school paid me with marbles pokemon cards etc as a thank you.
Going to a brand dealership always sucks in the Netherlands. It's always at least 2 months of waiting time. Really sucks. Better go to a more obscure garage. They have more time and are way cheaper as well.
I am Dutch , but I never had a free ride on a bus or got a free cup of coffee.. I need to talk English to 😂 Great video!
😂
A month waiting time to repair the car? Crappy Opel garage. Smaller garages are usually faster and cheaper.
95% of dutch people speak english
I think even more… Even our prime-minister does…
99.95 % speak ,at minimum, some kind of English.
We start getting taught english in primary school and it’s a mandetory subject till you graduate highschool. I’d hope we do lol
And about 85% overestimate their proficiency in English.
@@apveeningand some of them have no sense of humor, nor do they have a comment that could be interpreted as friendly or positive. Right?
If you speak any Germanic language, like Scandinavian, English or German, Afrikaans, Yiddish, Frisian, Low-Saxon, you will have no problems communicating in the Netherlands, there is a lot of overlap between the languages.
As a Dane I can read a Flemish text and understand most. I have walked much in mostly Belgium.
I am very surprised about the month waiting, never heard that one before. Very happy to see my hometown treated you right, I hope you used some time to look around. Both English and German should work fine overhere but English will work better in most cases. Maybe we see you back one day to visit Utrecht for real without the bad luck reasons. :)
there is a carmechanic short but they dont want to pay good
It's not only in the Netherlands, it's the same in Belgium. A planned appointment takes about 2 to 3 weeks depending on the period but an unplanned one such as this one is "indefinite".
I assume this is still a consequence of Covid where they reduced their staff and now are either unable or unwilling to rehire the necessary people.
Now you know and it’s definitely worth coming back to our beautiful country. Indeed most speak English, and plenty also speak German. So you should have little to no issues.
Estimates for English proficiency in the Netherlands range from about 90-93%. The Netherlands has taken the number one spot in the world ranking of non-native speaking nations for English language skills for many years, with Amsterdam leading the list of cities worldwide. Levels of fluency vary among the native population, and fluency also varies geographically. But in general, us Dutch speak great English. So, have a nice stay over here, not speaking our language is no problem at all... ;-)
And on top of that there's a lot of (older) people who speak German as well.
Nice to see my hometown of nieuwegein in the video, and well at least you broke down in the best place of the netherlands, Utrecht is beautifull, despite it all I hope you liked the small mini vacation, and hope the car is ok.
and yeah communicating in english in the netherlands shouldn't be that much of a problem.
This weekend we are going to the castle. We have been looking forward to seeing it. I just hope that this time the car doesn't break down again 🤞🏼. Maybe some advice on where to go to eat?
@@des_83 bet the car will hold out this time, asking me for food advise is not the best idea, i am a great meatlover, and we have the best grillestaurant here in Nieuwegein, and if you like spareribs it's all you can eat :) it's called jacks grillhouse so if you like that kind of food, it's a real good one to try.
but Utrecht itself has all kind of great restaurants. Have a great time, and have fun at the castle
Maybe it is important to note that the upper part of Europe (Belgium and upwards) generally everybody speaks English, but I am not sure for the rest.
Only Vlaanderen, walonië is horrible ( French attitude 🤮)
Ik ben vrachtwagen chauffeur en kwam wel eens in het Spaanse binnenland. En daar kun je het wel vergeten hoor ! Ja, langs de kust waar veel toeristen komen daar gaat het wel !
@Harrypjotter7 Being from Wallonia I agree.
You meant to say upwards of Vlaanderen in Belgium , the Wallonians only speak French ( with exceptions of course ) , they don't even speak their other national language , Dutch. Flemmish people mostly speak Dutch( Flemmish ) , French and English, it's for agreat deal the reason the Flemmish have become the richer people of Belgium , they are far better equipped for the trade business.
I am sorry for you missing Castle De Haar ☹️Greetings from The Netherlands 🌷
Thank you so much! We're definitely coming back and we're definitely visiting castle Haar!
This weekend we are going to the castle. We have been looking forward to seeing it. I just hope that this time the car doesn't break down again 🤞🏼. Maybe some advice on where to go to eat?
ADAC is German where ANWB is the Dutch equivalent.
I found car workshops are super busy in the Netherlands right now. It’s deferred a thing
AWESOME! Really enjoyed it but so sorry things aren’t working out the way that you planned. Sometimes, things happen for a reason. Keep a positive mindset…❤️🙏😘
So true!
The Dutch are taught English in school from an early age and, for decades, have had at least some of the main UK television channels on cable for decades, so are usually fluent. They often speak several other languages well, in addition to Dutch (and English), although possibly less so in the case of the elderly.
Also our English tv programs/series/movies are subtitled and are not dubbed. So this way we learn English as well.
Expat from India, not once have I had issue with language 🤞
Sometimes I feel a little uncomfortable when I don't speak the language, but I try as much as possible.
So far I can speak German (going to start working on Spanish soon) and I think Dutch is on the list now!
The people were so nice regardless. Glad to hear you haven't had any issues! 😎
@@AdventureTimewithRobert ah, well I'd say don't worry here in The Netherlands. We hear English (British and U.S.) here alot on TV, radio and internet so we are generally very much used to hearing English. Not that everyone understands it all but it's not strange or anything like that at all. Feel welcome and enjoy my friend ;)
@@AdventureTimewithRobert forgot to mention: I myself communicate in English whenever I go abroad even in Germany. I'm going to Turkey in a couple of months, I hope they speak English there a bit. Its also common for Europeans to speak English when abroad in eachothers countries unless we have the same mother language.
@@lillekenatnek195 that's awesome, and Turkey is definitely on our list as well. I hope you have fun and stay safe!
@@AdventureTimewithRobert German is a good second choice as a foreign language to communicate in the Netherlands.
awe.. so sad to see the car at just what the nice ANWB guy didnt want it to end up, a shout out for help on social media gets a long way sometime, nice vid
we once had a customer at my job. and they nearly left cuz no one spoke english. rushed over and helped em :D
my boss was pretty happy. but also weirded out no one on our team spoke english. only dutch french and german.
You were lucky to get stranded in Utrecht, so much more interesting and better than Kasteel De Haar 😊
on the phone you where the first waiting, probaly few moment later you had a real person on the phone
10:04 as u probably have the same thing when u are in germany, u just know when u see someone thats about to try and interact with you that the person is not from where you are, so in our case, we often open in english because we knew/felt it already. or when we see u comming while talking to you're wife for example, and we dont hear dutch, we know. so we open in english:)
Imagine: as a local I have to deal with the Dutch whole year round!
I'm Dutch and broke down in southern Germany (some 30km from the Austrian border). There was a German man at the stop where we stranded that called the ADAC for us. The man from the ADAC was very kind and drove us to a Toyota dealer and managed most things there and got us booked into a hotel as well. The entire experience was pretty amazing (aside from the incredible stress 😅). But I did learn that southern German is nothing like standard German and I learned that close to no-one in the south speaks English. So that was definitely challenging. If you can speak English you should be able to get most things done in the Netherlands :)
My prediction is that within 20 years English will become the fourth official language in the European part of the Netherlands, after Dutch, Frisian and sign language (!). Within a few years 100% of the Dutch will speak English.
You don't look Dutch at all, you wouldn't have been speaking Dutch with your wife, and most foreigners don't speak Dutch, so why bother trying to speak Dutch to you?
I just watched your vid and you’d be surprised if you would visit South Limburg. Over here we speak German and English fluently. Mostly due to being close to the german border and the vast majority of American soldiers living nearby. Interested in getting a tour of this area? Let me know if
the netherlands has the highest speaking english literacy in the world from non native english speaking countries
Super mini aventura 👍😂😊
Yes, and the car is still on its own adventure 😅
😢Abenteuer pur!
Your car went to a opel garage, those have more waiting time and are more expensive. Next time go to a local garage if the insurrence agrees. You would have been able to go to castle Haar with public transportation.
Lmao I approve of the title of this video, and judging by the comments, well played!
It wasn't planned and I was just trying to make some lemonade out of a bunch of lemons. The people were really cool and understanding. We're definitely going back (our car is still in the workshop there as I type this) and it's on the list of languages to learn!
Ask at the reception in the hotel to call for you untill they have a human on the line.
We never thought of that! Is that a service the hotels offer? 🤔
@@AdventureTimewithRobert it is more like most Dutch people would help you and do that for you anyway. So in the hotel I am very sure they would help too.
Fyi I would help and I can't imagine anybody I know not helping you with that phonecall.
But be prepared, as soon as we get a human on the line we will complain that they don't have multiple languages as an option in their menu system. Before handing you the phone 😎
people at a hotel.reception are trained to and love the job because off helping people and give them information. I am most certain they will.help.you out! You can ask them anything and they will help.you.
@@cynthiamolenaar770 and if they can't help you they will help you find someone that can help you. 😁
Yikes, having a broken down car somewhere in Netherlands. And yes, the hospitality of Dutch people is great which compensate the unlucky moment a lot, right? The most people (> 95%) understand and speak English, so that makes the life in Netherlands a lot easier. Anyway, please don't feel bad about our country and when possible, visit us again.
only two things i want to know is, did you get your car back and did it cost a lot ( inc renting a other car ) i don't know if you could have called your own opel dealer in germany...
fun fact we dutch hate it when people talk german to us, speak english because we are actually understanding that better. german is annoying and hard to speak!!
Given that everyone has English as a mandatory secondary language in secondary school they will be able to speak it to some degree, at least enough to have a functional discussion about basic things like getting a car fixed etc.
Not sure why you tried to speak German. Most Dutch people do understand English a minority speaks German however it sounds familiair for foreigners.
Small warning I hope you have a good insurance because the garage (you call it a workshop) can charge the whole time as a kind of parking. take care.
"Stallingskosten" ... in Belgium. Though they usually don't charge these when your car is waiting for a repair as it's obvious that in many cases the car can't drive anywhere.
Castle haar is amazing i did visite 20 april cosplay event elfia so beautiful when the sun shine im dutch 😊🇳🇱
This weekend we are going to the castle. We have been looking forward to seeing it. I just hope that this time the car doesn't break down again 🤞🏼.
If you meet someone in the Netherlands that doesn't speak English.. 90% chance it's a tourist. :D And you are asking for trouble when driving an Opel Meriva. ;D
😂 Thanks for the heads up!
My dad doesn't recommend Opel at all (he worked at an Opel dealer). Those things rust away under your ass! 😂
Like you said "Go with the flow".
"Travelling in the Netherlands WITHOUT SPEAKING DUTCH" of course was not a question, but a statement of fact.
But mainly if you are English-speaking.
And if you are German-speaking you will have a hard time, unless you make clear to be from Switzerland.
"And if you are German-speaking you will have a hard time, unless you make clear to be from Switzerland."
Just about any country besides Germany and Austria. Most Danes speak quite good German as well (and as Dutch tourist in Denmark first make clear you are from the Netherlands, not from Germany).
As long as you speak English or German you’ll be fine
You are not stuck or alone the dutch will allways help you out
....and the water in your tub is DRINKING WATER.....
BEFORE you take a bath though ...
Not hard we alll speak english even kids just some old ppl dont.
We just spent a week in the Netherlands the Dutch speak excellent English. They were some of the friendliest people we have met on our travels.
I think we should all help eachother out. Or atleast try. On the first place because of decent manners but also because it's a win-win situation is kinda how I see it aswell. If you are able to understand and help someone get directions to lets say a shop or restaurant or w/e they'll probably spend a few dimes there... Which benefits the economy a bit, and the traveling foreigners are happy and more likely to visit again. Also something to be proud of to be tourist friendly. I do get why people who live in touristic hot-spots don't like tourist anymore but thats a diffrent story haha
Alot of us speak engelsh and german in specialy in the eastern part of the country i live in groningen and we understand german beceus in delicact german and groningen are both germanic launges
Okay I subscribed 😉👍🇳🇱🇳🇱🇳🇱🇳🇱
I only speak Dutch, the rest I fake :)
every Dutch men speaks English.
People from Limburg do it all the time.
We speak english, dont worry🥳
Should not be to hard most speak English
Unless you only speak Afghan or the like, no problem?
Learn english.
I dare to say, some speak better proper English than native speakers.
You're not wrong!
Hey guys, nice video! I do feel the need though to nuance your statement about the English language spoken here in The Netherlands by us Dutchies; To foreigners we will try to speak the best English we know. English however to us is like Italian or German: it really is a foreign language in which we did NOT grow up. The first 11 years of our lives the only language we are exposed to in daily life is Dutch. At the age of 11 the foreign languages are for the very first time being introduced to us in a very basic level. Later on we will be exposed to foreign languages as long as we go to school. At school however one can opt to drop foreign languages and gain different subject to study. English however as a foreign language will be obligated for as long as possible. Most of us, even after studying English, will barely ever use English at all and so all gained skills in English will slowly but surely vanish like snow does in the bright sunlight. So do not expect to have a deep conversation in English with any given Dutchy, maybe if you're lucky a Dutchy will be able to give you some directions, when you're looking for something. And when you're really lucky you'll meet a Dutchy who's obviously been practicing a lot more in English, and so a brief conversation will be possible. When you're here to live though it will be a necessity to learn Dutch all the way, since to strangers we will talk chitchat level English but to friends we will talk Dutch and Dutch only, just like in Germany, or any other non-native-English speaking country you have no choice but to learn the local language.
Thanks for the detailed comment! As the saying goes: "When in Rome". When I moved to Germany I made sure I could speak the language.
It's always important for me to try and speak as much of the language as I can when visiting a country, but my brain doesn't have much room for all of them lol.
Next on my list is learning Spanish and if I can get that at a good level I actually want to start learning Dutch as well! It seems almost as if it's this interesting mix between English and German, but with Dutch wild cards thrown in the mix!
Age 11? I think I was like... 8? When I was introduced to the English language & had classes for it.
That said, I did have special education (I'm physically handicapped), so that might make a significant difference.
0:10 yeah..that's the engine :D
What languages do speak , traveling the way you do ?😂
Me? English, German, and working on Spanish. Desi speaks German, Spanish, and is working on her English.
We've added Dutch to the list of things to learn. 😎
@@AdventureTimewithRobert woow
As an English speaker...you DO SPEAK AT LEAST PART of the language, learn to use what you already know, but don't know you know... Learn the history of English, how sounds change... it is NOT difficult.
Come on wait = wacht same word... don''t you know Grimms laws????? Don't play dumb...
Lara 👋🏻😍 hoi
UUUU
boring