Millennial Fair – Introduction to Dutch

Dutch Flag

The Netherlands, Holland and the Antillen

Holland is a small country on the western shore of the European continent, it is bordered by Germany, Belgium and Luxemburg by land. In the north, Holland is bordered to Great Brittain and Sweden by sea. Holland is one of the smallest countries in Europe, but one of the most important economical powers in the west.

Holland flourished in the Golden Age (15th and 16th century A.D.), when the VOC, the united naval and merchant force, traded goods and rarities from all over the world. They went from the present day Carribeans to South Africa and Indonesia, some of them even settled in Japan!

With economic prosperity came expansion, the Dutch occupied Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Suriname, Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire and Saint Martin Islands. Continued wars and the abolishment of the slave trade turned the Dutch expansionism around. Though still largely controlled by the Dutch, all colonies with the exception of the ABC Islands regained their status as free nation.

As a result, Dutch is spoken in many countries (more than one might realize at first) and the Dutch have a wonderful reputation with other countries. Holland has always been a monarchy, presently however it is called a Constitutional Monarchy, with the Queen as the Head of the Kingdom, and the Trias Politica as governing force. With a constitution to protect its populace, Holland became a wellfare state, where the state takes care (in theory) of all its civilians, no matter what their situation is.

Holland is often characterised with old customs such a wooden clogs and milk maids, the reality however is that Holland is a far more advanced social structure than for example the United States. Because the constitution protects us from discrimination, many different cultures have found their way into Holland, and created the multi–cultural society of today. The Dutch are dilligent workers and often admired for their large grasp of languages and their sense of business and profit.

The name: The Netherlands, comes from the olden days when Holland was devided into North and South Holland. Because of the extremely low altitude of the country itself and the threat of water earned Holland the name: Nederland, or Netherland. Netherlands is obviously plural and therefore incorrect, as we are still one country. The same goes for the Netherlands Antillen, in Dutch we say: Nederlandse Antillen. The “se” at the end of Nederland indicates possession. Hence the name should actually be Dutch Antillen, because Netherlands does not indicate such possesion. Getting confused yet? The Dutch language is arguably one of the toughest to learn, that is why we take the time to help you understand it in the section below.

The Dutch Language

Dutch is one of the western germanic languages and a direct offshoot of the current German language. Dutch can be devided into many dialects, most of which are Provincial dialects, there are three main dialects: ABN (the standard Dutch grammar and spelling), Flemish (spoken mainly in the south and Belgium), and Fries (spoken in the northern province, most resembling German and Danish). We will be covering ABN in the future lessons. In case you are familiar with German, you will have a great advantage when learning Dutch.

The Dutch have many grammar rules, and the most annoying spelling rules I ever saw. Spelling Dutch words will be extremely difficult unless you have a basic understanding of the new spelling rules. One of the main problems however, for foreigners, seems to be the use of tenses and pronouns. Luckily for you, we will help you with all those things (now don′t you feel special? ^_^) Dutch is very westernized, which means that it now contains many words from other languages, mainly French, German and English. This is because of the multi–culural society and the influence that other countries had in on Holland in times of occupation (the French and Germans both occupied Holland, the Canadians and Americans liberated it).

To start off, read some of the easier lessons first and get a grasp of the fundamentals, after that, grammar lessons and spelling exercises will help you further. Click one of the links below to proceed, or go back to the language index.