How come Dutch people speak English so well?

I come across a lot of Dutch people on the train, going to and from the ports on the East coast of England. Obviously those people are a self-selecting sample, so it's hard to tell how widespread their linguistic ability is among the stay-at-home population. But they do speak English amazingly well - the only thing that gives them away as not English is the slight American accent they have.

I should think that Dutch people have a considerable head start when it comes to learning English, as our language is probably more closely related to theirs than it is to any other, to the extent that English can be said to be related to any other modern language that is.

Historically of course, they are used to having to deal with their neighbours. When you live in a place that has no natural boundaries to keep you apart from the people around you, you have no choice. They have always been great mariners, bankers and traders ... and these are all professions which require international communication. I know nothing at all about their education system.

The secret to learning a foreign language ...

firstly, a diglossic culture ... if you grow up in a place like the Alto Adige (South Tyrol) or Trieste where it is normal to hear two or more languages spoken in the street, then you will think of it as something normal;

secondly, daily exposure ... if you live in close contact with the second language - you live abroad, you work with that language, it's your partner's mother tongue - then it becomes less of an intellectual exercise and more of a habit ... it's like anything, practice makes perfect;

thirdly, mental attitudes to learning: motivation and self-belief ... if you don't have the benefits of culture and daily exposure, then it's a matter of how much you want it, it's all about passion, drive, determination, application, commitment and plain obstinacy - that's how I learned my second language.

I know some of my fellow answerers disagree with me quite strongly on this point, but I really believe that anyone who can speak one language - their mother tongue - which is to say nearly everyone, can learn to speak a second language competently if they really put their minds and resources to it.

Clearly, talent or natural predisposition also has a role to play, and that certainly has a bearing on how quickly you can learn. Some people say if you don't have "an ear for languages", you can't do it. But if that were the case, then how did they learn their first language? First language acquisition is the greatest mental challenge that most of us ever face during the course of our lives ... and yet we are all unaware of having overcome that challenge. So I think self-belief has a central role in second language acquisition.

I'm Dutch, born 'n raised in the Netherlands. As a Dutch, English is a very common language. Not that our country is the world's most visited country or my city is Netherlands's most visited city, but all the TV commercials contain English audience and English titles. Like "New, Dove for men". Then, tune into one of our radio channels, you will hear that ⅔ commercials contain English blablabla. Next part, the songs played on the radio are mostly English. So in fact we follow the American toplist too. We are so sticked to English, that my friends wonder why some people cannot speak English that well… Next, all the movies you get to see in France, Germany, Mexico, or maybe Canada (I don't know) are synchronized to their general language. Here, where Dutch is our general language, all the movies are English synchronized, just the exact same voices you hear in America are here too. We just read the subtitles below, because though we understand English still we're not native Anglophones. And indeed, what's said, is that the Dutch are bilingual. I speak English since I was 8yo. I got English at the age of 8 on school and already spoke intermediate at that time. Now I speak fluently French too. German I understand little bit, because Dutch and German have both a lot in common, since they're both German languages. And no, Dutch is not German. The main reason is that English is a mode language here. Life in the Netherlands is based on English. Even the music who little bands (I'm in a band too) create songs with English lyrics. Why not Dutch?…, because that's "not cool" according to us. Why we all speak so good English is that it's our second native language, all thank to the history of the United States of America. Think about New Amsterdam (NYC). We are so connected to the USA, because according to our history we're born to be colonists. Well, though we're not any more, we do speak a lot English.

I don't go to the cinema so many times anymore, costs 10€ for a seat here. So I download every single movie or TV series. Which makes it hard for me to find Dutch subtitles, so I try without and now 17 years old, I can follow media all in English as well.

Dutch Speak

It helps when one of your neighboring countries is English speaking. The closest English speaking country to the Netherlands is actually called England. Dutch people often are also good at speaking French and German. Belgium and Germany are neighboring countries where these languages are an official language. The same is true for English in England.

1. Some people learn English from the 8th (last) year of the primary school (basisschool), and other people learn English in the 1st class of the secondary school (middelbare school). It depends on whether the school does or doesn t teach English.

2. The most popular languages in the Netherlands are English, French and German.

3. There are no secrets about learning a language. In The Netherlands in the first class of the secondary school, you get about four hours of English per week. A student has to score at least a 6/10 for English Language and Literature for their high school finals to graduate.

We are 'forced' to learn foreign languages at school. When I went to high school I started with English, French and German and Dutch of course. And I'm happy that I can speak foreign languages, its handy wen I want to travel around.

1 Wen I was young I started at the age of 12, the first year of high school. But these days there are primary schools were they learn young children some basic English words. It seems to be better to develop language skills.

2 As I wrote I started with 3 foreign languages wen I was 12. But it depends a little what kind of school you go to after primary school. For example a technical school has other priority's, there you learn certain skills for a profession (Mechanic, carpenter etc) but there you would learn English also.

3 I think that you should speak it a lot. And specially with hearing English there are a lot of English music and television programs. On Dutch television we use mainly subtitles, so you hear a lot of English with all the accents.

Hey !

I'm Mike and i'm from the Netherlands indeed we all basicly speak langauges like english and german some speak up to 4 diffrent langauges like my dad: English, French, Spanish and German fluently im 15 (as you could see on my grammar mistakes) and i can speak english fluently only not im not so good in writing it :p and so do i speak: Dutch, English and German :)

I think the answers here speak for themselves. We simply have to learn English, as no one is going to speak Dutch. A big plus in this is that they do not synch our tv. In Germany or France most of the foreign tv shows are translated into German and French. We get the original shows. Which helps tremendously, because our accents aren't as bad as French or German, being surrounded by English tv all day.

So that really helps! And in France English isn't always compulsory. In the Netherlands it is. Everyone needs to get at least some sort of basic level of English, no matter in what level of education he or she is.

Well, I'm from Holland and I am in the first class of secondary school. In The Netherlands , teens can get bilingual education (like me). In this type of education the students get every subject in English( except for Dutch, of course). Then in the 6th grade we get our Cambridge certificate!

It is true that the Dutch are very good in foreign languages. Did you know that when Disneyland first opened lots of the people working there were Dutch because they spoke many languages.