The perceptive Dutch
I’ve just returned from a trip to The Netherlands within the last few days. I’ve always liked The Netherlands a great deal; I find the people there charming, friendly and genuine and I particularly like this time of year; the whether is somewhat chilly and consequently all of the tourist crowds have long since departed.
During my trip I rediscovered another thing that I have always liked about the Dutch, that they are extremely perceptive. Now I don’t claim that my ability in the Dutch language is brilliant, or even very good; but it is certainly a working knowledge and certainly passable. It always amuses me then, that whenever I open a conversation with a Dutchman, although I know that he can understand my efforts well enough, he detects that I am English and replies back in perfect English.
This caused me to pause for thought; we can tell the nationalities of most visitors here by their mannerisms and accents…it never occurred to me that we Brits might be just as easily identifiable abroad…even when putting on our best accents!