Één Groot Friets Alstublieft

I'm learning Dutch! And I suck at it. Strangely enough there are days when I feel as though Korean is easier, though I know considerably less about their language than Dutch. I often feel as though Korean just came easier to me than Dutch does... but I'm getting it, ever so slowly.

The title of this post, literally translated means "one large fries please", something I've had to say a few times here. The sticky bit though is that all four of these words are pronounced differently from how a Canadian might read them. Try to sound it out in your head, and when you think you've got it, read on.

It's pronounced: ayne kchroat freets al-stew-blayeft, and the kch in there is that phlegmy sound you hear common in languages like Hebrew and Arabic. Pretty brutal eh? The stickiest part I've found so far has been the combined vowel sounds. For example, the region of Amsterdam I currently live in is called Zuidoost which is not pronounced zoo-ee-doost, but rather a subtle mangling of the sound ah, oh, and oo to make a sort of Zauydohst, not to be confused with zout which is Dutch for salt.

Let me tell you, it's rough, and it makes my brain hurt, but that's part of the reason I came out here right? I like this feeling of my brain learning how to learn again, there's nothing quite like it. Dutch may not have been my first choice (or even my tenth really), but I think that at this point in my life it's more the experience than the function that matters.

And in unrelated news, I thought that I might share this lovely quote I found the other day with you all: