D is for Dutch

[muckefuck]

Nederlands-Engels woordenboek Visser, G.J. Utrecht/Antwerpen : Het Spectrum, 1970

Can't say where I got this, but--judging from the pencilled price on the half-title page, I only paid $7 for it together with the English-Dutch companion volume. I don't even know how long I've had it, though I think it's at least five years.

When I was abroad, I was delighted to discover that my knowledge of German included as a free bonus a basic ability to read Dutch. (Note, though, that the ability to speak Dutch--or understand it spoken--is another matter entirely.) I remember in particular picking up a copy of De Telegraaf in Florence and making it through a feature article on the Pink Tank of Prague with few problems. (Knowing what a pack rat I am, I probably still have that article somewhere.)

But, there hasn't been much call for me to read Dutch since then--Afrikaans would be more useful where I work--and so the dictionary has lain largely untouched in the Germanic section of my bookcase. It joined an equally decrepit edition of Teach yourself Dutch (or perhaps was joined by it; as I admit, the chronology is hazy in my mind) and sat patiently watching the German reference works jumping on and off the shelves as I worked my way through one Teutonic author after another.

Probably just as well, since when a friend of mine from the Netherlands came for a visit some years back, he had a look at it, remarked with incredulity on the equivalents given for some words, and pronounced it "old-fashioned". Still, it's better than nothing and has the advantage of being scarcely larger and more bulky than my newly-bought copy of the De voeten van Abdullah, so when I go a-commuting, I can slip both into my bag and easily balance the one on my lap while consulting the other.

Time hasn't been kind to the cheap binding, however, which has split into three unconnected sections. As long as each text block remains intact and individual pages don't begin coming loose, it will still serve its purpose, but I'm already on the lookout for a replacement. Does Dutch mean enough for me to actually buy new? We shall simply have to wait and see.

Comments

[richardthinks.livejournal.com]

the ability to speak Dutch--or understand it spoken--is another matter entirely.

Oh god yes. I'm becoming slowly aware that when I try to speak Dutch I manage to sound recognisably Ehglish and German, and most of all like a textbook, while about half the people I meet sound like they're gargling gravel. Every so often I have to go back to the books to console myself that, in fact, I do know some Dutch after all.

BTW: the new Taal Totaal course materials from Intertaal have Real Native Speakers and should have prepared me for the rapidity and apparent garbling of what I hear, but I was all focused on 17th c orthography, so I didn't pay enough attention. That'll learn me.

http://www.europeanbookshop.com/languagebooks/series/DUT/TATO
Short review: very expensive, good listening materials; otherwise quite basic, untheoretical, annoyingly fixated on renting an apartment/buying stuff at the grocer's, but without sufficient vocabulary to cover. It's very clearly aimed at immigrants who need to get up & running quickly and imprecisely. If your library has it, it might be worth checking out.