Tom Kando
I just returned from the Netherlands.
We were nearly two weeks in that lovely country. It was delightful. We spent most of our time visiting with relatives and good old friends whom we had not seen in years. We enjoyed excellent Dutch cuisine, including many varieties of cheese and my favorite appetizers: herring and Carpaccio. There were concerts (Bach’s Brandenburg concertos), boat rides through the Amsterdam canals, strolling on the beach, lounging around sidewalk cafés and more. My wife Anita keeps saying: “Europeans are a café society. Why can’t Americans be more like that?”
However, I discovered something quite odd, something that shocked me:
I have long admired the Dutch for being brilliantly multi-lingual. A large majority of them are fluent in English, among other languages. This is quite convenient for American visitors. However, over the past couple of decades, the country’s entire higher education system has become Anglicized. Today, a majority of the curriculum at most Dutch universities is taught in English.
I had no idea.
My discovery that Dutch higher education is now largely in English was fortuitous. We met a nice and very intelligent young American who is a student at the University of Groningen. He has been in Holland for several months, but he still hardly speaks a word of Dutch. I asked him how he manages to attend a Dutch university. No problem, he said, since all his classes are in English.
This floored me. I learned from further conversation and some superficial research that a majority of university courses in the Netherlands are now taught in English.
(see for example Dutch Universities Teach in English and Best English-Taught Universities in the Netherlands)
The percentage is exceptionally high at my alma mater, the University of Amsterdam. Other universities whose curriculum is largely in English include Delft, Utrecht, Leiden, Groningen and Eindhoven (at the latter institution, 100% of the courses are in English).
As I said, I have always admired the Dutch’s linguistic versatility, which I share. At the Gymnasium (grades seven through twelve) we all learned six languages for five or six years (Dutch, English, French, German, Latin and Greek). Marvelous.
But now, there is the wholesale transition from Dutch to English as the country’s primary language in higher education.
There are those who argue that this is “pragmatic” and well-advised. The Dutch have always been pragmatic. Today, English is the world’s Lingua Franca, especially in science and technology. There is nothing wrong with a “world language.” It probably helps international cooperation and progress. Additionally, the Netherlands benefit financially, as 15% of that country’s university students are international students.
However, this makes me sad. I am sad that after having lived in Holland for several months, our American friend at the University of Groningen still hardly speaks any Dutch. And this probably goes for most of the thousands of other foreign students in Holland. (When I moved to Amsterdam at age fourteen, I was fluent in less than one year).
And what about the Dutch kids who complete their secondary education, and who wish to go on to the university, but still struggle with English? (I was such a student). But now, you can’t complete a university degree in Holland unless you have total mastery of English? This is weird.
I haven’t examined the data in great detail. I assume that Holland’s transition to English has gone farthest in the technological sector, and (hopefully) less so in the humanities. Would it make sense to offer all or most of the curriculum in Dutch history, literature, the arts, even philosophy and sociology only in English? This feels like a betrayal, the betrayal of Dutch culture. You get to learn about Rembrandt and Van Gogh in English, when you could do so in their native language? Not to mention the incredibly rich past and present Dutch literature.
* * * * * * *
There may also be a creeping anglicization of the Dutch language under way. I just read Bert Wagendorp’s:
Phoenix: De memoires van Abel Sikkink (2022). This is a wonderful book about a Dutch immigrant to America in the 19th century. Wagendorp is an excellent writer. But throughout the book there are many instances of the anglicization of the Dutch language. Here are just a few of the many anglicisms I found in this book:
P. 314: een boot arriveerde in de haven, Why not “kwam aan?”
P. 331: een immens huis. Why not “enorm?”
P. 336: competitie. Why not “wedstrijd?”
P. 342 superioriteitsgevoel. Why not “ meerderwaardigheids complex?”
P. 342: hypocriet: Why not “huichelaar?”
I don’t recommend the linguistic chauvinism of the French, who go too far in their protectiveness of the purity of their language. But I do believe that Dutch is an excellent language, and that it should continue to be used vigorously. The Netherlands are a vibrant but small country of less than eighteen million people. Its economic, political and cultural contributions to the world are disproportionately large. I hope that it does not turn its back on its cultural and linguistic identity for the sake of profit and expediency.
leave comment here
