egill Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5694 days ago 418 posts - 791 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch
| Message 9 of 34 02 July 2010 at 9:01pm | IP Logged |
Dutch sounds awesome. Maybe it's just the contrarian in me, but every time I hear someone
say it sounds ugly or ridiculous, I think it just subconsciously makes me want to like it
even more. That's probably why I like Danish too, but I digress.
Plus I like how, in some of the dialects I've heard at least, Dutch is one of the few
languages that uses the alveolar approximant or "English R". That and the fairly unique
h and g sounds set Dutch apart phonetically—and she is more beautiful for
it.
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Derian Triglot Senior Member PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5306 days ago 227 posts - 464 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, German Studies: Spanish, Russian, Czech, French, Mandarin, Japanese
| Message 10 of 34 02 July 2010 at 9:26pm | IP Logged |
It does sound nice, except for the awful "H"s, which sound like choking.
Edited by Derian on 02 July 2010 at 9:44pm
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tommus Senior Member CanadaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5864 days ago 979 posts - 1688 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish
| Message 11 of 34 02 July 2010 at 10:11pm | IP Logged |
I think Dutch sounds great. One of the real strengths of the Dutch-speaking peoples of the world is that they are so practical. They do things efficiently and effectively, and without a great deal of 'theatre'. I have always found that speaking French and Spanish requires a certain degree of performance and flourish that I think a lot of anglophones find somewhat uncomfortable. Dutch (and German) are much more straight forward, without the requirement to add a degree of acting and artistic expression.
Perhaps for related reasons, it is difficult for native Dutch-speakers to understand why so many people want to learn their language. I find it a wonderful language, with a huge amount of very interesting material in science, history, literature, and all other aspects of its rich culture.. And it sounds great.
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datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5583 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French
| Message 12 of 34 03 July 2010 at 5:37am | IP Logged |
I think any language besides my own native language sounds beautiful. :D
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ChristopherB Triglot Senior Member New Zealand Joined 6314 days ago 851 posts - 1074 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English*, German, French
| Message 13 of 34 03 July 2010 at 5:58am | IP Logged |
I love Dutch and think it's a great language and can't wait to begin learning it, but it's probably one of the least attractive languages I've ever heard. At least the Netherlands variety, where they produce the uvular sound for the 'g'. Nevertheless, it's actually partly for this reason I find the language so cool!
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tracker465 Senior Member United States Joined 5350 days ago 355 posts - 496 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch
| Message 14 of 34 03 July 2010 at 6:01am | IP Logged |
I love the sound of Dutch. I know that many people think it sounds harsh and what not, but I personally think it sounds prettier than German. I like the "g" and "ch" sounds.
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ChristopherB Triglot Senior Member New Zealand Joined 6314 days ago 851 posts - 1074 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English*, German, French
| Message 15 of 34 03 July 2010 at 6:31am | IP Logged |
I've always found it slightly amusing that people go on about how gutteral and harsh German is, when they probably heard Dutch and thought it was German.
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johntm93 Senior Member United States Joined 5325 days ago 587 posts - 746 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish
| Message 16 of 34 03 July 2010 at 7:57am | IP Logged |
I think Dutch sounds really bad. Not that that will ever stop me from learning a language, I want to learn Korean soon :)
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