TEFL Weare Michigan

Almost all people in the Netherlands will have heard english at some point in their life. In Dutch secondary schools english has been a compulsory part of the curriculum for decades. The picture is more complicated in primary education. Some schools teach english and others do not. Also: english movies and TV-series area regular occurrence on Dutch TV, normally these have Dutch subtitles. Much is said about the Dutch use of the english language. We have a couple of words for the (bad) english spoken by Dutch people. The most common one is Dunglish, which is an amalgamation of the words Dutch and english. We have another word too: Steenkolenengels (Pidgin english, lit: coal english). I will give some examples of this in the various categories and then I will look deeper into what I think is the cause of this problem. Specific issues Dutch people face when learning english Grammar: Dutch grammar structures literally translated into english. An example: - It's completely falling out of each other. (Dutch: Het valt compleet uit elkaar) Correct: It's completely falling apart. This is obviously a combination of incorrect grammar usage and incorrect vocabulary. Although the words themselves sometimes do have the correct meaning; just the incorrect way of using them. Incorrect translation of idioms: - I see a small light point. (Dutch: Ik zie een klein lichtpuntje) Correct: I see a tiny ray of hope. Vocabulary: False friends – words that seem to be the same in Dutch and in english, but that don't actually mean the same. When used this causes a lot of confusion! Because Dutch and english are related languages we have a lot of these words. Some examples: - Dutch: mijn zin (english: my way) I always get my sin (Dutch: Ik krijg altijd mijn zin) Correct: I always get my way. Again: A combination of 'wrong' grammar and wrong vocabulary. Non-existent english words. These can either be Dutch words that sound like they can literally be translated into english, or Dutch words that can be pronounced in an 'english accent' but don't exist in that language. - Head entrance (Dutch: Hoofdingang) ? Literal translation, syllable by syllable of the Dutch word into english. Correct: Main entrance - Rooster (Dutch: rooster)? english word does exist but means something completely different (it's also a false friend) Do you have a bread rooster? (Dutch: Heb je een broodrooster?) Correct: Do you have a toaster? I myself have a very funny, and very irritating, habit of calling all of the E-numbers in food: conservatives. So my girlfriend says: Yucky, there are so many politicians in this food! What I do mean, of course are: preservation agents (Dutch: conserveringsmiddelen). For some reason the word 'conservatives' sounded like the correct english word, it isn't obviously. Sometimes it does still slip through. Pronunciation: Dutch people pronounce english with Dutch sounds. If they also use Dutch grammar structures then we call this: Dunglish. Tips for improvement My idea is that most of the above can be tackled by changing the education system. In the Netherlands it is still the norm to teach english in Dutch. Next to this there is no student talk time in lessons. This hasn't changed much from my own school days, although I have the feeling I needed to use more english then than kids need to do nowadays. Most of what is taught is taught by comparing it to the Dutch language. All explanations in the english book about english grammar are in Dutch. New words are taught besides their Dutch counterparts. Tests are based on the fact that you are able to translate Dutch words into english and the other way around. You basically learn school/translation english instead of actual english. If this were to be changed and there would be more student talk time in lessons. Not to mention more of a focus on the use of actual english in classes then you would raise a generation who use english in a natural way without always literally comparing it to Dutch, and without always thinking in Dutch first and only then translating into english. Sources: - Book: We always get our sin too (By Maarten H. Rijkens) - My test-student: Emma Wagemans - My own experiences