Dutch language gets more popular
13 August 2003
AMSTERDAM ?The study of Dutch is becoming increasingly popular across the globe in contradiction of the low opinion native speakers have for their mother tongue, an international association of Dutch language specialist academics (IVN) said.
Figures released on Wednesday indicated that 25 years ago there were 165 universities teaching the Dutch language in 26 countries. But the number of universities has risen to 230 this year, spread over 44 countries. The number of teachers has doubled in the same period from 350 to 700.
"That is very respectable for a relatively small language that is spoken by a restricted number of world citizens," an IVN spokesman said.
The universities are in all four corners of the globe, ranging from Italy to Indonesia, Spain to Georgia, Germany to South Africa and from Japan to Malaysia, Dutch associated press ANP reported.
The IVN spokesman also said Dutch nationals do not have a high opinion of their language, claiming that if someone intends to study Swedish or Finnish, interest is immediately aroused and he or she is asked what they plan to use the language for.
But if someone intends to learn Dutch, they are looked upon in a "pitying" way. This is despite the fact that Dutch is spoken by more people than what Swedish or Finnish is, he said.
Dutch is the mother tongue of 21 million people and is the world's 34th most spoken language. It is spoken in the Netherlands, in the Dutch Antilles and Suriname. Afrikaans is similar to Dutch, but despite the fact its classification is still in dispute, it is generally considered an independent language rather than a dialect or variant of Dutch.
The IVN spokesman claimed Dutch has had an economic, cultural and historical role on the world stage. In terms of importance, Dutch is listed in the world's top 20 languages.
A report on Radio 1 on Wednesday indicated that the increased popularity of the Dutch language could be partly attributed to the fall of the USSR, resulting in newly-formed Eastern European nations no longer being compulsorily forced to study Russian, allowing their citizens to opt for other languages, such as Dutch.
Many students across the globe choose to study the Dutch language to become a interpreter/translator or a journalist, to find a job in the tourism industry or be accepted by a Dutch multinational company ?such as Shell, Philips, Unilever, Ahold or ABN Amro ?in their land of origin.
[Copyright Expatica News 2003] |
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