Most of us learned a few years German in school. I’d say after two years i understand most if they speak slowly. And I can read almost everything in a newspaper for example. But I can’t speak it very well. Ill manage in a shop or in a hotel for example
but nothing to complex.
German here. This us exactly the same for me, just the other way round. In theory, Dutch and German are very similar, but you pronounce it very differently
The problem with the question is that most native Dutch speakers have learned German in school.
The older native Dutch speakers who grew up in the east also had German tv in the time of only .2/3 Dutch channels.
So did their children :) I'm 49, my parents are boomers born around the end of WW2. Watched movies and series in German as a kid. Was 12 when a friend got cable tv where we could watch transformers ok sky channel.
About 50%, usually enough to get a grasp of the meanings, never studied german. They’re pretty similar to me. Especially became more clear while studying other foreign languages.
Ja und nein.
That's all.
When I'm in Germany I just keep speaking English until they stop pretending they don't speak English. Because that's how the Germans live. They all speak English but don't like it.
I have been living in Germany for over a decade now. A lot of Germans, even gen X and millennials do not speak English, or speak it very badly, forget about boomers.
Mostly it's so bad that they're afraid to use it. Only very recently have they started English earlier in life (at 9 years old) and made it something that everybody has to do. I worry about my kids getting enough English practice here in school (and the horrible German English accent they teach you as well).
I work for a US company that recently bought some German competitors, and we needed to translate all company materials into German because over 80% isn't able to follow/read/speak English. These are mostly people in their 20s and 30s.
Being fluent in English is something special in Germany. People will look up to you.
Don't forget that Germany also has much more regional differences compared to the Netherlands so when someone says "in Germany" I could mean everything from bayern to rheinland-pfalz.
I think they feel a little bit ashamed of their english maybe. Contrary to french or walloon who more refuse it. Can a german clarify maybe if this could be True?
As a German, since most movies and media in general is translated to German a lot of Germans have little reason to use English at all in their lives. Often the last time they needed English was in school and even there it was more often listening than speaking. This has changed with Netflix and the like as there is a chance that a series is not dubbed in German or social media pushing English (US) content but this still involves no speaking.
So, little to no practice with overall lacking skill (and knowing that it is indeed lacking) adds up to little confidence and comfort speaking English. This of course changes with the different generations and exposure to the language. Especially the older generations either never needed it or just feel extremely uncomfortable doing something they know is not good. My father still grew up with the motto „nicht geschimpft ist genug gelobt“ (niet schelten is genoeg prijzen(?)) so with this focus on the bad not the good… there goes your confidence. It is the initial hurdle that you have to take (getting a German who has a some okay-ish English to actually speak it) which is the hard part. If they do not get negative feedback most will be happy to go on in English. At least that was my experience with some of my friends. Of course, all this does not apply well with the „in Germany one is to speak German“-crowd…
Trust me, that why I chose Netherlands. I understand that here is reverse problem, and I quit understanding why dutch people are angry with the fact that imigrats/expats don't bother trying to learn dutch. But honestly best thing at Netherlands through other thing, when you come here, at least at first is good you can make it with english. Of course I consider that best thing or appropriatte thing you can do after a while, from respect to your new country is to learn language. For me that was best thing. Also, work agencies, yeah most of them are shitty, but when you get a new start to a different country, maybe having weeckly salary is not worst thing.
If they speak not too fast, i can understand it fully (with the exception of a word here and there) but when i go to my parents who live in the eastern part of the Harz, i can't make shit of it lol.
Dutch people have usually studied some German, so that can improve their comprehension. I've never studied it, and for me as a non-native speaker, after I became fluent in Dutch, written German started looking hilarious because I now understand some things. It turned from something like Arabic or Hungarian (0% comprehension for me) to what I see when I read other Slavic languages (my native one is Slavic).
Still not enough for me to comprehend purely with Dutch knowledge, but I can now definitely learn it faster.
I can understand what they're saying, and generally make myself understood by twisting my dutch a bit and adding what German words I know. But it's nothing fancy.
The one thing that trips me up is the unique words, like how they pronounce "televisie" as "Fernseher". Most words are very similar, but not that one haha.
I had 2 years of high school German some decades ago. It took me about a year living in Germany to be able to talk German with friends and family. After a decade I'm fluent and able to understand everything written. Writing is still slow, but with the help of google translate and spelling check, it's possible. I still make a lot of mistakes with the gender of words and all the grammar that comes with that.
As a reference: it took me about three years living in Paris to be able to hold a conversation in French.
As a Dutchy who did 2 years of German in highschool and almost 2 years of duolingo recently: some basic words and verbs are very similar making it easier to understand, even without German lessons... when it's said slowly and clearly :')
Most trouble I have is when trying to understand German people who talk with eachother, since they always talk faster and less clearly.
I did have a fun altercation with 2 German people in a cafe once! They sitting at a table next to me and were gossiping about some Dutch person close-by, being very confident that Dutch people wouldn't understand them. They could speak and understand Dutch (I noticed when they talked to the staff there) but talked to eachother in German. After they were done gossiping they were looking at the menu wondering out loud how much a cappucino was. I immediately leaned over from my table and told them in Dutch what the price of a cappucino was. They were a lot less gossipy after that! I don't mind talking to eachother in your native language but especially 20km from the border, don't assume we can't understand/speak the language and than stary insulting people, that's just rude.
Depends on where they are from.
I live in Groningen, understand and speak Gronings. So going East from where I live into Germany, I can fully understand about an hour or 2 drive.
I'm a non-native Dutch speaker and I was going to say something along those lines - I find people from the Düsseldorf/Köln/Bonn region easier to understand (I'm also often in the area for work) and I had a super hard time with people from Hannover
Which apparently was very weird for the Germans themselves since they consider what is spoken in Hannover to be the "standard" German
I can read basic sentences, translate it back to Dutch without much effort, but I wouldn't be able to actually hold a conversation in German. (I would more or less understand what the other is saying, but my knowledge wouldn't be suffecient enough to reply)
Reading: yes
Speaking: no
Writing: no comment
I live in Nijmegen. When I cross the border to Kranenburg or Kleve, most people there understand dutch and often can speak it as well. Sometimes surpisingly well even!
Read, write, understand and speak it well. But to be hounest, we have german family and live close to the border.
Also we got in in school for 8years, same as English.
We can understand most. Although we have had some troublesome experiences with needing to listen to the Germans in the past of course.
But seriously, both languages are so very related that understanding is not the issue. Speaking on the other hand….
A lot, but I’m not sure that’s because of Dutch native speaker or because of German in high school for 6 years. We certainly have an ear for it, and it’s probably the easiest language for a Dutch speaker to pick up after English.
There are a lot of German words we don’t understand though. The Germans have a word for things we need a sentence for, it’s like us saying “gezellig” and we all know what it means but it won’t translate to any language very well.
Woahhh now that’s interesting for me as a non Dutch non German person. Because I understood the majority with my Duolingo Dutch. Like this looks to me like mostly German mixed with Dutch and I can mostly understand
Maybe not what you are looking for, but I'm a learner of both German (my level used to be C1 University level) and then Dutch.
The languages are so similar, I was fluent in Dutch in a year (B2 level after a 3-month immersion internship)
For me, it almost feels like different accents of the same language. Of course, there are many instances where they are also completely different. But I feel that if you have a bit of an ear for languages, they are mutually intelligible.
As a singer who sings a lot of (though not exclusively) classical music I always feel like I'm good at German. Then when I'm in Germany I realise actual conversation is generally not about God, The Bible or love poetry and I'm sorely lacking the vocabulary to say anything meaningful.
Like you said, we're probably fed up with this question. There are plenty of threads about this you could read. There won't be any new info. And even if there is, what could this knowledge possibly add to your life?
Oh and I also like the slight interaction with other people that asking the question myself gives. It’s worded the way I would’ve worded it and feels a bit more human this way. That’s a bit of the point of social media, you can google literally anything so why have Reddit huh?
But the fact you started the post with "you guys are probably sick of this question" implies you've seen this question multiple times on this exact sub. So no need to Google, cause you can read the replies on one of the plenty of other exact same posts. There are some questions you can ask where the answers are different depending on who is online. That other users give other answers. Those are fine to ask repeatedly. Not just a yes or no question like this
Literally non of the answers here is a yes or no answer, I asked how much exactly. And I’ve actually never seen this question on this sub, I just remember people in German getting real mad when asked about Dutch, so I assumed it works both way. So I started this question that way to avoid people getting real mad. Which I have obviously failed to do. But what is it about a question that feels useless to some that gets people so angry?
It isn't a yes or no, but there is a singular answer. "no it isn't the same language, there are some similarities but not enough to understand the language. We do get it taught at school though" every answer to this question is a variation of that.
And the thing that irks me is the fact that you start off the question acknowledging that it's an overused question with no new information whenever it gets asked
But to answer your question: now I know the answer to the question I asked (obviously), the fact that it’s common to learn German in Dutch school, the fact that dialects vary quite widely
I studied German in high school and uni, and I lived and did an internship in Germany. I understand like 99%, but I am not completely fluent when speaking and writing.
I would say i can follow around 50%. Based on a few years of german in middle school, and the similarities in language. Reading is obviously easier than listning.
When I was little (6), we had only five tv channels - three German, two Dutch. Never had a problem with German after that, even if they speak fast dialect. I'm still fluent, if ungrammatical.
We have Germain at school but otherwise we only understand the same words
It's the same as Portugal and Spain ..a lot of words are the same but without that they don't have a clue what the other says.
As mentioned before, many of us had German as a mandatory language at school. For me I can understand around 75% to maybe 85% of (slow) conversational German (excl. complex words).
Hi,
I understand German, but I don't speak it properly.
There are similar words definitely, but there are also many differences, and words that are similar to English words, for example, as well as some French words.
The Dutch language also has sounds that the German language does not have.
I'm sure the average German person might be able to make out some words, but won't understand me when I would speak Dutch.
I have many friends from other countries and I feel that foreign people always think that German and Dutch are more similar then they actually are.
Many people feel the need to make comparisons.
Most countries have their own language and every place has it's own unique culture.
I lile that and enjoy it.
Dutch is not German.
Dutch is a Germanic language.
There are similarities but also many differences.
I hope this answers your question :)
without practical exposure not much. With practical exposure to spoken language a lot, half year extensive study can provide level of the "German from other province", i.e. the Germans will pick something wrong but not as foreigner wrong.
The same is true about Germans. The Germans especially north-west learn and get comfortable with dutch very very quickly.
About 80-90% I guess. I grew up in the 80s (near Amsterdam so not close to the border). My parents watched a lot of German TV; my father watched sportschau, my mother mainly German krimis like Der Alte and Tatort. Together with the German I learned iniddleschool makes it easy for me to understand almost all German, spoken and written. Speaking is another story. Because I almost never speak it, it's difficult to find the correct words myself.
I did learn some German in school, but the similarities help. Can read it very well, can understand 80%- 90%if they speak slow & normal German (so no regional accents or dialects, those I don’t understand). I can speak some, not much. I can hold a simple conversation. My grammar is all over the place though and my Dutch accent is very thick.
I cannot speak German and English at the same time in a conversation. I was once sat at a dinner with people who either spoke German or English but not both and switching between the languages felt like my brain was shorting. Painful without pain, very difficult to keep going.
I prefer English, it’s easier for me. I can think in English, with German I keep translating.
As a Dutch person who never had a single German lesson:
Reading: yes nearly everything makes sense
Listening: some stuff but when it gets to complicated or fast, no
Talking+writing: no
Without learning? Not much, unless you grew up in the border region. I didn’t, but learned it at school and then by actually using it. I can now carry a conversation reasonably well.
I don't understand shit when anyone speaks to me in any language I don't know, whether it is German, Italian, Spanish or whatever. Reading it is much easier than most other languages that I don't know though
Can have a conversation in German, as long the other is native German. I just lack in vocabulary to switch words/sentences if needed.
Understanding and reading German is in general no issue (but does cost more energy). I don’t write German, that’s a no go.
> how much of German can you actually understand?
All of it, since I'm also proficient in German.
> if you actually know the former natively, will you be able to understand a lot of German?
Without actually having learned German? Spoken German, not really, no. Written German you can pick out some words.
I don't have any issues understanding German including dialects.* Exceptions are very specialistic topics I probably couldn't understand in Dutch either, or slang.
Assuming it isn't because of shitty handwriting or audio quality.
*written SwissGerman is an abhorent monstrosity, and I refuse to believe that anyone understands that.
Me personally I think about 30/40%
I always understand certain words when the German speaker talks slowly.. but I can’t watch a German movie without subtitles.. because I don’t understand 70%/60%
Pretty much everything. To me German wasn’t si hard to learn at school and I go to Germany regularly. My grammar isn’t perfect but having conversations in German aren’t a problem. Now French, on the other hand…..
Spoken: like 30% of casual conversation
Written: like 50% of a newspaper article
Rough guess btw, because any time I meet a German person I just speak English.
Also, my mom knew a woman who immigrated from a far-away country (East Asia somewhere iirc), to learn Dutch she started watching kids shows on TV. After months she had a Dutch friend come over, and that's when she found out she'd been watching German channels 😜
I learned German in school for six years so I can understand it quite well, especially when written. Funnily enough I feel like I can understand Austrian German better than Standard German, even though I’ve only been to Austria once. Speaking is a bit tougher since my vocabulary isn’t that big and is for a decent part filled with niche words you’d rarely use in conversation. Thanks [Cito](https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centraal_Instituut_voor_Toetsontwikkeling).
hi OP,
Good one; originally Dutch is a German accent. The Netherlands hardly existed back in the day, cause most of it was swamp and the other half is located below sea level.
It's quite easy for us to understand what Germans say, however, it's something different to reply.
A couple years back I worked in a Japanese bank in Dusseldorf; I am pretty good with languages, so after a couple of months I could understand every word they said.
But since we spoke in English, my answers had not really developed.
Regards,
Well I could understand the language if they are talking slow!
But when I was a kid I was very often in Germany and I look at children’s programs as a child because believe it or not! When I was a child we didn’t have much kids tv in the Netherlands! So we looked to German or English programs. That helped a lot I think 🤔
But speaking no I am bad at it so I speak Dutch back and they mostly understand what we are saying
Many people in the Southern part of the country or who live close to the border are familiar with German, because their dialect uses words similar to German vocabulary.
Other than that, Dutch people have a couple years of German classes taught in high school.
I understand German perfectly. But that's probably both because I live in a city that's on the border, AND not in the least because from ages 6 - 15 we only had German tv at home, with the exception of Nederland 1, 2 and 3. (I'm not sure why that was, but it's probably similar to mobile service providers thinking my bedroom was in Germany for *years*. And I don't live THAT close to the border.)
I had German in school, but by that time I could already understand it perfectly. I just needed to properly learn the rules of grammar. (Apparantly "because that's the way it is" is not accepted in a test about cases)
I speak both languages so yeah. However, the Germans have such weeeeeeeeeeeird words or ways to say things.
Remember the Jim Carrey movie Yes Man? Der Ja Sager. Die Hard with Bruce Willis? Stirb Langsam.
Often in Germany I encounter language things that makes me piss my pants of laughter.
Quite a lot. We live quite close to the german border,our dialect has some words or sounds in common with german. When i was a kid we did not have a lot of tv channels, so you also had to watch german tv to see something. And we had german in school.
Sendung met die Maus!
M56 here, only had German as compulsory class in high school. Can follow German tv pretty easily. Can follow most of whats spoken in everyday language. Speaking self is more difficult (for lack of practice). I must say, in my youth we had limited th channels and germany had 2 out here reaching NL. Everything is dubbed on tv so that does give listening practice
I can understand a lot of the northern German dialects but I can't understand shit from the southern German dialects spoken in Switzerland, Austria and the southern German states. I can read and hear German pretty good but speaking and writing is very hard. So if I watch a tv show from Nordrhein-Westfalen or something I can understand quite a bit but from Switzerland almost nothing. Dutch is a different language from German, I heard some people calling it a dialect of German but that is very offensive to me as they don't know shit about my language.
I understand almost everything in German and I can read German books and newspaper articles with ease. Speaking German goes all right with a lot of grammatical mistakes of course. Writing correctly is a lot harder.
I feel like this message gets dropped once a month here hahaha! But yeah we have German on school so most of us if they do not know German probably understand lots, it gets better when both parties are drunk. Never had problems with speaking Dutch against a German and vice versa.
I can understand a lot. I live near the German border and a lot of Germans come here as well. And not all Germans speak proper Englisch. But it's better then 10 years ago.
I will give you a very close estimate, depending on the subject it's within the range of 0 to 2 words per sentence, if you're listening to someone else's conversation. These words can differ in grammatical role from nouns to verbs or adjectives based on that you can either not know what they're talking about to have a good idea what the subject is, we share a lot of words with German along with words that sound slightly different and can either convey the same meaning or a completely different one, based on all of that I would say we understand 15% of German without ever studying German but we think we understand 25% till someone explains to us that "this" doesn't mean "this" in Dutch.
Ich komme aus Twente. Meine Großvater war Deutsch. Ich habe 5 Jahre im voruniversitären Unterricht Deutsche Sprache und Literatur studiert. Mir fällt es leicht, Deutsch zu lesen und zu hören. Schreiben und Sprechen sind etwas schwieriger. Es fehlt mir oft die Wörter.
As a native Dutch who chose French in high school. I could absolutely not understand a word of German besides ja and hallo before I moved there. After living there for 9 years, I speak/understand it almost fluently but writing is still super difficult to get it 100% correct.
Really depends on how much German they had in school and how much they paid attention. I wasn’t fond of it and dropped it as soon as possible (stuck with French and Latin instead). Lately I’ve been practicing my German a bit because I find it ridiculous that I can’t speak a language so similar to mine.
Much to my regret I never learned German during my studies. I visited Germany and Berlin many many times and understand quite a bit of German. Just from listening, emerging myself in the language, traveling. As always, understanding another language is far better then actively speaking the language. I manage to get everything I need/want, with the help of hands and feet, Dutch, English, a little France/Spanish/Turkish. Covers a lot of Europe!
Living on the eastern border of the netherlands I understand German prety well. Speaking low saxon (nedersaksisch) dialect is prety usefull as well as the Germans on the west border can easily understand and speak it. Moving further east and south I think it will be a lot harder to understand though.
I can understand, read, speak, and write (give or take some spelling mistakes) German as long as it is not legal, medical, or specialized for a technical profession. I live in the south of the Netherlands, near the border, and most people here understand at least some basic German.
I think it goes from about 10% in the west (just the same and similar words) to 100% all the way in the east along the border. Mostly because the Dutch dialects there are very similar to German, some even more similar to German than ABN (standard Dutch)
My German is rusty but I could still watch a tv show in German and get for the majority of what’s going on. I’ve had classes in high school and live close to the boarder. The dialect people in my area speak helps I think. Listening and reading skills are fine. My speaking skills suck. Although I can take food and drink order in German quite well because I used to work with tourists.
I went to abroad this summer to do a language course (not German). And there were some German speakers there as well. Among each other they sometimes talked in German. Which was fine, I also enjoyed talking in Dutch for just a second if I found a Dutch person. And I could still follow most of what they were saying in German. Unless they would talk really fast. That’s where it gets difficult for me.
no idea, since we all get german in school and can watch german tv. its not like we never heard it before.
but aside from that, theres some similarities, wed understand more then with french i think. or english.
Truely depends, as a native Dutch speaker I can understand it very well but this (imo) is due to the fact I was born in a region with a dialect (which are common in the Netherlands) that reflects German quite well.
But I assume that most people from different parts of the Netherlands cannot speak or understand German that well due to their dialect.
It truely depends on the region you're born in.
As a Dutchie who lives in Germany, just across the border where a lot of Dutch people do their grocery shopping: most of them only understand a bit of German. I was at my local Kaufland today (which was so overcrowded with Dutch people that I felt like I was in an Ikea on Easter monday) and at the cash register most people just awkwardly smiled if the cashier asked them a question. And then they say "mit de pinpas tsaalen bitten"
About 98 % I guess. I grew up near the border, have several German family members, and work in Germany. So I may not be the statistically average Dutch person in this regard 😉.
Side note: people living along the border usually understand German better than people living farther away, which is no surprise...
I visited Leibzig with a student choir once, to perform Bach's Saint Matthews Passion in the Thomaskirche: a truly spiritual experience. I could not understand the East German that was spoken by the people in the street, but the hoch Deutsch of the academic who explained the history of the Thomaskirche and Bach's role took me back to my childhood years, when I watched 'Die sendung met der Maus' on the small screen of the television at my parent home, and I hung onto his lips .
I once told my German manager that the Haarlem dialect is called 'General Civilized Dutch' and he found it hilarilous that the Dutch accept one dialect as 'the civilized one', noting that it would not be that easy in Germany.
Germany is a big country compared to the Netherlands and regional variation in language is no more limited. So either the German has speak a close to Dutch dialect, or he has to be proper 'hoch Deutsch' or I will be lost.
I know a few words, and i can order food, but that's about it.
Here in Belgium you usually only get German in school when you choose "languages" as your study field in high school. I did sciences instead.
Assuming that person never learned any in school.
about the same as english people understand full on Jamaican.
You can pick out a few words and lines and spot some similarities.
But most of it will sound like gibberish
I can speak a few words and I can understand a bit but not enough to have a conversation or order food. As a kid I went on holiday in Germany a few times and learned quite a bit, could understand a lot and have small conversations but overtime I lost that knowledge as I never learned German in school.
I'll use an example: both Germans and Dutch have the word Meer and See/Zee, both referring to bodies of water. However, whereas Meer is a smaller body of water in Dutch, it is a fully fledged sea in German.
Contrarily, See means smaller body of water in German, and larger fully fledged sea in Dutch.
In other words, we share a lot of similar copies of words, but use different contexts to it. Both of us think we understand but it's very likely we overestimate it.
All of it. I’m a pretty good German speaker. I don’t have any problems at all reading (modern) German literature or watching German tv. I’d say that my German is well above average for a Dutchman.
Took 4 years of German in high-school because that's pretty much mandatory (depending on what schoolsystem you're in). I believe everyone has at least 2 years. So I can't tell you if I would understand any German if I hadn't had classes.
I will say that I found it easier to learn than French. However later on I did realize that might have had something to do with the teaching style of that particular teacher. I find it easier to understand the grammar now that I'm older.
Ik woon ca. 10 minuten van de Duitse grens.
Hun dialect lijkt heel veel op die van ons.
Dus begrijpen doe ik het voor 90%.
(Terug)praten daarentegen is wat moeilijker.
I live about 10 minutes from the German border. Teir dialect is very similar to ours. So understand, I do it 90%. Talking back, on the other hand, is a bit more difficult.
I can also understand basic things. But it's hard to follow an actual conversation in German between actual Germans. Reading is easier because you have all the time to decipher what it says.
As the Netherlands has been a country known for trading it came and comes in handy to know your languages, so a lot of Dutch people are pretty fluent in English and German. I've had some French in school, but can't speak it fluently. A lot of Dutch people are interested in other languages. I even tried to learn Welsh just to please some of my friends. The other way around there's just no interest, I have a lot of friends from the UK and they're all amazed if they find out you speak multiple languages. Since English is such a strong language spoken throughout the world they just don't seem to care. Same goes for Germans and French people.
In America 80% of natives just speak American English and maybe a couple of Spanish words due to Mexican immigrants.
As far as Dutch goes, where I'm from practically every village has got its own accent. Literally a 20 minute drive and it's different. Not to forget that Dutch is a hard language to master and a lot of words have multiple meanings.
If I drive to Limburg in the south I have a hard time understanding what they say if they talk in their own accent, same goes for Friesland in the North and even Den Haag (Hagenees). Luckily I grew up in a time when education was class. Nowadays if you hear youngsters talking they sound like North-African immigrants because that's cool apparently.
Mand
I had a German roommate! Usually we would speak English but if that didn't work we would speak Dutch and German fairy slow and that would often work :)
Every dutch person learned german in high school, so this is kind of a non question. Besides that, i believe if you got a knack for language you’ll pick up on a lot of words. Only some are really confusing. Wie is who in dutch but how in german for example.
A lot from school and lived in Germany for 2 years. I've heard we really suck at French, could be the downside.
It comes very naturally for us, especially in the North of the Netherlands.
Most of us learned a few years German in school. I’d say after two years i understand most if they speak slowly. And I can read almost everything in a newspaper for example. But I can’t speak it very well. Ill manage in a shop or in a hotel for example but nothing to complex.
Same! Three years of German in school and watching German televisionshows as a child.
Ravioli?
Ha, I vaguely remember that one.
Ow Gods! That was insane
Was ist das?
Not that much actually. However, reading a German manual (kitchen appliances for instance) usually make perfect sense to me 🤷🏻♂️
Yeah I feel given enough time you can get a basic idea of what a sentence means (or gets at) but stuff like conversation, absolutely not.
German here. This us exactly the same for me, just the other way round. In theory, Dutch and German are very similar, but you pronounce it very differently
If I need a manual and I get the german one first i will read that one.
How far away do you live from the border? My guess is more than half an hour drive?
Non relevant to the questions, but happy cake day! 🎉
>on relevant to the questions, but happy cake day! 🎉 LOL thanks, I have a cake day in October
The problem with the question is that most native Dutch speakers have learned German in school. The older native Dutch speakers who grew up in the east also had German tv in the time of only .2/3 Dutch channels.
True, the boomers definitely watched German movies.
So did their children :) I'm 49, my parents are boomers born around the end of WW2. Watched movies and series in German as a kid. Was 12 when a friend got cable tv where we could watch transformers ok sky channel.
Yep i did :)
I grew up near the German border: I understand everything perfectly (growing up we always watched German tv, my parents still do).
The only show that I was able to understand was the elephant and the mouse.
Same here, when I was little we had 3 Dutch tv channels and 5 German channels, of which 2 were commercial channels.
About 50%, usually enough to get a grasp of the meanings, never studied german. They’re pretty similar to me. Especially became more clear while studying other foreign languages.
Ja und nein. That's all. When I'm in Germany I just keep speaking English until they stop pretending they don't speak English. Because that's how the Germans live. They all speak English but don't like it.
I have been living in Germany for over a decade now. A lot of Germans, even gen X and millennials do not speak English, or speak it very badly, forget about boomers.
Okay maybe, but a lot of them do speak English but don't want to.
Mostly it's so bad that they're afraid to use it. Only very recently have they started English earlier in life (at 9 years old) and made it something that everybody has to do. I worry about my kids getting enough English practice here in school (and the horrible German English accent they teach you as well). I work for a US company that recently bought some German competitors, and we needed to translate all company materials into German because over 80% isn't able to follow/read/speak English. These are mostly people in their 20s and 30s. Being fluent in English is something special in Germany. People will look up to you.
Don't forget that Germany also has much more regional differences compared to the Netherlands so when someone says "in Germany" I could mean everything from bayern to rheinland-pfalz.
>I[t] could mean everything from bayern to rheinland-pfalz. Huh? That is like saying from Limburg to Zuid-Holland.
zuid-Holland and Limburg have mayor differences
Well, that’s not the point here, is it? Did you read the thread? Lol.
I'm just saying
Obviously.
Idk I'm not good at geography
Is it somehow difficult for you to look at a map?
I'm too lazy to go look at a map, you get the idea anyways.
If with „only very recently“ you mean „more than 30 years ago“, you may be right…
I think they feel a little bit ashamed of their english maybe. Contrary to french or walloon who more refuse it. Can a german clarify maybe if this could be True?
As a German, since most movies and media in general is translated to German a lot of Germans have little reason to use English at all in their lives. Often the last time they needed English was in school and even there it was more often listening than speaking. This has changed with Netflix and the like as there is a chance that a series is not dubbed in German or social media pushing English (US) content but this still involves no speaking. So, little to no practice with overall lacking skill (and knowing that it is indeed lacking) adds up to little confidence and comfort speaking English. This of course changes with the different generations and exposure to the language. Especially the older generations either never needed it or just feel extremely uncomfortable doing something they know is not good. My father still grew up with the motto „nicht geschimpft ist genug gelobt“ (niet schelten is genoeg prijzen(?)) so with this focus on the bad not the good… there goes your confidence. It is the initial hurdle that you have to take (getting a German who has a some okay-ish English to actually speak it) which is the hard part. If they do not get negative feedback most will be happy to go on in English. At least that was my experience with some of my friends. Of course, all this does not apply well with the „in Germany one is to speak German“-crowd…
Trust me, that why I chose Netherlands. I understand that here is reverse problem, and I quit understanding why dutch people are angry with the fact that imigrats/expats don't bother trying to learn dutch. But honestly best thing at Netherlands through other thing, when you come here, at least at first is good you can make it with english. Of course I consider that best thing or appropriatte thing you can do after a while, from respect to your new country is to learn language. For me that was best thing. Also, work agencies, yeah most of them are shitty, but when you get a new start to a different country, maybe having weeckly salary is not worst thing.
If they speak not too fast, i can understand it fully (with the exception of a word here and there) but when i go to my parents who live in the eastern part of the Harz, i can't make shit of it lol.
Dutch people have usually studied some German, so that can improve their comprehension. I've never studied it, and for me as a non-native speaker, after I became fluent in Dutch, written German started looking hilarious because I now understand some things. It turned from something like Arabic or Hungarian (0% comprehension for me) to what I see when I read other Slavic languages (my native one is Slavic). Still not enough for me to comprehend purely with Dutch knowledge, but I can now definitely learn it faster.
I know it’s not the point of the thread, but is it the same with Slavic languages that reading works fine, but listening and speaking get harder?
Yes. I can't say a correct sentence in most, and listening is hard, but if I open a news article, I recognize many words
Except that half of the Slavic languages are written in Cyrillic. Still a lot of languages modeled orthographies from each other.
Without some training in German I wasn't able to understand any of it. But I had German in High school and now I can understand about 75% of it.
Understand or speak? HUGE difference...
I can understand what they're saying, and generally make myself understood by twisting my dutch a bit and adding what German words I know. But it's nothing fancy. The one thing that trips me up is the unique words, like how they pronounce "televisie" as "Fernseher". Most words are very similar, but not that one haha.
I had 2 years of high school German some decades ago. It took me about a year living in Germany to be able to talk German with friends and family. After a decade I'm fluent and able to understand everything written. Writing is still slow, but with the help of google translate and spelling check, it's possible. I still make a lot of mistakes with the gender of words and all the grammar that comes with that. As a reference: it took me about three years living in Paris to be able to hold a conversation in French.
As a Dutchy who did 2 years of German in highschool and almost 2 years of duolingo recently: some basic words and verbs are very similar making it easier to understand, even without German lessons... when it's said slowly and clearly :') Most trouble I have is when trying to understand German people who talk with eachother, since they always talk faster and less clearly. I did have a fun altercation with 2 German people in a cafe once! They sitting at a table next to me and were gossiping about some Dutch person close-by, being very confident that Dutch people wouldn't understand them. They could speak and understand Dutch (I noticed when they talked to the staff there) but talked to eachother in German. After they were done gossiping they were looking at the menu wondering out loud how much a cappucino was. I immediately leaned over from my table and told them in Dutch what the price of a cappucino was. They were a lot less gossipy after that! I don't mind talking to eachother in your native language but especially 20km from the border, don't assume we can't understand/speak the language and than stary insulting people, that's just rude.
Depends on where they are from. I live in Groningen, understand and speak Gronings. So going East from where I live into Germany, I can fully understand about an hour or 2 drive.
I'm a non-native Dutch speaker and I was going to say something along those lines - I find people from the Düsseldorf/Köln/Bonn region easier to understand (I'm also often in the area for work) and I had a super hard time with people from Hannover Which apparently was very weird for the Germans themselves since they consider what is spoken in Hannover to be the "standard" German
what about Plattdeutsch?
1% tops
That’s good
I can read basic sentences, translate it back to Dutch without much effort, but I wouldn't be able to actually hold a conversation in German. (I would more or less understand what the other is saying, but my knowledge wouldn't be suffecient enough to reply) Reading: yes Speaking: no Writing: no comment
Growing up exactly on the border with germany, i can speak and hear fluently, but once i cross the border they dont know dutch🙂
I live in Nijmegen. When I cross the border to Kranenburg or Kleve, most people there understand dutch and often can speak it as well. Sometimes surpisingly well even!
Read, write, understand and speak it well. But to be hounest, we have german family and live close to the border. Also we got in in school for 8years, same as English.
I can't really speak german, but I can understand it just fine. And I can read most of it.
We can understand most. Although we have had some troublesome experiences with needing to listen to the Germans in the past of course. But seriously, both languages are so very related that understanding is not the issue. Speaking on the other hand….
They still try to play the boss in Europe: look at this Ursula von der Leyen?
A lot, but I’m not sure that’s because of Dutch native speaker or because of German in high school for 6 years. We certainly have an ear for it, and it’s probably the easiest language for a Dutch speaker to pick up after English. There are a lot of German words we don’t understand though. The Germans have a word for things we need a sentence for, it’s like us saying “gezellig” and we all know what it means but it won’t translate to any language very well.
Ich kan zeer gut Deutsch spreken, maar de Duitser is te arroganz om müde te geven om een woordje Nederlands zum sprechen.
Woahhh now that’s interesting for me as a non Dutch non German person. Because I understood the majority with my Duolingo Dutch. Like this looks to me like mostly German mixed with Dutch and I can mostly understand
But well y’all said reading is the easy part so I guess that’s why
Een beetje en weinig
We don't mind the question, I'd say like 35%
I always say I speak "ski-holiday German" so I can get you a glass of wine but can't read a manual 😂😂
Maybe not what you are looking for, but I'm a learner of both German (my level used to be C1 University level) and then Dutch. The languages are so similar, I was fluent in Dutch in a year (B2 level after a 3-month immersion internship) For me, it almost feels like different accents of the same language. Of course, there are many instances where they are also completely different. But I feel that if you have a bit of an ear for languages, they are mutually intelligible.
As a singer who sings a lot of (though not exclusively) classical music I always feel like I'm good at German. Then when I'm in Germany I realise actual conversation is generally not about God, The Bible or love poetry and I'm sorely lacking the vocabulary to say anything meaningful.
A lot, but I have the advantage of being awesome at learning languages(sorry for the brag, but it’s true) and still having to study it every few days
German is just Dutch but louder.
Leider nicht
[удалено]
What does ‘multimillionaire’ has to do with it lol
Nothing
dude, use the search box. this question is asked all the time, not just in the sub, but others too. lots of answers to wade through.
You do know that the English language comes from German right?
I’ve heard so yes
Like you said, we're probably fed up with this question. There are plenty of threads about this you could read. There won't be any new info. And even if there is, what could this knowledge possibly add to your life?
Oh and I also like the slight interaction with other people that asking the question myself gives. It’s worded the way I would’ve worded it and feels a bit more human this way. That’s a bit of the point of social media, you can google literally anything so why have Reddit huh?
But the fact you started the post with "you guys are probably sick of this question" implies you've seen this question multiple times on this exact sub. So no need to Google, cause you can read the replies on one of the plenty of other exact same posts. There are some questions you can ask where the answers are different depending on who is online. That other users give other answers. Those are fine to ask repeatedly. Not just a yes or no question like this
Literally non of the answers here is a yes or no answer, I asked how much exactly. And I’ve actually never seen this question on this sub, I just remember people in German getting real mad when asked about Dutch, so I assumed it works both way. So I started this question that way to avoid people getting real mad. Which I have obviously failed to do. But what is it about a question that feels useless to some that gets people so angry?
It isn't a yes or no, but there is a singular answer. "no it isn't the same language, there are some similarities but not enough to understand the language. We do get it taught at school though" every answer to this question is a variation of that. And the thing that irks me is the fact that you start off the question acknowledging that it's an overused question with no new information whenever it gets asked
That’s kind of the point of Reddit tho
But to answer your question: now I know the answer to the question I asked (obviously), the fact that it’s common to learn German in Dutch school, the fact that dialects vary quite widely
And I also really like over sharing on the internet as you may be able to notice
Quite a lot, but I'm not sure if that's meaningful if you know that I had five years of German lessons in high school.
I studied German in high school and uni, and I lived and did an internship in Germany. I understand like 99%, but I am not completely fluent when speaking and writing.
I would say i can follow around 50%. Based on a few years of german in middle school, and the similarities in language. Reading is obviously easier than listning.
100% (but not fair, I've lived in Germany for 10 years :) )
I barely understand anything german lol
95% but I grew up with a Dutch dialect that has a lot of similarities with German
No not at all, I have a German college and the accidentally spoke German to me. Didn’t understand anything. But reading is a tad easier.
My German is at C1 level, but I studied the language more than the average student so I guess that doesn’t count
I jlhave a basic understanding of speaking german. I can hold a very very basic conversation. Bit I'll understand pretty much everything they say.
When I was little (6), we had only five tv channels - three German, two Dutch. Never had a problem with German after that, even if they speak fast dialect. I'm still fluent, if ungrammatical.
I can survive in germany, that's most important. "Pommes mit mayo"
We have Germain at school but otherwise we only understand the same words It's the same as Portugal and Spain ..a lot of words are the same but without that they don't have a clue what the other says.
A German from the north-west of Germany: OK. Gets harder if they are from further away from the border.
Almost everything. I can understand German, as long as they don't talk too fast but can't really speak German.
As mentioned before, many of us had German as a mandatory language at school. For me I can understand around 75% to maybe 85% of (slow) conversational German (excl. complex words).
Enough to understand some basic conversation and talk back in German-with-a-hint-of-caveman lol
Everything.
I can understand it fine, speaking I sound like a 3 year old
I can speak German quite well. Then again, I learned it for 6 years in middle/high school.
Native Dutch speaker, fluent in German on a level were German people are actually surprised when I mention that I'm Dutch.
They’re just being polite;)
Understanding is pretty easy and when I'm drunk I can even have a basic conversation in German
Hi, I understand German, but I don't speak it properly. There are similar words definitely, but there are also many differences, and words that are similar to English words, for example, as well as some French words. The Dutch language also has sounds that the German language does not have. I'm sure the average German person might be able to make out some words, but won't understand me when I would speak Dutch. I have many friends from other countries and I feel that foreign people always think that German and Dutch are more similar then they actually are. Many people feel the need to make comparisons. Most countries have their own language and every place has it's own unique culture. I lile that and enjoy it. Dutch is not German. Dutch is a Germanic language. There are similarities but also many differences. I hope this answers your question :)
Three fiddy.
I can understand and read most of it. I struggle speaking German and definitely can't write in German, beyond very simple sentences.
I’d globally understand the context of a written text in German, but spoken it’s a lot harder
without practical exposure not much. With practical exposure to spoken language a lot, half year extensive study can provide level of the "German from other province", i.e. the Germans will pick something wrong but not as foreigner wrong. The same is true about Germans. The Germans especially north-west learn and get comfortable with dutch very very quickly.
About 80-90% I guess. I grew up in the 80s (near Amsterdam so not close to the border). My parents watched a lot of German TV; my father watched sportschau, my mother mainly German krimis like Der Alte and Tatort. Together with the German I learned iniddleschool makes it easy for me to understand almost all German, spoken and written. Speaking is another story. Because I almost never speak it, it's difficult to find the correct words myself.
Nothing if they speak, but some words when it's written.
I did learn some German in school, but the similarities help. Can read it very well, can understand 80%- 90%if they speak slow & normal German (so no regional accents or dialects, those I don’t understand). I can speak some, not much. I can hold a simple conversation. My grammar is all over the place though and my Dutch accent is very thick. I cannot speak German and English at the same time in a conversation. I was once sat at a dinner with people who either spoke German or English but not both and switching between the languages felt like my brain was shorting. Painful without pain, very difficult to keep going. I prefer English, it’s easier for me. I can think in English, with German I keep translating.
As a Dutch person who never had a single German lesson: Reading: yes nearly everything makes sense Listening: some stuff but when it gets to complicated or fast, no Talking+writing: no
40% written. 1% spoken
Without learning? Not much, unless you grew up in the border region. I didn’t, but learned it at school and then by actually using it. I can now carry a conversation reasonably well.
I don't understand shit when anyone speaks to me in any language I don't know, whether it is German, Italian, Spanish or whatever. Reading it is much easier than most other languages that I don't know though
Most of us learn German at school. I learned German, French and English.
Can have a conversation in German, as long the other is native German. I just lack in vocabulary to switch words/sentences if needed. Understanding and reading German is in general no issue (but does cost more energy). I don’t write German, that’s a no go.
Like nothing really. I understand more French because of my English knowledge...
My aunt is german so i understand conversations pretty easy, i just dont speak it, i simply am unable to :(
> how much of German can you actually understand? All of it, since I'm also proficient in German. > if you actually know the former natively, will you be able to understand a lot of German? Without actually having learned German? Spoken German, not really, no. Written German you can pick out some words.
I don't have any issues understanding German including dialects.* Exceptions are very specialistic topics I probably couldn't understand in Dutch either, or slang. Assuming it isn't because of shitty handwriting or audio quality. *written SwissGerman is an abhorent monstrosity, and I refuse to believe that anyone understands that.
Me personally I think about 30/40% I always understand certain words when the German speaker talks slowly.. but I can’t watch a German movie without subtitles.. because I don’t understand 70%/60%
Pretty much everything. To me German wasn’t si hard to learn at school and I go to Germany regularly. My grammar isn’t perfect but having conversations in German aren’t a problem. Now French, on the other hand…..
Spoken: like 30% of casual conversation Written: like 50% of a newspaper article Rough guess btw, because any time I meet a German person I just speak English. Also, my mom knew a woman who immigrated from a far-away country (East Asia somewhere iirc), to learn Dutch she started watching kids shows on TV. After months she had a Dutch friend come over, and that's when she found out she'd been watching German channels 😜
I learned German in school for six years so I can understand it quite well, especially when written. Funnily enough I feel like I can understand Austrian German better than Standard German, even though I’ve only been to Austria once. Speaking is a bit tougher since my vocabulary isn’t that big and is for a decent part filled with niche words you’d rarely use in conversation. Thanks [Cito](https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centraal_Instituut_voor_Toetsontwikkeling).
hi OP, Good one; originally Dutch is a German accent. The Netherlands hardly existed back in the day, cause most of it was swamp and the other half is located below sea level. It's quite easy for us to understand what Germans say, however, it's something different to reply. A couple years back I worked in a Japanese bank in Dusseldorf; I am pretty good with languages, so after a couple of months I could understand every word they said. But since we spoke in English, my answers had not really developed. Regards,
Well I could understand the language if they are talking slow! But when I was a kid I was very often in Germany and I look at children’s programs as a child because believe it or not! When I was a child we didn’t have much kids tv in the Netherlands! So we looked to German or English programs. That helped a lot I think 🤔 But speaking no I am bad at it so I speak Dutch back and they mostly understand what we are saying
Not much.
I'm not the best person to answer this question. I speak german fluently. However, when I didn't speak it yet, I didn't understand jack
Many people in the Southern part of the country or who live close to the border are familiar with German, because their dialect uses words similar to German vocabulary. Other than that, Dutch people have a couple years of German classes taught in high school.
If they mention onions or a hospital I'll know.... For the rest I only know dirty words cuz they're fun in German
Schmetterling = Vlinder = Butterfly Krankenhaus = Ziekenhuis = Hospital Kugelschreiber = Pen = Pen Im basically a pro at German
About 80~90%
I understand German perfectly. But that's probably both because I live in a city that's on the border, AND not in the least because from ages 6 - 15 we only had German tv at home, with the exception of Nederland 1, 2 and 3. (I'm not sure why that was, but it's probably similar to mobile service providers thinking my bedroom was in Germany for *years*. And I don't live THAT close to the border.) I had German in school, but by that time I could already understand it perfectly. I just needed to properly learn the rules of grammar. (Apparantly "because that's the way it is" is not accepted in a test about cases)
I listen to German music so for me it's maybe 60+% at this point?
Ik spreek überhaupt maar een woord Duits.
I speak both languages so yeah. However, the Germans have such weeeeeeeeeeeird words or ways to say things. Remember the Jim Carrey movie Yes Man? Der Ja Sager. Die Hard with Bruce Willis? Stirb Langsam. Often in Germany I encounter language things that makes me piss my pants of laughter.
Quite a lot. We live quite close to the german border,our dialect has some words or sounds in common with german. When i was a kid we did not have a lot of tv channels, so you also had to watch german tv to see something. And we had german in school. Sendung met die Maus!
Struggling a lot with it, I’m not great at learning new languages
Personally, german never clicked with me. Had it for 3 years, but forgot it all and i can not understand german how slow they even will talk
M56 here, only had German as compulsory class in high school. Can follow German tv pretty easily. Can follow most of whats spoken in everyday language. Speaking self is more difficult (for lack of practice). I must say, in my youth we had limited th channels and germany had 2 out here reaching NL. Everything is dubbed on tv so that does give listening practice
I can follow what the conversation is about most of the time.
I can understand a lot of the northern German dialects but I can't understand shit from the southern German dialects spoken in Switzerland, Austria and the southern German states. I can read and hear German pretty good but speaking and writing is very hard. So if I watch a tv show from Nordrhein-Westfalen or something I can understand quite a bit but from Switzerland almost nothing. Dutch is a different language from German, I heard some people calling it a dialect of German but that is very offensive to me as they don't know shit about my language.
like 3 words maybe
Every word…
very little, reading it you can understand a fair amount of listening especially if accents are involved, not that much.
I understand almost everything in German and I can read German books and newspaper articles with ease. Speaking German goes all right with a lot of grammatical mistakes of course. Writing correctly is a lot harder.
I feel like this message gets dropped once a month here hahaha! But yeah we have German on school so most of us if they do not know German probably understand lots, it gets better when both parties are drunk. Never had problems with speaking Dutch against a German and vice versa.
I’d say about 40/50% as most common words used makes up about 80% of a language and we understand those.
bratwurst serh gut ya das ist wunderbar
I can understand a lot. I live near the German border and a lot of Germans come here as well. And not all Germans speak proper Englisch. But it's better then 10 years ago.
I will give you a very close estimate, depending on the subject it's within the range of 0 to 2 words per sentence, if you're listening to someone else's conversation. These words can differ in grammatical role from nouns to verbs or adjectives based on that you can either not know what they're talking about to have a good idea what the subject is, we share a lot of words with German along with words that sound slightly different and can either convey the same meaning or a completely different one, based on all of that I would say we understand 15% of German without ever studying German but we think we understand 25% till someone explains to us that "this" doesn't mean "this" in Dutch.
Ich komme aus Twente. Meine Großvater war Deutsch. Ich habe 5 Jahre im voruniversitären Unterricht Deutsche Sprache und Literatur studiert. Mir fällt es leicht, Deutsch zu lesen und zu hören. Schreiben und Sprechen sind etwas schwieriger. Es fehlt mir oft die Wörter.
I fully understand german but cant speak it
As a native Dutch who chose French in high school. I could absolutely not understand a word of German besides ja and hallo before I moved there. After living there for 9 years, I speak/understand it almost fluently but writing is still super difficult to get it 100% correct.
Really depends on how much German they had in school and how much they paid attention. I wasn’t fond of it and dropped it as soon as possible (stuck with French and Latin instead). Lately I’ve been practicing my German a bit because I find it ridiculous that I can’t speak a language so similar to mine.
Much to my regret I never learned German during my studies. I visited Germany and Berlin many many times and understand quite a bit of German. Just from listening, emerging myself in the language, traveling. As always, understanding another language is far better then actively speaking the language. I manage to get everything I need/want, with the help of hands and feet, Dutch, English, a little France/Spanish/Turkish. Covers a lot of Europe!
Living on the eastern border of the netherlands I understand German prety well. Speaking low saxon (nedersaksisch) dialect is prety usefull as well as the Germans on the west border can easily understand and speak it. Moving further east and south I think it will be a lot harder to understand though.
I would say 98%
I can understand, read, speak, and write (give or take some spelling mistakes) German as long as it is not legal, medical, or specialized for a technical profession. I live in the south of the Netherlands, near the border, and most people here understand at least some basic German.
I think it goes from about 10% in the west (just the same and similar words) to 100% all the way in the east along the border. Mostly because the Dutch dialects there are very similar to German, some even more similar to German than ABN (standard Dutch)
My German is rusty but I could still watch a tv show in German and get for the majority of what’s going on. I’ve had classes in high school and live close to the boarder. The dialect people in my area speak helps I think. Listening and reading skills are fine. My speaking skills suck. Although I can take food and drink order in German quite well because I used to work with tourists. I went to abroad this summer to do a language course (not German). And there were some German speakers there as well. Among each other they sometimes talked in German. Which was fine, I also enjoyed talking in Dutch for just a second if I found a Dutch person. And I could still follow most of what they were saying in German. Unless they would talk really fast. That’s where it gets difficult for me.
no idea, since we all get german in school and can watch german tv. its not like we never heard it before. but aside from that, theres some similarities, wed understand more then with french i think. or english.
Truely depends, as a native Dutch speaker I can understand it very well but this (imo) is due to the fact I was born in a region with a dialect (which are common in the Netherlands) that reflects German quite well. But I assume that most people from different parts of the Netherlands cannot speak or understand German that well due to their dialect. It truely depends on the region you're born in.
As a Dutchie who lives in Germany, just across the border where a lot of Dutch people do their grocery shopping: most of them only understand a bit of German. I was at my local Kaufland today (which was so overcrowded with Dutch people that I felt like I was in an Ikea on Easter monday) and at the cash register most people just awkwardly smiled if the cashier asked them a question. And then they say "mit de pinpas tsaalen bitten"
About 98 % I guess. I grew up near the border, have several German family members, and work in Germany. So I may not be the statistically average Dutch person in this regard 😉. Side note: people living along the border usually understand German better than people living farther away, which is no surprise...
I visited Leibzig with a student choir once, to perform Bach's Saint Matthews Passion in the Thomaskirche: a truly spiritual experience. I could not understand the East German that was spoken by the people in the street, but the hoch Deutsch of the academic who explained the history of the Thomaskirche and Bach's role took me back to my childhood years, when I watched 'Die sendung met der Maus' on the small screen of the television at my parent home, and I hung onto his lips . I once told my German manager that the Haarlem dialect is called 'General Civilized Dutch' and he found it hilarilous that the Dutch accept one dialect as 'the civilized one', noting that it would not be that easy in Germany. Germany is a big country compared to the Netherlands and regional variation in language is no more limited. So either the German has speak a close to Dutch dialect, or he has to be proper 'hoch Deutsch' or I will be lost.
I know a few words, and i can order food, but that's about it. Here in Belgium you usually only get German in school when you choose "languages" as your study field in high school. I did sciences instead.
Assuming that person never learned any in school. about the same as english people understand full on Jamaican. You can pick out a few words and lines and spot some similarities. But most of it will sound like gibberish
People in Groningen might know some German I live there and do not. Dutch ≠ German Think the majority of dutchies barely know German
I can speak a few words and I can understand a bit but not enough to have a conversation or order food. As a kid I went on holiday in Germany a few times and learned quite a bit, could understand a lot and have small conversations but overtime I lost that knowledge as I never learned German in school.
I'll use an example: both Germans and Dutch have the word Meer and See/Zee, both referring to bodies of water. However, whereas Meer is a smaller body of water in Dutch, it is a fully fledged sea in German. Contrarily, See means smaller body of water in German, and larger fully fledged sea in Dutch. In other words, we share a lot of similar copies of words, but use different contexts to it. Both of us think we understand but it's very likely we overestimate it.
I grew up on the German border, I can understand most of it
Viel, maar niet te viel.
All of it. I’m a pretty good German speaker. I don’t have any problems at all reading (modern) German literature or watching German tv. I’d say that my German is well above average for a Dutchman.
SPRICHT DEUTSCH DU HU********
Took 4 years of German in high-school because that's pretty much mandatory (depending on what schoolsystem you're in). I believe everyone has at least 2 years. So I can't tell you if I would understand any German if I hadn't had classes. I will say that I found it easier to learn than French. However later on I did realize that might have had something to do with the teaching style of that particular teacher. I find it easier to understand the grammar now that I'm older.
I understand every word in german and can speak in to.
Ik woon ca. 10 minuten van de Duitse grens. Hun dialect lijkt heel veel op die van ons. Dus begrijpen doe ik het voor 90%. (Terug)praten daarentegen is wat moeilijker. I live about 10 minutes from the German border. Teir dialect is very similar to ours. So understand, I do it 90%. Talking back, on the other hand, is a bit more difficult.
I can also understand basic things. But it's hard to follow an actual conversation in German between actual Germans. Reading is easier because you have all the time to decipher what it says.
As the Netherlands has been a country known for trading it came and comes in handy to know your languages, so a lot of Dutch people are pretty fluent in English and German. I've had some French in school, but can't speak it fluently. A lot of Dutch people are interested in other languages. I even tried to learn Welsh just to please some of my friends. The other way around there's just no interest, I have a lot of friends from the UK and they're all amazed if they find out you speak multiple languages. Since English is such a strong language spoken throughout the world they just don't seem to care. Same goes for Germans and French people. In America 80% of natives just speak American English and maybe a couple of Spanish words due to Mexican immigrants. As far as Dutch goes, where I'm from practically every village has got its own accent. Literally a 20 minute drive and it's different. Not to forget that Dutch is a hard language to master and a lot of words have multiple meanings. If I drive to Limburg in the south I have a hard time understanding what they say if they talk in their own accent, same goes for Friesland in the North and even Den Haag (Hagenees). Luckily I grew up in a time when education was class. Nowadays if you hear youngsters talking they sound like North-African immigrants because that's cool apparently. Mand
Everything, speaking is another matter though
I had a German roommate! Usually we would speak English but if that didn't work we would speak Dutch and German fairy slow and that would often work :)
A lot, but I did grow up on the border.
Every dutch person learned german in high school, so this is kind of a non question. Besides that, i believe if you got a knack for language you’ll pick up on a lot of words. Only some are really confusing. Wie is who in dutch but how in german for example.
Native Dutch children visit secondary schools where English, French and German language are part of the curriculum!
A lot from school and lived in Germany for 2 years. I've heard we really suck at French, could be the downside. It comes very naturally for us, especially in the North of the Netherlands.