Translator of High Dutch Required

[Indeed, sometimes he sabbels par excellence - although rather nice.]

oh, oh, walter ! we are close to having our code deciphered ! remember what happened to the german intelligence(?) during ww II ! ( ik will man lever min mul hollen). hbg ... message to decoder : it's all just plain, oldfashioned fun !

:wink:

Doris: ik ben geen Belg hoor, maar ja wel Brabander, da zijn halve Belgen hé :wink: Ik zou dus echt niet weten waar hij aankomt in belgië - als dat is wat je bedoelt -, ik zou eigenlijk ook niet weten waar hij hier in Eindhoven aankomt, ik hou meer van Kerstmis, Sinterklaas wordt bij ons thuis niet meer gevierd.
Walter that's really cool you have family in the Netherlands and that you understand a little Dutch. I have family in Austria and Germany but that sadly doesn't mean I am a good German speaker - although I can understand of course it a bit. It's really nice to hear you had Dutch at university. Not so long ago I saw on television that the number of Germans studying Dutch far succeeds the number of Dutch studying German. It's nice to know we are of sort of interest to other Europeans :wink: And also another question Walter: are you a walking encyclopedia? You know just too much!

a) I didn't have Dutch at University (although we had Dutch classes/teachers)
One of my students was Dutch, and I was the supervisor of her BA-thesis.
(She was originally enscripted at the Hogeschool Gelderland, the partner university of our department.)

b) I'm no walking encyclopedia at all
aa) I know, how to search the web
bb) I've stored a couple of good links
:wink:

Come on think positive! Just say: of course I'm smart - nobody can say you aren't, for I don't think people here really 'know' you, in 'hello neighbour' or 'hello I'm your mother' (sounds weird, I know, but you get the point right - only people who know you in real life can judge whether you are smart or not, although 'smart' is only relative).

A friend and fellow A2Ker gave me coffee mug as present, with a quotation by Bernhard Shaw on it:" I am an extraordinary witty, brilliant and clever man."
I use it always, when online.

And you have the right to use it!

Certainly, it was a present!

What did brianh asked originally, btw?

Good question...something about Dutch, I thought? :wink: Anyway, why does Brian not react? We all did him a favor, but he seems to have lost his interest in us. I feel sad

By pure chance, I found a website at Radio Netherland about "Low Dutch":Lost Durch offshot

Wow that is really something Walter! I did know that once a lot of Dutch emigrated to the US - besides New York mostly to Michigan - but that they spoke a Dutch dialect for a long time is very surprising! Also funny is that I am able to understand the Low Dutch sample - without reading the English translation.
This is actually very funny, just a couple of hours ago I read a part on Mennonites in the former Soviet Union, and among those Mennonites - who were supposed to be all German by origin - they found a small group of people who did not seemed to speak German. They discovered that the language they spoke was actually Old Dutch. It seems that not only German Mennonites emigrated to Russia some centuries ago, but also some Dutch Mennonites. But because all Mennonites were seen as German, there was no (remaining) record of some Mennonites being Dutch by origin.
That does not mean btw that they are still "Dutch". I mean, some of them still speak this form of Old Dutch, and still have Dutch names - like Klaas -, but they look Russian and their way of life does not have any similarities with the Dutch culture. But still, it was strange to read that there are offspring of Dutch people living in Russia.

Thinking of 'Pennsylvanian Dutch', that, what you wrote (re German<>Dutch Mennonites) Rick, just seems to even things up :wink:

THE DUTCH - IN CANADA
quite a few dutch immigrants settled in eastern ontario during the late 1940's to the late 50's, and we are happy that we can count many of them as our friends. here you can learn more about the dutch in north-america >>>GO DUTCH !

Canada was - and still is - a very popular destination for Dutch emigrants. There are over 1 million Canadians who are Dutch or whose ancestors are Dutch - and that makes Canada one of the biggest destinations for Dutch emigrants ever! From other countries I don't know the exact numbers. I thought that the number of emigrants to the USA from the Netherlands after WW II was about 250,000. To Australia it was much more, I think also some 500,000 - 1 million. Other popular destinations were South Africa - one of the languages spoken there is Afrikaans from early Dutch settlers, long story, once had family there -, New Zealand and even Brasil! There are also few Dutch who don't have family outside the Netherlands.
I myself have family (close family, like an aunt, but also nephews and nieces from my parents) in Austria, Germany, Ireland, the US, Australia and I thought also Canada, and I used to have family in South Africa, but they came back to the Netherlands after they were shocked by the apartheid (this was in the '60s, '70s of the 20th century). Examples: they got a free gun when they bought their house, so they could shoot "black intruders", and they were not allowed to pay their black servant - they were given a black servant - more than the absolute minimum wage. Apartheid, bah

I've heard there are a lot of dutch emigrants living in New Zealand

Ow I'm sorry, seems like I missed a line.

New Zealand ???

English scumbags were sent there right???

Als da nie unne Rotterdammer is

However, the New Zealand film "Whale Rider" - produced by South Pacific Pictures, directed by Niki Caro - had won a the Audience Award at the 2002 Rotterdam International Film Festival!