Netherlands: Mini Bieb

There is a mini library in our neighbourhood where children can borrow and share books. When I first noticed it, I was beyond excited, because:

1. The actual library in our town temporarily closed its doors, like all other institutions.
2. It could be an easy way to expand our family's Dutch.
3. It was there! And filled with books! Without being locked or chained to anything!! And day after day, the books and the box remained there, without disappearing into thin air. Amazing.

Before we started reading, the books obviously went though a hefty decontamination and sanitation process, but it was well worth the effort. Even more so, since the only exposure my toddler was getting to the local language, was via Dutch programs and movies. And the odd radio / TV background noises when my husband and I were trying to get the latest on the "mondkapje tekorten" and other related corona crises.

At first, I tried to pronounce the words from the books in the proper Dutch manner: "Ik ben ook groot" was pronounced as

".. ouk grout", but after each sentence a confused look would cross my toddler's face and he would ask: "Wat is grout? Wat is ouk?"

So I rapidly dropped (what I perceived to be) the correct Dutch pronunciation and switched to a proper Nederkaans / Afri-dutch articulation: "Ik ben" (Dutch) "ook groot" (Afrikaans), à la the Dutch variation of Eliza Doolittle.

The word "nu" (now) created confusion from the start, because it sounded exactly like "nie" in Afrikaans, which means "not".

Confused? You're not the only one.

"Ik ben nu groot" therefore sounded like "I am not big" to an Afrikaans toddler, instead of "I am NOW big".

There was therefore a definite possibility that my toddler understood whatever story plot we had read, to be the opposite of what had actually happened. A big pirate could have easily been mistaken for a pirate which was, well, not big. I therefore patiently explained that not big is "niet groot" but now big is "nu groot".

The pirate was in fact big. "Nu groot".

The frown on his brow deepened and a few perplexed seconds passed.

"Wat is nie?"

I have heard before that Dutch is a mix of German and English, and I'm starting to understand why: Words with beautiful descriptive names in Afrikaans, simply become the English version in Dutch.

Pirates, giraffes and penguins are "piraten", "giraffes" and "pinguïns" in Dutch.

Easy perhaps, except that my toddler knows these words as "seerowers", "kameelperde" and "pikkewyne".

I therefore try to, perhaps more for my own understanding, explain the Dutch words in Afrikaans by referring to the English words.

As you can now clearly comprehend, a simple sentence like "Ik ben nu een grote piraat" can take a very, very long time to explain.

But it's wonderful and fun to read in Dutch, and we're loving it.

Now that we had clarified and agreed on the book's title, we will be starting on the first sentence tomorrow.