Learning Dutch (1)

From Coisas Minhas

A couple of days ago, I got this pretty postcard from my Dutch friend, Hanny: a long letter I was able to understand quite well. :-) I'm making progress with my Dutch ;-)
Yesterday, we met in a very cold, but beautiful Amersfoort. We spoke in Dutch most of the time: simple sentences, current affairs, of course, not the King's Speech ;-)

There are still words that I find very difficult to pronounce like "Onafhankelijkheid" [Independence or “Independência” in Portuguese].
Yesterday, I couldn't say it. Today, I tried again, and it came easily. Let's see tomorrow...

Before coming to the Netherlands, learning Dutch never crossed my mind. I remember once a colleague said she was learning Dutch and that was all my relation with this Germanic language. I've never studied German either. Only French and English.

The first time I heard a Dutch word was already in the KLM flight when the pilot said “Dames en Heren,...” which means “Ladies and Gentlemen,...” or “Senhoras e Senhores,...” in Portuguese.
The first written Dutch word I remember to see was “Aankomst” [“arrivals” or “chegadas” in Portuguese] in the corridor of the airport, when I was arriving.

On the bus to Haarlem, where we'd stay in a Hotel for three days, I noticed the word “reis” written on the ticket. “Reis” in Portuguese means “kings” and in Dutch, with a different pronunciation, means “travel”. I didn't know that by the time.

Quickly, I learned that “volgende halte” is “próxima paragem” (next stop), “trein” is “combóio” (train), and “tram” is “eléctrico” in Portuguese.

On our way back to Portugal, in the airport, I learned three more words: “vertrek” ("departures" or “partidas”), “luchthaven” (“airport” or “aeroporto”), “vliegtuig” ('flight” or “vôo”).

Until that moment, “reis” was my favourite word.

A couple of days later, knowing that we would be living here in November, I began to look for a house in Almere. Visiting Interimmo's site, I learned more four words:
“huur” (arrendar/to rent)
“koop” (comprar/to buy)
“huis” (casa/house)
“makelaar” (agência imobiliária/real estate agent)
I remember I wasn't able to understand the descriptions of the houses. Thank God for the photos!
Nowadays, the site is in English too. ;-)

A month later, in the evening of November, 4, we arrived in the Netherlands to take care of the paperwork and rent a house.
Next morning, at 9 o'clock, we had an appointment with the “Belastingdienst” or “Repartição de Finanças” (Tax Office).
I remember to see the word in the building when we were arriving by metro. “Belastingdienst...so different...” I thought...

(to be continued)