Or so I keep being told. 

My Dutch teacher tells me that the Dutch use about 8,000 words (of the 240,000 contained in the Dikke Van Dale, accepted to be the leading dictionary in the Netherlands.  Compared to the 750,000 the Oxford English Dictionary believes the English language to contain).  If these 8,000 words, he believes that only 2,000 make up 85% of Dutch day to day conversation.

Great, so I can just memorise Het woordenboek van Vos en Haas, containing 1000 words and I will be half way there.  Or will I?

The thing is, Dutch is very difficult, apparently.  All the Dutch people keep telling me it is, so it must be true.  Having (somewhat swiftly, I feel) deduced from my blank expression that I did not speak enough Dutch to follow what she was saying my new neighbour slipped easily into English with me yesterday.  "So," she says "now you are staying here, are you learning Dutch?", "why yes," I say, "I think its really important to speak the language of the country you're living in".  "Oh, but its so difficult" says the neighbour with a smile, "Dutch is really, really difficult".  "Mm-hmm" I shrug, non-commitally, a tight smile on my lips.

Here's the thing though, and please tell me if you think differently, I'm not actually sure it is that difficult.  Not to be blase about it, because learning a language is no small undertaking.  However, I already speak two languages with varying degrees of proficiency other than my mother tongue.  I managed to learn them, what is it about Dutch that makes it so difficult, so apparently impossible to learn?

Well, first of all, the fact that almost every Dutch person I have spoken to about learning Dutch, tells me its difficult - that's a fairly major obstacle right there.  How motivated will you be to start learning when the very people you want to communicate with stop you in your tracks before you have even begun?

Something else I hear quite frequently is "Oh, but you don't need to speak Dutch, everybody speaks English".  Well, yes, to a point, but let's look at this more closely.  Not everybody speaks English, small children for example, do not speak English.  I am absolutely unable to communicate past smiles, tickles and the occasional word with our other neighbour's gorgeous baby daughter.  In England I wouldn't hesitate to offer to mind her for a couple of hours if the neighbour needed me to, here I can't, who wants somebody to mind their child who couldn't understand what the child needed?  Our ex-neighbour didn't speak English, unusal granted but proof that not everybody speaks English.

My Dutch teacher has an interesting theory about why the Dutch are so hesitant to allow others to speak their language, specifically those from neighbouring countries because, I'm sure you have noticed they are very adamant that other countries speak Dutch if they live here, Turkey and Morrocco would be the immediate examples which spring to mind.  In fact, Utrecht is so determined to ensure that people speak Dutch that they are planning to cut the benefits of those who do not speak Dutch to a sufficient level.  My Dutch teacher feels that it is all about control.  The Dutch are surrounded by countries who have in the past posed a threat, what better way to gain a sense of control than to control language and communication?  The Dutch are renowned for their command of languages, English, French and German are all taught a very high level in schools.  If they speak all the languages they can understand and control what is going on.  It also gives a subtle sense of importance to the recipient "Oh, don't worry about speaking our little language, your language is so important that we've learnt it and we are happy to speak to you in it"  That's a fairly substantial message to send someone, albeit subconciously.

Of course, there is an argument that protected by EU law, EU nationals do not need to speak the language of the country they are living in.  We have freedom of movement throughout the EU.  The reality though is somewhat different.  I simply cannot imagine how I would have got by in Paris or  Bologna without speaking French and Italian, however appallingly.  It wasn't a requirement, but it was a necessity.  Nobody ever said to me, "Don't try to speak French in Paris, everyone speaks English".  Well, that's true, for the most part they do but if you want to get anything done, you better start speaking French, and speaking it quick.  It is expected of you.  Not only that, but it is a common courtesy to your host country to make an effort to fit in.  It is your choice to live there after all.

So where does this leave me with Dutch, I don't need it, I've proved that in the last couple of years of living here but I do want to speak it, and now its a challenge - I must speak it, because people keep telling me I can't.  Perverse, but true, nothing motivates me like being told I can't do something.

As part of my course I am meant to do three things each day to bring me closer to my goal of speaking Dutch.  So far I have been reading and absorbing Dutch Word of the Day, completeing my online course work, commiting to try to speak in Dutch before I ask "Sprecht U Engels?".  Do you have any other suggestions for me?  What else could I add to my list to keep me challenged and motivated?

(Image found here)

Let's talk shelving.  The Lovely Husband and I have a lot of books.  Really, a lot of books.  When we moved to the Netherlands we shipped more books than other personal belongings combined.  Like I said, we have a lot of books and we have only added to the collection since then.

Books are my passion.  Shelves of alternative worlds just waiting for me to jump in.  The Lovely Husband is more of a political biography and economics type books reader, his books reside in the "boring" section.

This past weekend we finally got the bookcases up in the study.  Using the trusty Billy bookcases from IKEA I diligently assembled and filled 4 bookcases almost to capacity.  Once the floor is finished I will bolt them to the wall and add the height extension units for more space.

This endeavour was not without its, well, lets call them hicuups.  I am not known for my measuring or spatial awareness prowess so I had asked the Lovely Husband to measure the wall and calculate how many bookcases I could fit on there.  He confidently told me four would fit almost exactly.  Perfect, I thought, the built in look without the built in cost.  Which it would have been had he remembered to measure from the window sill instead of wall to wall.  Instead, I was 2cm short of perfect so I have three bookcases looking a bit lost in the middle of the wall and one bookcase along the back wall at right angles.  Not ideal.

So I am back to thinking about built ins.  Its not a cost (or an upheaval) I can bear right now but its going on the list.

As a trial run though I am planning built in CD storage.  We just don't have enough floor space to have more freestanding storage so I am thinking vertically.  There is a gap above the sliding doors in the study which is 3 or 4 CD cases high from the top of the door frame (which will help to provide support) to the ceiling.  I think that as we are moving more of our CD collection to the computer but still can't make the break with the physical CD cases, that this is the best solution.

So, how do you store your books and CD's? Do you have any built in storage photos you can share with me for my inspiration files (either your own or other people's)?

We will be fortunate to have a designated study/home office in No. 75. As the main user I get to decide on much of the furniture. The room is also sufficiently spacious to house our quite extensive library (future posts debating custom built in shelving versus the obiquitous Ikea Billy are to be expected).

As with every other room in No.75 we have a completely blank canvas to play with. White walls, square room, wood floor. One wall is formed by original 1930's stained glass sliding doors. One wall has two enormous windows on it. Another wall is completely bare (currently designated for bookshelves) and the final wall has a door to the hallway in it.

Right now functional and cost efficient takes precedence over "OMG! Ah-mayyyyyy-zing" when it comes to desks. So we will be revisiting ye olde favourite Ikea for the desk. I am trying to keep the colour in the accessories in this room so that it is a calm space to work in.

The desk legs will probably be:

 

 

But I can't choose between a solid beech desk top (lovely, solid, butcher block wood) or a glossy white desk top (clean lines, glossy surface, won't clash with the wooden floor).

 

So this:

 

 

 

Or that?