An Irishman's difficulties with the Dutch language

by Cuey-na-Gael, John Irwin Brown

This would never do, I felt; and that evening I bought the first grammar and dictionary I could lay my hands on at a second-hand bookstall in the Binnenhof. They were antique looking volumes, most of them there; and my books had a remarkably ancient aspect. But I was glad to find that I had completed the purchase of them without using one word of English. How? Oh, the method's very simple. You pick out some big book you don't want, and hold it up interrogatively. You can hold up a book interrogatively, you know, with a little practice.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language, Humor

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1908

About the author

Anglo-Irish preacher at the Scottish Church in Rotterdam in The Netherlands.

He wrote two fictional books about a man called Jack O'Neil trying to master the Dutch language and one book about irish humor.

Reviews

[Paul Kater · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had me in tears and stitches more than once. I acquired it through the Gutenberg Project and was curious about it as it was written in the beginning of the 20th century. Let me first say that this book won’t make any sense if you don’t have a decent grasp of the English and the Dutch language (preferable also older Dutch as the book is quite old).

The story of Mr. Brown and his doubtful successes in speaking Dutch, without going through proper training and refusing guidance for it, is absolutely wonderful. The story shows enthusiasm about foreign languages and how thin basically the support of only an old dictionary is. His final letter to the gentleman of the "Bevolkings bureau", regarding the umbrella, is a brilliant piece of writing, but also his conversation with the man working on the tram on his trip out to “Simplex” is something to be enjoyed without food or drink near.

It’s a short book, freely available, so if you feel adequate in English and Dutch, you are in for a laughing treat with this story.

[Gentian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very very funny. You really do need to speak Dutch to get the full hilarity of the book but as a Dutch speaking Irishwoman I found this particularly enjoyable.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly funny story about language learning via the total immersion method. Even though the narrator was detailing his difficulties with the Dutch language in this book, many of the pitfalls described can happen to anyone with any language that's new to them. None the less, I know I'll be laughing about many of the situations experienced by the narrator for years to come.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not funny, boring, and pointless. This attempted to capture the translation errors and subsequent misunderstandings surrounding an Irish man visiting the Netherlands. However, apparently nobody was able to hear that he had an accent unless convenient for the plot (man-maan etc.), so that often, nobody thought: "oh hey, maybe he means something more logical but has difficulty finding the right words". Furthermore, this is just incredibly dated, mainly because the Dutch language has changed so drastically over the last 100 years. While still comprehensible, I wouldn't consider this book worth it anyway.

[Nessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and amusing book. Bit out of date but if you know enough Dutch to understand the old fashioned wording it's just as amusing.

[Cora Bastiaansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grappig - Funny
Leuke vondst bij de kringloop. Grappig boekje uit 1908 over een Ier in Den Haag die Nederlands wil leren.

[Pim Veldhuisen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious tales about spraakverwarring!

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining, though not entirely believable. Very amusing for a Dutch-English bilingual.

[Jaap · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, first off, I read this book for the first time about 25 years ago and at the time I thought it a hoot: I'd just started to learn English and reading about someone having similar struggles with such an easy language as Dutch (which of course I had spoken fluently from the age of 3) was hilarious.

More than two decades and a handful of foreign languages later, the joke runs kind of thin. As a work of literature this is no more than a 2-star bagatelle -- even if I find myself writing this review with its style firmly in mind -- it gains (half) a star for giving a charming view of early 20th-century Netherlands: Motorcars are not unknown but horse-drawn carriages more frequent, aspirins are available, but a telephone in a hotel room out in a rural area is a novelty.

I don't want to suggest this booklet is not worth a read, fow which a knowledge of (slightly outdated) Dutch is a definite prerequisite, but do not expect more than a mild chuckle and shake of the head from it.

[Timo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Niet al te dik boek, maar misschien toch niet dun genoeg. Hoewel de mopjes veelal (erg) grappig zijn, is het me toch wat te monotoon en oppervlakkig.

Het geeft niets - het hindert niet - het komt er niet op aan.

[ratna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny :-D

Each chapter contains a short story, in which the character misunderstood a certain Dutch phrase or word, leading him to comical situation ;-)

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny story about an Irishman living in Holland. Since he does not speak Dutch very well, he gets into a lot of awkward situations!