Part of my family is talking Dutch, I need help?

Question

I am visiting my dad's family in Amsterdam Holland who speak Dutch and English. The problem is I don't know Dutch and all they do is talk Dutch and I want to know what there talking about. I'm here for another week, what should I do.

Answer 1

Durch people, especially the old ones, would not liked to be addressed in the German language. Therefore you should go for some durch phrases like

Goedenmorgen - Good Morning

Goedemiddag - Good Afternoon

Goedeavond - Good Evening

Wel te rusten - Good Night

Answer 2

perhaps just tell one of your relatives about this. that you would like to be included. lol

and have them tell you whats going on in the converstions. Then you might start to catch on to the little words and you wont feel so left out. and you'll go away with a bit of dutch lol

Answer 3

well, you could learn the language with rosetta stone from tv, but since ur already there you can just ask them and hope they reply in english.

when u get home, get this off of amazon

Answer 4

I'm Dutch myself, living in the US. I usually talk Dutch to my parents, even when I'm with my friends and did not notice how impolite it is until my Spanish friend kept saying things in spanish to her mom and I heard my name.. so i started wondering.

Ask them what is going on and if they could include you in conversation by speaking in English... Asking this might seem difficult but in the end you'll be a lot happier!

Good Luck and have fun in Amsterdam! Great city!

Answer 5

ask them in english something you dont know or want to know

Answer 6

get on the internet and look up basic dutch

Answer 7

thats always not good... ask them to speak english? i know dutch people are really good with english. maybe theyre more comfortable speaking dutch... so unless they are speaking to you it might not matter, some people dont like eavesdropping

Answer 8

Learn a few words and phrases in Dutch, and try to use them, and your family will teach you a bit more.

Answer 9

Well if your dad knows dutch ask him to help you out.

Answer 10

start talking in english and they'll catch on

Answer 11

if they speak dutch to u you can ask them to please speak english, because u dont understand. ask your dad for translations (i have to do that too with my grandparents, only they dont speak dutch)

in the mornings you could say Guten Tag (pronounced: Goo ten tok) its german for good day  or  good morning.

Answer 12

Perhaps you should talk to your dad about it, or someone else in your family who you can trust. It's rude to talk in a different language like that when someone who doesn't speak that language is in the same room. My family does that sometimes, they're from Indonesia and I'm Dutch myself so I don't speak nor understand Indonesian. It's very frustrating and rude. But perhaps they don't understand that you're not feeling comfortable in the situation so perhaps you should explain it to them? And if that doesn't help, buy a Dutch-English dictionary. ;-) Good luck!