Speaking English in Amsterdam?

Question

If I move to Amsterdam, can I speak english, or do I have to learn dutch? I want to work at an animation company for entertainment industry, do you know of any in Amsterdam? Thanks!

Answer 1

When I was in Holland, my husband ( he is dutch) and I went to this resteraunt and an American was our waiter.  He did not speak any dutch but he was learning dutch.  To live there, you have to speak dutch.  They will give you a llist of classes to take that will help you learn dutch.

Answer 2

Wij gaan laten zien hoe gelehrig u bent.

However, if you want to work in the netherlands you should be at least able to cummunicate in basic Dutch.

Answer 3

If you want to live in a country you will find it much easier if you can at least understand the language.

You will have to do things like filling out forms, (tax, job applications, housing contracts and so on,) and most of those will not be available in English.

And, while on average the Dutch do speak English, you will find that for many it is only skindeep.

Yes, they can ask you about your holiday, how you like the country and such, but when it comes down to real conversations the language knowledge is becoming spotty and the Dutch will prefer to speak their own language.

Of course you can live in the Netherlands and not speak Dutch, I know a lady who has done so the last 50 years, but everybody pities her, she has had a lonely life, the only friends being expatriates.

The English speaking people who have learned Dutch have a much easier time of it, even when their knowledge of the language is not perfect.

And for finding a job in the Entertainment industry, that will not be easy. There are not all that many jobs to give out, and it is one that is very much wanted by many people.

If you do not have contacts before coming to the Netherlands, if will be very hard.

I do not have contacts for you, I only know about the difficulties because I used to know someone wanting to work in the industry.

And as you do not mention you nationality, small warning.

Unless you are European, you will need visa and work permits, but they are very hard to get.

You will only be able to get them when you have a job lined up, and you will only be able to get a job when you have the needed permits.

So unless you are so gifted that the company can not do without you, forget it.

If you are from the European Union and some more countries, you will have to register, but you are basically free to move, although for some countries conditions still apply.

Answer 4

Amsterdam has many expat and foreign nationals.  Feasibly you could manage to do the shopping and get around in English only.

However what happens when your utility bills come in, a letter from the town hall, when you have to file your taxes etc - all of these are going to be in Dutch and it is going to be either expensive (hiring a translator) or a pain (typing into an online translator) all the time.  That's the practcalities.  

On the other side, talking only English as a tourist is not a big deal.  If you want to live in a country you should try to talk the language at least and try to understand the culture in order to integrate.  Otherwise it is going to be a bit lonely - either you will have to build up a network of friends only in English (and these tend to be short lived with people coming and going), or if you get Dutch friends, then you cannot expect them to talk English all the time to each other so you can understand

From a work point of view there are international companies and institutions whose working language is English, in & around Amsterdam, - but if you want a job at a higher level or a specalised field then you will need Dutch.  I am no expert but I cannot imagine that there will be many English spoke Animation companies in the Netherlands

From a practical point of view as well (having seen quite some number of questions from you about the Netherlands), if you are serious about wanting to live here and hold a non-EU passport then your first port of call should be to your local Dutch embassy.  You will need a working visa (unless you have a relationship with an EU national or you have a family connection which allows you to obtain a EU passport).  Being honest, these are very difficult to obtain. Forgive me for not wanting to type the details out again, so you can read this in a previous question here http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

EDIT - Hi Willeke - we were typing at the same time, but no of course not :0), no worries