Just did a radio interview, live, in Dutch. Doing live stuff is something I can generally manage OK but when it’s in a foreign language it’s a bit more intimidating. I thought I had slipped several times and they went back to the ex-Belgian prime minister a bit sooner than I had expected to finish the piece. Oh well, I thought, chalk it down to experience; shame to have started the week with a weak performance in public, but there you go.
Then I was cheered up immensely by an email from a Dutch friend:
Ik heb me al die tijd niet gerealiseerd hoe goed je nederlands is, bijna beter te verstaan dan je engels, omdat je dat zo snel spreekt.
Bij deze mochten we elkaar weer eens tegenkomen, dan weiger ik verder engels te praten.
So she says she will never speak in English to me again, because my Dutch is easier to understand, because I talk too fast. A slightly barbed compliment, but I will accept it anyway.
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