How Many Languages Are Overshadowed? My Experience of a Minority Language Mother Tongue in a Majority Language Environment

By Suzan van den Broek

I never considered my native language to be a minority language. It is true that the Netherlands is small, especially in comparison to the United States of America, but more than seventeen million people living in such a small country makes it seem very large. I never considered my native language to be a minority language: until someone told me that it was. 

This person was French, a teacher of English – the two majority languages that seem to barely recognize the Dutch language.

First of all, you won’t easily find a Dutch language class at an Anglophone or Francophone university. In fact, I am the only native Dutch person at the American university I attend. And with only three Americans who can speak Dutch, my language is not represented at a university that represents so many other languages. 

While I am tremendously happy that I can occasionally speak Dutch with these three Americans, I surely do not share the same experience as the majority of native foreign-language speakers in the language departments who teach their own language. Since their languages are represented and taught, they are able to continue speaking their native language on a daily basis. 

I have experienced people assuming that the Netherlands does not have its own native language. It seems like part of the world thinks that English is the official language in the Netherlands. As a consequence, people assume that my English is amazing. Even if they know that English is not the official language in my country, they still think that it must be easier for me to learn foreign languages because Dutch is a minority language.

It is true that various university degrees are taught in English in the Netherlands, but that does not mean that English is an official language in the Netherlands. Saying that it is is not only incorrect, but it also feels like the many years I spent improving my English language skills are underestimated and undervalued. 

Would it be possible that the generally thought conception that ‘Dutch people always speak English so well’ or that ‘minority languages are more open to learning a foreign (majority) language’ has influenced how often translations in Dutch, and other minority languages, are offered? In the United States of America, governmental and health insurance translations are offered in as many as twenty-one languages (or more). Dutch is not on the list. 

Now, I know my country as a place where the Dutch language and its regional languages reign. However, Americans see it as the place to go to work, live, or study because they wouldn’t need to learn Dutch. It would suffice to speak English, they say, because so many others – who never learned Dutch – have already done it. 

Could I go to the States, or to France, without having any knowledge of the national language? Probably not if I actually wanted to do something there and be accepted by its society. I even had to show proof of my English language skills to get into the French master’s programme. 

I must admit, though, that several American movies and TV series have included scenes in Dutch. Matt Damon’s performance in The Bourne Identity is truly impressive. I’m sure he must have practised a lot to pronounce the two Dutch sentences so well! In Spider-man: Far From Home, they made the right decision to hire actual Dutch actors instead of either German or American actors with thick accents. 

How curious it is that some shows decided to hire German actors to speak Dutch. As if German and Dutch are the same languages! I have met many Germans that are absolutely lovely, but I have also met some Germans that would walk into a shop in the Netherlands and pretend like they are in Germany, not even bothering to ask if the Dutch people can speak German. 

I understand that there are too many languages to accommodate for. And I must praise countries like the US that try to offer a broad palette of languages in universities and official procedures. But am I not allowed to wish for Dutch people to demand a little bit more effort from foreigners who stay in the Netherlands for longer periods of time? Am I allowed to wish that they would learn Dutch? I know that Americans judge the French because the French demand foreigners to speak French, but how can Americans judge when they do the exact same thing? 

In the end, I can’t help but wonder how many other languages are faced with the same struggles. How many languages are overshadowed by the few large, majority languages? How many native speakers are constantly required to speak a majority language while the majority language indulges in its overpowering influence? 

I love speaking languages, and that’s why I speak multiple foreign languages. It’s a way to show respect to people and their culture. Still, sometimes I wish people wouldn’t expect me to speak their language and would try to speak mine instead.