Translator English – Is that still needed in the Netherlands?

Although this question is asked quite often, the answer is a resounding “yes.” Simply because foreigners often don’t understand a thing of our Dunglish. I am often present at a symposium to interpret for a number of foreign guests. Usually, there will be at least one speaker who gives their presentation in English so that the guests can listen to the original version. The other attendees (Dutch) all understand it anyway. What always strikes me is that the American or British guests often look puzzled, while the rest of the audience is nodding with interest. And that idea—that the foreign guests are actually the ones who don’t understand the talk—has now been confirmed. During the symposium “Uitgesproken Engels” (“Pronounced English”) organized by Utrecht University and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, researchers and their findings were presented on this very topic. The studies discussed were conducted in similar situations, for instance during lectures given in English by Dutch professors. It turns out that Dutch students can understand this “Dunglish” (Dutch English), but foreign students cannot. And the lectures are precisely meant for them to be in English. Whether there is progress remains to be seen: bilingual education is on the rise, and children in primary school are taught English from an early age—but there is hardly any attention paid to pronunciation.