Ant wrote:
>When I met Gerard in Rotterdam, he said "hi, I am Gerard". I answered I
>did not know him... Could not recognise a name though it is a name used
>in France...he had to spell it :-)
For a lot of non-Dutch speakers neither my first name nor my surname is
pronouncable. Neither would they understand them when I do pronounce
them myself. Surprisingly my first name is much harder than my surname.
To englishman I would most times introduces myself with an anglicized
version of my middle name - Henry - to evade the complexity of my first
name. For an englishman to pronounce my surname, here is the guide. Look
puzzled when reading, murmur two letters, embarrassingly look around for
help, give up - if I see that I know an englishman sincerely tried to
pronounce my surname. I do not answer questions about my first name.
As a rule of thumb, the dialect changes every 3 miles from the
North-Sead to the Alps through the Netherlands and Germany. Only
listening to local people in villages on such a trip you would not be
able to tell the border between the Netherlands and Germany. More
generally, in the USA the dialect varies enormously from state to state,
and even within states. For sure a Texan could tell Jimbo is not Texan
by only listening
Ad Huikeshoven
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