Jacob H. Douma
My wife was a schoolteacher, and her English was always very good. It got so that I'd
say, "This is an important paper. You read it over and suggest what I ought to do about
its English. I know that I don't have the commas in the right place." She would help me
out a lot. I think I can do a little better job now, but I just don't like to write.
Well, did your parents speak Dutch in the home all the time?
A:
Yes.
So did you?
That's right. They spoke Dutch all the time, and when their friends came over, they spoke
A:
Dutch. In fact, I got so I could speak Dutch pretty well. All of my relatives, except one
uncle, were still in Holland, and the first time I met any of them was in 1968. I was in
the Chief's office, and I attended the International Association of Hydraulic Research
conference, which was held in Holland. After the meetings, I spent some time with my
relatives there.
The overseas flight went to London first, and I spent a few days there visiting a hydraulic
laboratory. Then I took a flight to Holland and landed in Amsterdam. I'd notified my
uncle of that beforehand and, after going through immigration and customs, I saw this man
who looked just like my younger brother. I introduced myself, and we shook hands. He
didn't know a word of English, and talked to me in Dutch, and I understood a little bit of
what he was saying.
We had to take a train ride of about 40 minutes or so to the town of Utrecht where he
lived. During that time, he talked in Dutch, and by the time we got through with that train
ride, I could understand almost everything that he said.
To get back to your question, I am certain that children who first learn to talk in a foreign
language have more problems learning English. Certainly, those kids who grow up in a
family that speaks English all the time are much more able to handle the English language
than a person like me.
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