Long Hat - My First Dutch Children's Book Translation

I am thrilled to introduce you all to Long Hat, who up until very recently only existed in the form of a Dutch kabouter called Langmuts. I worked on the translation of 'Langmuts is een held' for Scrivo Media and I'm so proud that the 'Long Hat is a Hero' book has been released.

This is just one of a long list of things I would never have ended up doing had I not moved to the Netherlands, not opted for an expat life and not learnt Dutch. We are all on our own path, sometimes that path is chosen for us (like when we meet a Dutch man and fall in love), sometimes we consciously choose a direction ourselves and whilst none of us can see what is around the corner expat life generally manages to throw up surprises, challenges and opportunities. Long Hat falls quite easily in the first and last of those categories.

I was contacted last year about translating Langmuts because of my Happy Sensitive Kids blog and I didn't hesitate to say yes. Langmuts was a part of my family's life before I was contacted about turning him into an English gnome. The Langmuts series is written with highly sensitive children in mind (though they are fantastic stories for any children) and so we had the complete series on our bookshelf long before I became personally involved. My sons relate to Langmuts. My eldest son had his first - 'Wow, that's just like me" moment reading 'Langmuts is een held' so you can understand that there was no hesitation to get involved in the Long Hat series. (You can read more about this on the Happy Sensitive Kids blog.)

And so, my first Dutch children's book translation is available now. Right now. From Amazon UK (it is not currently available in the USA - lots of people have already asked so I wanted to pre-empt those questions!) and for those of you in the Netherlands you can get the book from Scrivo Media, with no delivery costs.

Are You a Sucker for Dutch Sugar?

Sometimes the translation from a Dutch menu into an English language menu doesn't go quite right... this one made me giggle.....

Mind you, now I'm looking at it I'm not at all sure about the multigrain cheese stick either.....

Feel free to share the best translation hiccups you've noticed below in the comments! 

Why The Dutch Refuse to Queue Like the English

Many years ago I read Watching the English by Kate Fox. It's a fascinating read if you are English, spend time with English people, or you just want to get to know us English folk a little better. There was a lot of penny dropping going on during my scurry through the chapters, lots of thigh slapping and "So THAT's why"...... in fact it's probably time for a reread as the book has been revised and updated!

The English, as a nation, are polite. Very very polite. It makes dealing with some of the more blunt Dutch manners even harder for English expats than some other nationalities. However, an American reader got in touch about the annoyance he feels at the lack of queue etiquette in the Netherlands. Ahh, I thought, a pet topic of mine! I am English, therefore I queue.

Dutch Primary Schools Lag Behind with Foreign Language Teaching

Platform Onderwijs2032 is looking at the future of the education system in the Netherlands. One of the conclusions drawn from their work to date is that English should be taught from group 1, from the start of a child's school journey.

According to an article on Expatica, just over half of Dutch children are taught a second language in primary school. This falls below the European average.

The government is busy with measures to rectify this situation. It is well acknowledged that children learn languages more easily from a younger age. The reality though is that many of them are not formally introduced to a second language until they are in secondary school.

It's a story that surprised me when I first read it. Lagging behind in foreign language teaching and the Dutch isn't something that struck me as going hand in hand. Let's be clear, the Dutch, on the whole, have excellent foreign language skills. Most of the population can hold a decent conversation in English.

"Amongst nations where English is considered the best-known foreign tongue, the study noted that the Netherlands also had a high proportion of working-age adults "proficient" in the language (36 per cent). This places the Dutch fourth in Europe, with only Malta, Sweden and Cyprus boasting more proficient English speakers. An additional 45 per cent of Dutch adults rated themselves as "good" speakers of English. This means that over 80 per cent of the Netherlands' working population has good English skills" 

(Taken from a 2013 I Am Expat article)

But the content of the Expatica article certainly doesn't contradict my own personal experience with three children in primary school.

My eldest son is in group 5, is eight years old, but as yet has had no formal second language lessons in school. My youngest son recently had a morning of singing English songs, and my middle son has had exposure to a few words of English vocabulary in the classroom. Their English skills are certainly not attributable to their hours in school.

However, they have classmates who are also adept at speaking some English despite not having the benefit of a British mother as my sons do. There are many five year old walking the school corridors with more than a sprinkling of English vocabulary - picked up from their parents, radio and TV. There is exposure to English outside the classroom, even if it is minimal. (I'm pretty sure you'd be hard pressed to find an eight year old who doesn't know the word shit for example...)

The debate at the moment is about the teaching of a second language at primary school level, not about the overall ability of the Dutch to speak foreign languages. Somewhere along the way it comes good. There's no mistake about that - something echoed by the Dutch respondents on my Facebook page to this issue.

My only concern is that if English was taught to the Dutch from group 1 by the time they reach adulthood their English would be more proficient than the English language skills of most English people.......

So over to you: at what age do children start earning a second language in school where you are? What language(s) do they learn? At what age do you think children should start learning languages in school?

Komt Een Vrouw bij de Dokter / Love Life by Kluun: Book review

As I crept into bed sniffing and snottering my husband asked,

"Finished your book then?"

Yes I had. I had just turned the final page over of 'Komt een Vrouw bij de Dokter' written by Kluun (aka Raymond van de Klundert). This is Kluun's debut novel written in 2003 and is dramatised from events in his own life.

It's a funny thing to enjoy a book which evokes gut wrenching tears but enjoy it I did. Well, when I say enjoy... I mean I found it hard to put down, I emphasised with the characters and I experienced their pain. That's what a good book should do right - put you into someone else's world?

When I woke the next morning I had puffed up red eyes and I was glad the book was finished. The Dutch presenter Myrna Goossen sums this book up perfectly, "Man, man, wat een heftig book."

Komt een vrouw bij de doktor is a book about Stijn and Carmen living in Amsterdam in the prime of their life, both running their own companies, enjoying the night life of the Dutch capital city, surrounded by success and friends. Until they are struck by breast cancer.

This book is their journey through cancer, about how it rips at the heart of their family and confronts their close friends. It is written from the perspective of Stijn, a fun loving, philandering, emotionally challenged husband, as he faces up to the reality that his wife is terminally ill. There'll be moments in the book where you'll want to hurt him. He behaves, as the Dutch would say, like a klootzak.

It is a book about preparing for the end of a life, an ode to love and the strength of family. The book is a roller coaster of emotion from anger at the medical establishment, to hope brought by treatment options, desperation as the effects of chemo take hold, to the final realisation that Carmen won't see their young daughter Luna grow up. It is a heart wrenching read, and all the more because it is based on real events.

Be prepared for humour and tears.

For those who relish the challenge of a good read in Dutch the book is available from Bol.com or any other local bookstore. If you'd prefer to read the book in English it's available under the title Love Life by Ray Kluun. It has also been made into a very successful film starring Carice van Houten, Barry Atsma and Pierre Bokma.

A book sequel entitled "Widower" is also available (though I am yet to read it but it is on my reading list for sure).

23 Wonderful Things about England and the English

Today is St George's Day and to mark it here are 23 things that are wonderful about England and all those who live within her.

1. English breakfast: the best kind of breakfast there is. Sausages. Bacon. Fried bread. Eggs. Tomatoes. Mushrooms. Yum.
2. Queuing: the English know how to form a good solid queue, and stick to it. None of this free for all nonsense they employ in the rest of Europe.
3. The sights of London: all the usual tourist traps landmarks make London what it is. Think Buckingham Palace, the changing of the guard, Big Ben and Tower Bridge. There's nothing like it.
4. Fish and chips.
5. Gorgeous beaches: whether it's sand, rocks or pebbles you like on a beach or cliffs and coves, England has it along her shores. 
6. And whilst we are on the topic of beaches the English know how to make a real day out of a trip to the beach. 
7. Marmite: England is the birthplace of Marmite, Burton upon Trent to be precise. Love it or hate it? 
8. Bonfire Night
9. Quaint: England is the queen of quaintness, littered with little (and big) places that can only be described as quaint. Like Haworth, Grassington, Clovelly and Stratford upon Avon.
10. Passion for the beautiful game: the English love football. Many people live and breathe the national game, despite there being very little international success on the football pitch since 1966. That's dedication and passion for you.
11. Pubs: English pubs are like no other. In every nation there are attempts to replicate the Englishness of a good English pub but most attempts can be written off as outright failures. 
12.  The royal family: what is there not to love about a real life, albeit involuntary, English soap opera?
13. Regional differences: there are amazing variations in accents, food and customs from county to county across the length and breadth of England. Compare a Cornish accent to the dulcet tones of a Geordie to appreciate what I mean.
14. English people are bonkers.
15. Christmas: The English know how to do Christmas in style.
16. Life is never dull around an Englishman: The English keep you guessing and it keeps you on your toes.
17. Green, rolling hills: oh how I miss green rolling hills.
18. Top Gear: I'll stop right there shall I?
19. Sense of humor: what isn't there to love about sarcasm and self depreciation?
20. A sense of history: you can bathe in history in England - quite literally in Roman Bath, more literary in Jane Austen's Hampshire and deep down in the abandoned mines of Cornwall.
21. Downton Abbey: any country that Downton Abbey is filmed in has to be wonderful, right?
22. Roast dinners.
23. Benedict Cumberbatch.

So there you have it - what would you add?

Happy St George's Day to all you English out there.

5 Ways to Encourage a Child to Write in a Second Language

My three boys are bilingual, speaking Dutch as their mother tongue and English as their second language. It struck me recently that even though we talk and read in English at home every day my eldest hardly gets any writing practice in his second language. So I'm making an all out concerted effort to change that and I have been thinking of ways that he'll find interesting to encourage him to pick up a pen to write in English.

Mama, What's Wheelchair in Dutch?

Photo Credit: Karen

Life with bilingual children is filled with surprises and giggles, from watching with amazement as they pick up words in a new language and just run with them, to situations created outside the home when people expect a Dutch word but get an English one instead. Or vice versa. Like the time the kinderarts assistant thought my eldest son was casting doubt on Bert's (as in Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie) sexuality......

Last week Mr C, my four year old, both surprised me and made me laugh as he launched into a story in Dutch telling his dad about his day in school. His Dutch has always been much stronger than his English but I have noticed that speaking English is getting easier for him, especially after three intensive weeks in England over the summer.  In any case, he said,

"Een meisje was vandaag in een....." ("Today one of the girls was in a ....") and then he leaned over to me and whispered in my ear,

"Mama, what is a wheelchair in Dutch?"

"Rolstoel!" I whispered back.

"Oh yeah, zij was in een rolstoel," he finished.

"Waarom?" asked his dad. ("Why?")

"Geen idee," said Mr C.  ("No idea.")

Bilingual Children: How Rumours Start

When you are raising bilingual children there will undoubtedly be frustrations, but there will also be laughs.

When we are out and about people outside our home obviously expect to consistently hear Dutch from my sons once they have struck up conversation in Dutch. They are not expecting them to suddenly switch to English. But sometimes it happens.

The funniest moment so far was when a pediatric nurse cast serious aspersions on Bert’s sexuality, the grumpier of the Bert and Ernie duo.

My son, two at the time, had to go for an appointment at our local hospital. Whilst we waited for the nurse, he was busy with various toys scattered around the waiting room. He picked up an Ernie, of Sesame Street fame, and began to play.

The nurse appeared and to get him comfortable with her (some two year olds are not too happy when a stranger wants to poke and prod them) she asked about the cuddly toy he was holding,

“Nou, wie is dat?” ("So, who's that?")

“Ernie,” replied my son looking at her as if she had landed from an alien planet.

“En waar is Bert?,” she continued. ("And where is Bert?")

“Bert’s at home,” he replied, turning around to get back to the important business of playing with Ernie.

The nurse looked a little shocked and turned to us and asked,

“Wat zegt hij nou?” ("What did he just say?")

“Bert is thuis,” my husband said “maar dan in het Engels. Hij heeft een Bert knuffel thuis.” (Bert is at home, but then in English. He has a Bert toy at home.")

The nurse broke in to hysterics and the three of us looked at her as if maybe she needed an appointment in a different section of the hospital. Until she explained,

“Ik dacht dat hij zei ‘Bert is een homo’.” ("I thought he said Bert is a 'homo'.")

It wasn't the first time I had heard that rumour, but in the sterile surroundings of a hospital examination room, it certainly broke the ice.

Through the Keyhole - An Expat Brit Lives Here

Photo Credit: Bill Davenport

As a British expat in the Netherlands I stick out like a sore thumb. Just by opening my mouth I am easy to pick out as different from the locals. (See Stuart's fabulous Invading Holland post "Oh, You're English" if you want to know a little bit more about what I mean). But most of the time it doesn't feel like it's entirely a bad thing. Not at all.

What seems like many moons ago I wrote a guest post for Meghan's wonderful Bringing Up Brits site about how my three sons, who are Dutch through and through, stand out a little from other Dutch boys because their mother is British. It got me thinking about how I stand out as British when Dutch people come to our house.

Magazine Rack: At any given time our magazine rack has old copies of some British magazine or other that friends have kindly donated to me, or that have been picked up on our travels. There was a time when it was hard for any Dutch guest to find something they could read but over the years the tables have turned. 

Music: Many of the CDs I own wouldn't have made their way into the average Dutch home. I'm talking about the very British music that never really made a name over here, those bands and singers I mention that make my husband screw his face up in confusion.

Food: My food cupboards and fridge contain jars of Colman's Mustard, boxes of Paxo stuffing, Marmite, Branston pickle, Hayward's pickled onions, mint sauce, Ambrosia pudding rice and custard and Bisto. These are not every day items from the local Dutch supermarket. They are expat shop specials, or brought lovingly over by visitors from England or hoarded in a squirrel like manner whenever I am back in England for transport back to my Dutch kitchen cupboards. 

Recipe books: You can't beat a good apple crumble, Yorkshire puddings or scone recipe so my kitchen shelves are filled with the type of recipe book you won't find in a Dutch bookshop. My shelves were once lined with weaning books and recipe books written by Gina Ford and Annabel Karmel. Most Dutch people looked blankly at me if I mentioned those baby and child (food and nutrition) specialists. Contrary to the rest of the Dutch population, my Jamie Oliver books are in English. I also have lots of curry recipe books. You can take a Brit out of Britain and all that.........

Affilate link: The Magic Faraway Tree Collection by Enid Blyton
Capturing childhood memories!

Books: The books I own are mainly in English. I read to relax, and I relax better in my mother tongue. That's not to say I don't read books in Dutch because I do, but the truth is most of my book collection is in English. Amazon.co.uk and I used to be best friends until they changed their free delivery policy. Now my best friend is The Book Depository. And it's not just my book collection that is in English; my three boys also have an extensive collection of books in English to make sure their English keeps improving, and that they know British nursery rhymes and classic stories. My eldest and I have just read "The Magic Faraway Tree" series together - and it was hands down his favourite book ever - so far. I read the very same series as a child so it was a wonderful experience to read the three Enid Blyton books with my own son. We've just started "The Wishing Chair".

Affiliate Link to Amazon.co.uk

DVDs: Way back when we first moved in together my husband and I amalgamated our DVD collection. We got rid of the duplicates but interestingly enough many of the Dutch DVDs survived the cull because they have Dutch subtitles and British DVDs don't. However, our DVD shelves are still lined with many a notable British film title.

Board Games: Our games collection gives me away too. The British version of word board games is always different to the Dutch version by way of the compilation of letters. For example the Dutch scrabble version contains 2 'J' tiles, whereas the British version contains 1. Playing Scrabble in Dutch with my British version and vice versa adds an extra challenge to the game which isn't wholly necessary. And of course British childhood classics like 'Snakes n Ladders' is unknown in the Netherlands (although I have seen versions of the game popping up quite regularly in recent years).

Bags: Giving a guest a carrier bag from Tesco, Marks & Spencers or John Lewis rather than an Albert Heijn or C1000 plastic bag to take items home in seems almost exotic. There's nothing like a Tesco carrier bag to say, "I'm foreign."

Look around you in your home - what gives you away as an expat to local eyes?

Rembrandt and Kiki - The New Kids on the Block

Rembrandt and Kiki are red-headed twins who are moving to the Netherlands. Their mother is Dutch and their father is English so they both speak two languages. These bilingual twins are mischievous and love a good adventure. I have a feeling my sons will be getting to know Kiki and Rembrandt quite well. Oh, and these 'new in town' twins are completely fictitious.

They are the brainchild of British expat Jane Archer-Wilms and Dutch national Marlies Veenhof who have colluded to create a series of books aimed at helping children improve their Dutch and/or English language skills. I caught up with them to ask them about the book series, their future plans and life before Rembrandt and Kiki.

Jane Archer-Wilms & Marlies Veenhof

Firstly, I wanted to know how they met. It turns out, like so many blossoming friendships, the two women met on a school playground, not as childhood friends but as mothers. They explain further,

"Our children go to the same Dutch primary school and we were both pregnant with our third child at the same time.... playground chat turned to regular meeting up and the friendship grew from there."

The next logical step was to write a series of books together. Right? Well, not quite but the idea was born from the desire to balance motherhood with work they could do around their children. Jane had recently stopped working at the British school in the Netherlands and Marlies was working one day a week as a primary school teacher to be able to focus more on their expanding families. Both women admit they found the idea of full time motherhood daunting and wanted a happy medium between parenting and putting the skills they had gained from years as teachers to good use. One afternoon, whilst at a children's playground, the idea of creating a bilingual book came to life.

And what do they hope to achieve with their bilingual books? Well, that's easy. Jane explains,

"World-wide fame and a seven figure salary..... Or we would settle for knowing that we have created something that children love but that also serves a purpose."

And where do the names Rembrandt and Kiki from? I naturally assumed Marlies had a hand in the choosing of the name Rembrandt but I couldn't have been more wrong. Whilst Marlies chose the name Kiki, a character that incidentally reminds her of herself as a child, Rembrandt turns out to be Jane's choice of name. It is not only a typically Dutch name, but one that Jane loves, so much so that she had the name on the list of potential names for her own sons. Her husband vetoed it but she's happy she got to name at least one boy Rembrandt in the end.

Choosing names for the book's main characters was not only the fun they had whilst creating the books. Marlies elaborates,

"For us, writing the books is the most fun. Trying to think how children think, and what they would find funny is fantastic. The translations can take weeks, as we want to stay true to both languages without compromising the story-line. It is also so exciting to see the illustrations when Sarah (Wills, illustrator) sends them through – it all comes so much to life then."

And for all budding children's book authors out there, Jane and Marlies reveal exclusively here on this blog the secret to finding a brilliant, quirky illustrator that matches perfectly with the ideas you had for your characters and their adventures,

"We were very cutting-edge in our illustrator-seeking strategy..... we used Google! Sarah is a professional children’s illustrator from Cornwall in England, and we loved her website and quirky drawing style. We approached her with our ideas for Rembrandt and Kiki, and after she sent us a few sketches, we knew we had found our illustrator."

Whilst the humour in the Rembrandt and Kiki books is aimed at children aged from four to eight, Jane states that the books are also useful for children of other ages.

"They can be read to younger children, and older children learning Dutch or English for the first time will find them accessible too. The children don’t need to be able to read; if the parents are not bilingual, they can use the free audiobooks on the website (in Dutch and English)," she says.

The books have not only been created with both English speakers and Dutch children in mind, but their parents too, as Jane further explains.

"We have really tried to make the books as user-friendly as possible, in the sense that parents can read the story fully in English, fully in Dutch, in both languages page by page, or the children can listen to all the above combinations on the free audio book. The children can, if they cannot yet read, look at the pictures and find the Dutch and British flags hidden on each page. Each book has a theme to which the children can relate, and there is a vocabulary list at the back of the book which corresponds with highlighted (and often repeated) words throughout the story. In this way, parents can also use the books to develop their child’s vocabulary in the second language."

She goes on to explain that the series they are creating works in a number of ways,

"It’s a fantastic resource for English-speaking children living in The Netherlands. It works just as effectively though for Dutch children living abroad or Dutch children in The Netherlands; it stimulates the use of a second language, be it Dutch or English. The other group we have targeted is primary schools – both Dutch and international. There is a complete scheme of work available to accompany the books, so it’s a great resource for the teaching of English or Dutch in primary schools".

Marlies, with her primary school teacher hat on, recognised that many primary school teachers felt unprepared for the introduction of teaching English to groups 1 and 2 (four to six year olds) so this series is also a means to give teachers a fun and stimulating resource to teach the younger age groups. It's an age group that both Jane and Marlies consider to be important when it comes to learning a second language.

"We think introducing a second language in the early years of school is a fantastic idea, so long as it is achievable and enjoyable for the children. We think it’s a real gift to be given the chance to learn a second language from an early age. The earlier that a child is exposed to a second language, the easier and quicker that language is to learn (as are any subsequent languages). Of course many English-speaking families in The Netherlands are here for a limited time, and we understand completely that Dutch can be a hideous language to try and pick up, particularly if you have no Dutch connections and are not here for very long. Rembrandt & Kiki is an easy and fun way of introducing and maintaining the Dutch language. It is also perhaps lovely to keep as a memento from the country in which you have lived."

And they practice what they preach too. Jane has lived in the Netherlands since 2002, and speaks Dutch (stating that it gets even better after a few glasses of wine, at least to her own ears) and her three sons are bilingual too. She also has big plans to turn Marlies' children into bilinguals, though Marlies herself needs no help with her English having taught it as a foreign language to students in North East Thailand, as well as teaching basic language skills to children in orphanages in the evenings.

And what of the future? I asked Jane and Marlies where they plan to take Rembrandt and Kiki and it turns out they have visions of European travel for the bilingual twins.

"We have big plans! We are writing an initial series of five books (plus five schemes of work for primary schools), each covering a different theme and adventure for Rembrandt and Kiki. The first one that is available to buy now is Rembrandt & Kiki Move to The Netherlands. The second one coming out in November is Rembrandt & Kiki in the Museum, the third one is at the farm and so on. We hope to write lots more books after this initial series – covering themes such as Sinterklaas, the seasons, holidays and so on. Our big plan, however, is to translate the Rembrandt & Kiki series into other languages, to be used in exactly the same way – to further a second language in other countries as well as The Netherlands. English will always be the base language, but given time, we hope to see Rembrandt and Kiki in German, Danish and Spanish, to name but a few!"

In the short term, I asked them to fast forward a year. What achievement would have them popping champagne bottles in celebration?

"We will be 10kg lighter.... oh you mean with the books? We will hopefully have the first series of five books available in paperback and hardback, along with schemes of work, and we’ll be busy writing the next series. The books will stand proudly on our bookshelves and when asked what we do, we’ll say without hesitation that we are authors of children’s books."

Both deserving of the title "Author". For sure.

I don't think there is any doubt that they may already call themselves authors of children's books. Wouldn't you agree?

June 2016 Update: There are now 6 titles to choose from in the Rembrandt and Kiki series!

Smitten by Britain: England's Love for The Beautiful Game

Photo Credit: Ontanu Mihai

My latest article for the wonderful Smitten by Britain website is about football. The beautiful game of football. It's about the English psyche when it comes to football. It's about the upcoming World Cup. It's about the trip back to England my eldest son and I took in March for his initiation into English football.  It's about Harry the Hornet. It's about my personal trip down memory lane to my first live football match.

"We are a mere two months away from the start of the 2014 World Cup football tournament. Media pressure is already on the England team to beat Italy in their opening match. Grumblings from the fans that England won’t get past the first stage of this tournament have already started."

Head over to Smitten by Britain to read the rest and if you are a football lover take the time to make a comment and tell Carl James just how wrong he is.........

5 Reasons I'm Glad my Children (Already) Speak Dutch & English

This is the third post in this month's expat blog link up about Celebrating Expat Life. You can link up your post on any of the titles so far this month at the bottom of this post - and read posts from fabulous expat bloggers across the globe.

You can read my 5 things I love about my expat life or the 5 reasons I'm glad my children are both Dutch and British in earlier posts.

This week here are my 5 reasons I'm glad that my young children are bilingual and can speak both English and Dutch, albeit the latter better than the former.

1. Aside from all the Benefits of Being Bilingual?: The positive elements of being raised bilingually are widely documented and study after study shows that the benefits are multiple. Speaking more than one language means more brain connections are made and in short bilingual speakers are a little smarter than mono linguists. Speaking multiple languages improves the ability to multitask, as the brain is switching between at least two different language structures. Memory improves. It has also been shown that being bilingual keeps dementia and Alzheimers longer at bay (that's what I told myself when I kept calling a banana an umbrella last week). I think those in themselves are pretty convincing reasons to be glad my sons are bilingual but if you don't believe me, how about from the mouth of a multilingual child, courtesy of Rita Rosenback?

Photo Credit: Valeer Vandenbosch

2. Making Language Learning Easier for Them: By learning two languages from birth I believe that they won't have to work as hard as I did to be able to speak different languages. I learnt French and German in school, and a minuscule amount of Italian and I had to work hard to do so. For my three sons English will be one less subject to worry about in school by the time they start formally learning English. It will be second nature to them and I hope they will find English lessons easy. I also believe it will pave the way should they wish to learn other languages.

3. Native Speakers: My three sons are learning a second language without having to do it formally in school - they start earlier than their classmates and have a native speaker at home to talk to, as well as other family members in England. They will continue to learn English in a natural setting, instead of only in the formal setting of a classroom. It can only help them when I think in terms of accent, pronunciation and the amount of practice they get.

4. Communication: Seeing that my husband is Dutch and I am British it was always an important point for us that our children should be able to communicate effectively with both sides of the family. That meant that learning English was a must if they wanted to be able to talk to my family, who are absolutely not linguists, and certainly no Dutch speakers. Watching their English develop, and hence their ability to talk to my family in England, is priceless, considering most of their peers would, as yet, be unable to carry out a conversation in English. It certainly helps them build a relationship with my British relatives and friends.

Photo Credit: http://grafdiss.blogspot.com/

5. It's a Small World: I love that they know from an early age that the world extends beyond the borders of the country they live in. They are familiar with many British things because they speak English. Language and culture is a package and they are well aware of a world outside of the Netherlands from a very early age.

On a final note: I am also hoping that my three sons will play an important part in the education of the next generation of English speaking Dutch people. They'll be able to correct those typical Dutch mistakes that all children seem to be taught in school, and maybe, just maybe, there will be around 90 other children making their way in the world with the correct pronunciation of iron, a better understanding of the difference between England and Great Britain and knowing that the words teach and learn are not interchangeable.

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An InLinkz Link-up

5 Reasons I'm Glad my Children Are Dutch & British

Welcome to the second post in this month's Celebrating Expat Life Blog Link up series. The idea is to share the many positive things about living overseas, the great things about bringing your children up in a multicultural and multilingual environment and focus on the things that make your expat life great. You can grab the link button at the bottom of this post, as well as link your own post using the InLinkz link. If you tweet about this link up please use #ELWADBlinkup. 

Meanwhile, here are 5 things I love about the fact that my three sons are both Dutch and British nationals.

1. Bilingualism: All three sons speak Dutch and English. Giving a child that kind of head start in a country where English is the second language anyway is fabulous. My seven year old is in quite the unique position in his school class as he already speaks a second language well. I love the fact that my sons automatically rolls their 'r's when speaking Dutch and can actually pronounce English words that most Dutch people struggle with (like the word iron which is always pronounced wrong here). Bilingualism is one of the greatest advantages of being raised with two national identities or cultures. 

2. Their World is Bigger: When two nationalities, cultures or languages are familiar then the world opens up a little further to you. My sons will have more choices in front of them, ranging from study options to country of residence. Right now, whilst they are young they have more options than their peers when it comes to the little things. They already have the choice between a bedtime story in English or in Dutch. They can watch a movie in English or Dutch. They eat food their friends don't. They regularly visit England. They celebrate British holidays. They learn about how things are in England, yet the Netherlands is their home. When they are older they can play football for the Dutch elftal or the English national team - the choice is theirs. They can represent the Netherlands at the Olympics or join the British team. Two cultures, two languages, two nationalities - their world is automatically bigger.

3. Strong Roots: I love the fact that I can share British things with my children and show them how it is a part of who they are. I tell them about their British heritage and not only is it interesting to them, it is also good for them. Research has shown that, 

"The more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem and the more successfully they believed their families functioned."

4. They Stand Out in A Dutch Crowd: Sometimes children don't want to stick out, but being part British in the Netherlands gives them a subtle way of standing out. Nothing outrageous, just a little trait that I think is a great talking point.

Hagelslag - that's chocolate sprinkles to you and me
Photo Credit: Ekki

5. Mixing it Up: The fact that I want to share British things with my children means we get to mix up two cultures in our house and thus we enjoy a hybrid culture. My sons will happily eat baked beans on toast but I wouldn't dream of trying that delicacy out on any of their friends because I am pretty sure it would be discarded at one glance. It's something that other Dutch children would not be eating at home. The same goes for boiled eggs and soldiers - a unique British breakfast that means nothing to Dutch children. At the same time my boys are also delighted to tuck into bread covered in hagelslag for breakfast. They are ecstatic at the idea of Sinterklaas coming to town, but they also get to enjoy a visit from Father Christmas - something that their Dutch friends don't experience. There are times when my three children are very typical little Dutch boys, there are times when at least my oldest could be British and there are days when they are a perfect mix of Dutch and British.

Choosing to live away from family throws up many challenges - from the moment you know you are pregnant abroad, to birth and far, far beyond - for more stories about parenting abroad check out our Kickstarter page for Knocked Up Abroad Again.

I'm More British Outside of Britain

For the first twenty seven years of my life I lived (with the exception on one year in France) in England. There, I was one Brit in a sea of millions. Nothing about me to get excited about, I blended in with the British crowd.

And then I moved to the Netherlands and I was suddenly a Brit in a sea of Dutch people. I stuck out in the crowd; well actually I got lost in the crowd of tall Dutch people, but culturally I stuck out. I was the odd one out.

And I came to realise just what being British means. And how British I actually am.

I noticed it in the small things, I saw it in the big things. I saw it on a daily basis. Every time I opened my mouth to speak I was acutely aware of how British I am.

Every time I tutted as the queue that should have formed behind me descended in to a free for all, I realised my Britishness. Every time I stared daggers at the queue jumper in front of me, I realised I was embracing that part of me that makes me British.

Every time I cringed when a Dutchman actually said hello to me as he entered a lift, I felt British.

On every occasion I was greeted in the waiting room by a fellow patient in the Dutch doctor's surgery, I felt like an alien. A British alien.

Every fruitless search for Branston Pickle and crumpets and proper tea in my local Dutch supermarket left me feeling more British than ever, a despondent and homesick one at that. Luckily my stiff upper lip never let me feel down for too long.

Even a Dutch supermarket trolley can make
me feel British

Saying sorry as a Dutch shopper rammed me with her shopping trolley opened my eyes to my reflex British quirks.

Whenever I glared at a fellow train passenger whose music blares from his earphones, turning my head away at breakneck speed when the culprit turned to stare back at me,  all so they don't actually see me glaring, I knew there is a British part of me that will never fade, no longer how long I live outside of Britain.

Every time I walked away from the hairdressers looking remarkably the same as when I went in, nodding enthusiastically when asked if I like my new haircut, I knew my Britishness is all consuming.

And that big inner cheer I gave, the fist punch in the air in the empty room, when I heard that Marks & Spencers had finally reopened its doors in The Hague tells me the Britishness inside this girl is here to stay.

Old McDonald Had a Dutch Farm

'Knor' or 'oink'?

And on that farm he had a pig. Depending on whether that farm is nestling in the Netherlands or in England the pig says knor or oink.

A Dutch cow, standing in a lush green field in the Netherlands does not moo; it goes boe, (pronounced boo). An English sheep would have little problem understanding a Dutch tourist sheep, they seem to speak the same language and will happily baa together.

The same cannot be said of chickens. Tok says the Dutch chicken, which I think may draw a blank look from her English counterpart. Cats and dogs seem to transcend the language barrier but whilst a neighing English horse may seem more than a little negative to a Dutch horse, he may in turn believe he is the butt of a joke as the Dutch horse retorts with hihi.

'Waaaaa' is as scary as a Dutch lion gets

A Dutch speaking mouse pieps (pronounce as peep) and an English mouse squeaks. A mighty lion roars in English, and says waa in Dutch. Yes, it is difficult to imagine a scary Dutch lion.

If you are rudely awoken by a kukelekuu then your sleep has been interuppted by a Dutch cockerel. An English one will announce it is time to wake up with a cockle doodle doo.

The busy bee on the lavender in your Dutch garden will zoem, but will happily buzz his way around an English garden.

Language is certainly a funny thing and I for one am not certain how to explain to my sons why an animal living in the Netherlands makes a different noise to one he would meet in England. So far, they have not asked, accepting it is what it is. But if they do I will be directing them to their father who can explain why the Dutch animals make such strange noises..... after all a pig clearly does not knor. A pig quite obviously oinks....... even a Dutch one. Right?

What noises do animals make in your second language? Are the sounds wildly different than in your mother tongue?

This post has been adapted from a post originally published on A Letter from the Netherlands.

Raising Bilingual Kids in the Netherlands

Yesterday my son came home from school pulling a red suitcase on wheels behind him. The "logeerkoffer" as it's called in school. The lucky recipient of the case gets to choose a favourite book and any objects or toys related to the book and put them in the case to take back to school the next day. Then the child talks about the book, and the teacher reads a paragraph or two to the whole class.

Last time my son brought the case home he chose the Dutch version of The Gruffalo and took cuddly toys of the Gruffalo, the mouse and a snake to accompany the book.

This time he chose a book that he is constantly dipping in to and although not really a bedtime story book, asks me regularly to read it at night as he's tucked up in bed in his pyjamas. The book "My Day at the Zoo" by Terry Jennings was accompanied by a very wide assortment of stuffed toys representing animals that could perceivably be found in a zoo. His first statement whilst he filled up the case was,

"I know what "My Day at the Zoo" is in Dutch!" and when the deputy head, chatting to him in the corridor in school, asked him this morning which book he had tucked away in the case he effortlessly replied,

"Mijn Dag in de Dierentuin"

Of course, the most interesting point is that my son took an English book to his Dutch school and I was curious what the teacher would do.  When my son came home at lunchtime he said he told the class about the book and the juf had read from the page about dolphins out to the class. In English. Trying to get any further information from him has proved fruitless but he did say she didn't translate the bit she read, and some of the children in his class (group 2) can count in English. 

I realised today that raising my children to be bilingual in the Netherlands (at least with English & Dutch in any case) is a far easier job than it would be if we lived in Britain. English as a second language is very normal here - it's just that my children have a head start. 

Bilingualism: Keep the Brain Trained for Old Age

As we age wouldn't it be great to stay mentally
active as well as physically? Bilingualism may well be
the answer
Photo Credit:John Boyer

When we bring up bilingual children, we are not just giving them the gift of communication in more than one language, we are giving them the gift of efficient, quick working brains.

No really. I kid you not. Recent research showed that those in their 60s who had been raised speaking two languages could quickly move from one task to the other with almost an automatic action. People from the same age group who are monolingual reacted much slower to a change of task and had to use much more of their brain and effort to carry out the switch from one task to another.

It has been thought for some time that bilingualism slows down some ageing processes and helps slow down the onset of dementia in an ageing brain. This latest research may explain why. In essence being bilingual means that your brain is trained from an early age to switch from one task to another i.e. it switches from one language to another automatically. Two languages are always active in a bilingual person's brain. This early and constant training seems to make the brain work more efficiently when it comes to task changing. Bilingualism is brain training from an early age!

Yet one more reason to bring up bilingual children......

Pregnancy Tests, Gizzards and Cycling: A Cultural View of Pregnancy

"Un test de grossesse s'il vous plaît ," I said, having consulted my dog eared French dictionary for the French word for pregnancy test.

"Oui madam," replied the petite, middle aged woman behind the village chemist counter. She opened a small drawer in front of her and pulled out a box. She babbled something fast at me in French and I smiled and handed over a fifty euro note.

Two days later we replayed the same scene, undoubtedly depleting the village's entire pregnancy test supply, whilst simultaneously getting tongues wagging about a potential impending baby boom in the area. From what we had seen of the local demographics there was more call in the area for Zimmer frames than baby products.

Two positive pregnancy tests under our belt and we were confident that I was pregnant. My Dutch partner and I were going to have a baby. And then panic set in. We were on holiday in a remote French village, suddenly pregnant in a foreign country without internet. Did we need to tell someone? Were we supposed to go to the doctor? Were there things I shouldn't eat or do? I had already indulged in the local delicacies, including wine, pate and 'gésier de poulet' (I had no idea what I was ordering, and even after a text from my dad translating gésier as gizzard I was none the wiser). Wine surely wasn't handy.

We called our GP back in the Netherlands. The doctor's assistant summed up what we needed to do,

"Firstly congratulations! When you get back to the Netherlands register with a midwife. Don't go and see a French doctor - you'll be told you can eat anything and everything but you can't. Avoid non-pasteurised cheeses, alcohol, pate and anything from the inside of an animal." Oops. She had just listed the main constituents of my diet for the past week.

Pate best eaten in moderation during pregnancy - according
to the Dutch but not such an issue for the French?
Photo: Neil Gould

"And what about cycling?" my husband asked.

"No problem. Cycling is fine. Just don't fall off!" she replied.

An English friend had been told to avoid cycling during the critical first twelve weeks of her pregnancy. However, after seven years in the Netherlands I knew that asking the Dutch not to cycle for twelve weeks would be like asking them to chop a leg off. It's just never going to happen.

Already during the first week of pregnancy I was learning that culture plays a big role in having a baby as an expat. There were plenty more culture shocks to come during the next nine months.

I came to learn how the Netherlands is very much a midwife based maternity system - a big shock for many American expats - and midwives encourage home births and natural births (in other words, without pain relief) wherever it is safe to do so. I love the mentality that a pregnant woman does not have a medical condition - and should not be treated as if she has.

Before our babies are even born there's a cultural maze to walk our way through - and that's just the beginning!

What notable differences have you noticed with how various countries handle pregnancy and child birth? 

Bilingualism in Kids, Government Clinics and Codswallop

Bilingualism in the Netherlands: A good or bad thing?

A recent article about bringing bilingual children up on Radio Netherlands Worldwide intrigued me. well actually, it maddened me a little. It reported something, in my eyes at least, that seems like nonsense - that a child should be brought up with only one language. This is according to 'scientists' and relayed through 'government clinics'.

First of all, the concept of government clinics baffled me. What the hell is a Dutch government clinic? This turned out to be the consultatiebureau, which sounds a lot less sinister than government clinic.

For parents out there living in the Netherlands, you will already be familiar with the consultatiebureau. It's a kind of local health centre for children aged 0 to 4. The nurses and doctors there check a child's development, administer vaccinations and refer children to specialists when necessary. It's funded by the government, hence the title of government clinic in this article I assume.

Secondly, and more importantly, the idea that it is better to bring your child up speaking and learning one language and not more is rubbish. In my humble opinion that is. My eldest son speaks Dutch as his mother tongue but speaks English too. It has gone through waves over the year which language he prefers to talk in and which excels. Since he started school his Dutch is stronger and his preferred language and we work at English together. My 21 month old understands instructions in both English and Dutch.

The article states that linguists also disagree that children should focus on one language only. Research has proven bilingualism is good for the brain!

The thing that I really don't understand from this article is that the staff at the consultatiebureau I visit here in Zoetermeer has done nothing but encourage, give advice and praise bringing up my children so they can speak both Dutch and English. It gives them an advantage, so they have said. And I agree. In fact, to go a step further, the advice is for me to speak English (and therefore not pass on my mistakes in Dutch to my children) and my husband to speak Dutch to them (and hence not pass on the notorious mistakes the Dutch make with English such as "A teacher learns you things.")

So, is it just certain areas where a second or third language is discouraged? Or are there particular languages which the consulatiebureaus would rather parents didn't pass on to their children? Is the standard of Dutch spoken by bilingual children here in the Netherlands low?

I found some information on KiesBeter.nl which outlines what a consultatiebureau is and does - and one of the tasks is to ensure that children can speak Dutch. If your child is being raised here and living here for the long haul, will go to school here, then of course a child should be able to communicate in the native language. But the idea that the consultatiebureau insists that its better to bring up with just one language (and presumably then just Dutch) seems not to tally with my personal experience.

What is your experience? Have you been encouraged to speak your mother tongue with your children by the consultatiebureau? What do you think about bilingualism: good for children or not?

Incidentally, if you are thinking about raising your children to be bilingual check out tips here.