English in Holland...

In the Randstad area (Delft / Rotterdam / Leiden / Den Haag / Amsterdam / Utrecht) the only people between the ages of 15 and 60 who speak less than what you would consider fluent English are immigrants (they had to learn Dutch instead) or chav mongs.

I can even speak English to the players (15 yrs old) on the youth team of my American Football club!

It's the same in all the bigger cities outside the Randstad (Arnhem, Groningen, Maastricht, Eindhoven, etc). The only places where it's likely you need to speak Dutch are villages in the middle of nowhere / near the Belgian border.

Not only do they get taught it at school, but all the US and UK TV Programmes and movies on at the cinema are subtitled instead of dubbed, and a LOT of advertising is simply in English. So they have huge exposure to the language.

So I don't think this boy is too bright.

Posted By: Steve in Holland, Jul 22, 10:42:35