h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have enjoyed your comments and thought you might be interested in this story from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/31/science/dutch-famine-genes.html


I had the opportunity to visit the Netherlands as a tourist while living in West Germany and really liked the place and was so impressed by how well everyone spoke accentless English there. It must have a terrific school system.

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I will forward the article to my parents. My father always says he was in hiding during the war, because he was born in 1945, only months after it ended. My mother was born in 1946.
I know that het lack of calcium in the hunger winter led to massive dental problems for children born in the years to follow. (they did know how to make prosthetics back then, my mother still uses the ones that were made when she was about sixteen years old, when pulling out the lot was standard practice)

About the English education of Dutch children:

The age where it is started is going down all the time. For me it started at around 10 year old, but right now it is not unheard of to start gently at 4 years old. Our three year old really likes Dora the Explorer (Dutch/English mix, we didn't try the Dutch/French or English/Spanish language options yet). Our eleven year old twins' teachers are native English speakers. They have already surprised me more than once with their ability to speak and understand English. (Youtube may have also helped to build a vocabulary).

As for other languages: In secondary school Dutch and English are obligatory throughout the years, French from first year, German from second year (you can choose or drop those later). Latin and or ancient Greek can be chosen at the highest level only.

As for myself, 80% or more of what I read in my free time is in English. At work I write my technical reports in English, as it is the corporate language (and has been in mostcompanies I worked for since I graduated). When I write or speak English, I think English.