GERMANY🇩🇪 vs NETHERLANDS🇳🇱 | Cultural differences & similarities

Hi guys welcome to my channel!
I'm Antoinette a New Zealander who has been living for the last 10 years in Germany.

My family and I recently drove to the Netherlands for a wonderful little 4 day holiday. During the time we were there I noticed so many interesting cultural differences and similarities between Germany and the Netherlands that I just had to share!

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Check out my friend Jovie's channel (An American expat in the Netherlands)

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[Tardis]

Believe it or not, we Dutchies don't even wear a helmet when we step into the shower. Which of course is completely irresponsible because the number of victims getting into the shower or bath is much greater than accidents with a bicycle.

[johnatkins]

Hi Antoinette, as an English guy living in the Netherlands I came across your channel about 6 months ago and have watched and enjoyed most of your videos. I don't live too far from Egmond, and you must have passed close by on your way. Please make a part 2, I especially ejoyed this video. I recognised a lot of things that you noticed, that I now take for granted. If you ever come back, you really should visit Hoorn (yes, where I live) it really is THE most pcturesque town on the inland sea. Looking forward to all your future videos.

[elenasachse]

I'm german and when I visited Amsterdam and listened very closely I could understand quite a bit, even more so when reading Dutch. I speak German, English and can understand a bit of French which I think helped a lot as Dutch is definitely a germanic language closely related to German and English and sometimes I feel like it has an influence of French in it as well.

What I also noticed and found quite interesting was the fact that everybody I met spoke English very well. I read that except for childrens films they don't dubb any films neither in cinemas nor in tv and have the original language with subtitles which probably helps their English a lot.

[SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

when you understand german and english and dutch, like most people with middle school education ought to be able too, you will find you will have to trouble readind scandinavian languages and understanding most of it...

[andrewmay]

No observation about a New Zealander in Old Zealand? :-)

[yoachimbarmentloo]

I'm a Dutch person and my girlfriend is German, we both can actually have a conversation in Dutch and German and both understand for the most part what we are talking about.

[JoviesHome]

Oh goodness, thank you for the shout out!! I wasn’t expecting that!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[Siegbert]

It's not a "totally different language". They are closely related.

[ConnieIsMijnNaam]

Dutch, German and English are all Germanic languages so they are related.

[jpdj]

Language: Today's Dutch is an evolution of Frankish Germanic - of the Franks nation. We did not go through as many big changes as today's dominant language of Germany that derives from another Germanic dialect. Today's German came from the higher (geographical) part of Germany and is hence called "high" when today's dialects of the North and part of the middle of Germany are called "low" which today seems pejorative. To a German linguistics student in the Netherlands, my language may seem anachronistic and cute, like the little country. I would counter that my language is more original and has seen less distortion over the centuries. The relatively frozen state of Dutch is likely caused by early literacy in larger parts of the population. Germany has several regions with Frankish dialects, but since "hoch Deutsch" became reference, these became dialect and generally not written as such, devolved more.
Mind you, part of the Frankish nation went to France when the latter was called Gaul, where they adopted the local version of vulgar (common, ordinary) Latin, likely mutilated it a bit, put their name on the country and stayed. As you did a DNA test, you may know the "French-German" label, and this is why. Part of France are actually Germans. (And the French in the South - Midi - still were very aware of that, say 40 years ago.)
The word "Dutch" ("deutsch" in German, "duits" in Dutch, "diets" in Flemish) means "common", "of the commons", "ordinary", or "folksy". The German savage nobles with aspirations to rule the Holy Roman Empire would learn a Romance language. After the (protestant) Reformation, more pride developed in speaking, writing and reading of the "common" language - i.e.not the language of clergy, nobility.
If you want to test Germans for understanding the dominant language of the Netherlands, I suggest to look for those who speak a Frankish dialect, as well as part of Switzerland. And understand that hoch Deutsch may actually already be a second language for many a German, so their hearing is programmed for other sounds and melodies in language. Note that centuries of national radio and TV have harmonized the general language into everyday dominance on top of its formal status. However, now equipment needed to produce radio or TV (or YouTube) is so affordable, you will see people to start producing content in these local dialects.
The dominant language in the Netherlands, in a numeric sense, has a second in Frisian (of Friesland) that can be more like Saxon or English. If you study Anglo-Saxon linguistics, then the study of this language is imperative as the closest to Old English that still exists. Then the third one, Stellingwarfs, is a dialect of low Saxon (with Dutch influences of course) and more intelligible to Dutch people than Frisian.

[Rob]

A notable difference between Dutch and German people (of course only in general, there are always lots of exceptions) is their attitude towards rules and hierarchical relations.
German people in general respect rules and abide by them, and will always follow directions given by persons hierarchially above them.
Dutch people, quite the contrary. Any rules are always subject of discussion, are being re-interpreted to personal taste and advantage, and often disobeyed.
E.g. when a Dutch policeman tells a citizen he is misbehaving, the citizen will enter a discussion with the policeman whether that is really the case, if that is reasonable, and why he is interfering with it.
A German would not dare (or want) to do that at all.
Also, in Germany it is quite normal to point out to a fellow citizen that they are doing something undesirable. Don't try that to (most) Dutch people, they would clearly explain to you that it is not your business to tell them anything and that they can pretty well decide for themselves what to do and what not to do.

[thomaswolf]

I once read that someone wearing a bike helmet in the Netherlands is for sure a German tourist :) Regarding the language: It's much easier to understand Dutch if you know some Plattdeutsch (low German), so it's much harder for someone used to a Bavarian accent compared to someone from Bremen or Hamburg.

[anglogerman]

I live close to the Dutch border (Suedlimburg Region around Maastricht). There is beautiful hilly (yes!!) countryside anf forests that are fantastic for hiking....lovely friendly Dutch people...marvellous architecture...everyone speaking excellent German...and coffee beans are so cheap! I spend most weekends there and regard it as my third home 😍

[liekevg]

We learn German at school here in the Netherlands😊

[Grunn]

Dutch and German languages are in fact very simular. Dutch is also a Germanic language. The Dutch have more bikes than people. Cycling is a second nature to us. We also cycle a lot more than Germans. In fact, we cycle more than they do in any other Western country. The Dutch are also known as the the best non native speaking country in speaking English. We hate eachother when it concerns football, but in general Germans and Dutch are very close. See us as a big and a little brother, where the little brother is moer outgoing and has the better humor.😉

[stefanfalldorf]

I have relatives in Franconia (near Nürnberg) but I was born and grew up in Bremen, so I am a real Hanseat. Actually I feel closer to the dutch in Groningen than to my relatives down in the south. And the communication with dutch is - for me - easier than with my relatives.
If you speak Plattdeutsch, you will understand dutch.

[sashimster]

Native German speaker, I speak no Dutch and I can usually understand 1/3 - 1/2 of what is being said when I listen to Dutch.

[xaverlustig]

The language comprehension is a bit asymmetrical. Most native German speakers will be able to read a Dutch newspaper and understand 70 to 80 percent. Spoken Dutch is another matter. I think it's because Dutch pronunciation is quite different from the spelling which confuses the German speakers, whereas German pronunciation is close to spelling, which makes it easy to understand for Dutch speakers. People who speak Low German have an easier time though.

[sgerris]

A "Dutch window"? Never heard of it, we just call it a "window" :-D

Anyway, it is all about having contact with the outside world when sitting in your living room. This desire doesn't stop when it gets dark outside! The fact that people walking by outside can look in as well is just a side-effect that we don't care too much about.

[karliikaiser]

Dutch and German are quite similar, I can understand more Dutch than Swiss German Dialects, and Dutch is considered to be a own language. I normaly get the topic they are talking about if I try to listen. I am Austrian and never had intense contact over a long time with Dutch or Flemish (the Belgian Dutch).


Dutch people understand german because their movies are not dubbed. They got German or English language with Dutch subtitles.


I usually speak my own dialect and I am used to people pronouncing words differently, or even have a different sentence construction, grammar or words. This helps with understanding different germanic and romance languages.