Dunglish in the EU
Ronald Plasterk, the soon to be Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Sciences, recently opened an interesting can of worms (or a Pandora’s box – pick one) by saying that it was “childish” for countries to want to speak their own language in the European Parliament and that “everybody should speak the same broken English”, or in the Dutch case, since the article is in Dutch, they should speak “steenkolen-Engels” (‘Dunglish’). See the FAQ for more on both these terms.
He also said the Dutch should defend their identity although he was less passionate about that.
In Dutch ‘Babylon in Brussel’ (‘Babylon in Brussels’)
February 21st, 2007 at 6:53 pm
I totally agree. There’s something very provincial about a room full of well-paid academics all talking in their own language, while tens of interpreters have to translate.
February 22nd, 2007 at 4:03 pm
The problem is that they don’t all speak the same kind of broken English. Their Englishes are not all broken the same way. It’s still easier to avoid misunderstandings if they all say exactly what they mean in the language they speak best and then have it translated.
BTW, that second ‘Brussel’ should be ‘Brussels’, of course.
February 22nd, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Thanks, will correct!
February 23rd, 2007 at 7:51 am
The Dutch have obviously fewer qualms to make the occasional amusing mistake or, worse, be misunderstood entirely. That members of Parliament are educated individuals is besides the point: they are not elected for their language skills. It’s always the least proficient people who most downplay the importance of the skill they lack.
February 23rd, 2007 at 10:39 am
Amen 🙂
February 23rd, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Slightly o/t but I want to yell – Hip, hip, hoera! I’m glad I’ve discovered Dunglish blog! I’m Dutch-born (American mom, Dutch – Zeeuws – dad), though I’ve lived in the USA most of my life. I have passion for language, call me a Dunglish word nerd – I’ve bookmarked this site and will read it regularly. Growing up in America, though we didn’t speak Dutch at home, my dad would speak a sort of Dunglish with us.
February 24th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Hip, hip, hoera? Leuk om te zien dat er naast Dunglish ook Englutch bestaat.
February 27th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
In my opinion people should speak German in the EU environment in Brussels.
100 million people have this language as native language in Europe. For people in Scandinavia, (South-)East-Europe and the Benelux this language is no problem.
February 27th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
German is one of the official written languages, along with French and English IIRC.
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:39 pm
“Everybody should speak the same broken Englishâ€
Plassterk did not say that, he quoted an article by Ben van der Velden.
I’m not sure if you weren’t able to understand Plassterk’s article, or if you decided to bend the truth a little bit. Anyway, it does show why it is wise of Plassterk to plead for one single official language within the European parliament.
If the interpreter fails or refuses to give an accurate translation of the text that is handed to him/her, it is hard if not impossible to recognize that for the receiving party. The risk gets even bigger with relay translation.
Since the EU is getting bigger and bigger and we all want to have a EU parliament that is democratic, transparent and verifiable, we need to choose a single official language. That way, we only have to deal with unreliable politicians. In the current situation we also have unreliable interpreters to consider.
March 6th, 2007 at 10:32 am
I don’t bend the truth for fun and Plassterk quoted Van der Velden to make his point. I get what you mean.
And I work with people who translate and interpret for the EU. It’s a mess, it costs tons and it’s not very efficient. I won’t even get into the quality of the education some of these folks get.
However, if they all switched to English that would give power to all the native speakers automatically. That’ also true in business as well.
March 6th, 2007 at 10:33 am
I don’t bend the truth for fun and Plassterk quoted Van der Velden to make his point. I get what you mean.
And I work with people who translate and interpret for the EU. It’s a mess, it costs tons and it’s not very efficient. I won’t even get into the quality of the education some of these folks get.
However, if they all switched to English that would give power to all the native speakers automatically. That’s also true in business as well.
March 8th, 2007 at 10:38 am
“If the interpreter fails or refuses to give an accurate translation of the text that is handed to him/her,[…]”
Then the interpreter should quit his/her job and find him/herself another hobby.