I'm from The Netherlands. Eighteen languages you say, I suddenly remember that I have this beginner course on Spanish. Eight Cd's, and never used it, yet.
Hey , a fellow dutchman!
Germans are big suckers for corny romantic stuff, just listen to something like 'Sternstunden der Volksmusic' haha and you should see some of the soaps they air there. The younger generation isn't as bad though....
The dutch, as traders, and as inhabitants of a land overrun many times by different nations, (Spain, France, Germany etc) the language has incorporated many foreign words (a lot of french). Most speak english reasonable well, a bit of egrman, bit of french, some spanish. Research has however shown that people greatly overestimate their linguistic knowledge. It doesn't usually reach beyond beginner level. Hell... a lot of people could be considered intermediate when it concerns their native language...
