“Why do you write in English?!”

Despite my blunt tweet, (that I don’t really mean completely) I understand where the question comes from. I do. Dutch girl. Born and raised in the Netherlands. Dutch native speaker. Associated with Dutch bloggers, talks about them, mentions them, links them, talk to them – often in Dutch. But writes in English. Always. Yes. I can understand it’s a little peculiar. Allow me to explain why I do it.

First of all, English has always been super-fun and important to me. I have been madly in love with this language ever since I was little. I taught myself and when I was 20 years old (you can read all about that here) I did the necessary course and exam to become an official bilingual. Through writing, I get to play with one of my favorite things in the world every single day: the English language. I love Dutch blogs, but it’s just not for me.

It really isn’t for me. There is a huge discrepancy between my writing skills in Dutch and my writing skills in English.I mean, Grande Canyon Gap.

Which makes total sense if you think about it. Due to my infatuation with all English words, I’ve been practicing almost every day, let’s say on average of 2 hours a day (this is low-ballin’), for almost 7 years  — that’s when I started my first English blog. It was adorable and riddled with faults and my own drama, but it was a start.

Let’s turn that into a little calculation now, shall we? 340 days (I wrote almost every day but you don’t always have the time, you know?) x 2 hours a day x 7 years. That’s 4760 hours. Not even including anything I wrote in English before I turned 18.

My Dutch writing skills are reasonable enough, but compared to how I write in English it takes me twice the time, triple the effort and the results are not even half as satisfying.

And there is another thing that became more important to me over the years. A reason for writing in English bigger than funnier jokes, prettier words and a hobby gone wild is the fact that English is so nice and global!

Everyone* can understand this language. I mean, I know the majority of my readers is Dutch, but I also have readers in other corners of the world. People from California and Australia and Canada. This guy I know sends his articles to his Portuguese family members and can be like “hey, read this, it’s cool” and with some basic understanding of the English language, they are actually able to read it!

More people can read English and I just love that idea. I write in a language most people know. And I am not deluding myself into thinking I can help everyone on the planet with the articles I write. I just want is that the majority of people have the option to read my stuff. You know, just in case.

So in conclusion, I write in English because I love the language as well as love the idea that anyone, anywhere can read it. And you know…because I can. 😉

*Okay, not everyone. But pretty much everyone.

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16 comments

  1. Funny, I never even considered it might cost you more effort to write in Dutch. Interesting to read this, thank you!
    (And for making me consider getting some kind of proof for Italian as well ^^)

  2. You’re very inspiring you know, I’m trying to get that good at English as well, so if I follow your approach I might be getting better haha 🙂 I don’t comment very often but I really love your articles and I think you writing in English is just another way to proof how you want to help everyone!

  3. Eigenlijk helemaal niet raar…
    Ik schrijf ook in de taal die mij het meest ligt (Nederlands :p). En dat is ook meteen de reden waarom ik me afvraag waarom jij niet gewoon in het Nederlands blogt: dan is het voor MIJ makkelijker en sneller te lezen/begrijpen :p

    En ‘because i fucking can’ vind ik eigenlijk ook wel een hele goede reden :p

  4. THANK GOD that you do! I found your blog a couple of weeks ago and I couldn’t imagine what I would do without it! Love your posts that are both informative and also almost always gives me a laugh. And just so you can add another country, I’m from Sweden! =)

  5. I enjoy reading your blog VERY much! Please keep writing in English so that I can read your lovely thoughts and learn and laugh and enjoy 🙂

    Cheers from Turkey!
    Begüm.

  6. Heel begrijpelijk! Als ik zo goed was in Engels zou ik waarschijnlijk ook in het Engels bloggen.

    Hoewel dat een ding is dat regelmatig terugkeert in mijn hoofd omdat ik zie dat ik vrij veel bezoekers uit het buitenland heb en erover nadenk om blogs kort samen te vatten in het Engels.

  7. In an overly-simplified way, 95% of Dutch readers can read your english writing sufficiently, while only less than 5% of non-Dutch readers could read what you write in Dutch! It makes sense if you want to reach a larger audience 🙂

  8. That makes sense 🙂 Few months ago I started a blog in English, because it is so much nicer and easier to write in English than to write in Dutch. It would make me able to practice more often as I need to write papers in English for university. And well, I have to admit my English is not flawless yet. Eventually, I chose to write in Dutch as I thought I would never reach foreign people to read my blog and it is already a challenge to attrack Dutch people to my blog (It is really difficult to make my blog known or open up discussions. Maybe I should ready ‘Blogging for dummies’, hahaha). My Dutch is not great as well (I am a creative writer), so it is good way of practice to become more creative. Anyway, I know what you mean when you say ‘it is a nicer language’ and it is easier for you to write. To me, English is easier as well and much more creative. It is the nicest language there is (next to Irish-gaelic)…

  9. Even in het Nederlands want, hoe graag ik het ook wil, Engels is niet mijn beste taal. Dat is Nederlands. Ik vind echter wel dat jij heerlijk schrijft, in het Engels in ieder geval. Daarom vind ik het een heel goed plan als je lekker je ding blijft doen!
    (In mijn beste Engels) Yours sincerely, Sanne

  10. Ik vind het echt heerlijk dat je in het Engels blogt!!

    Grappig dat het je minder moeite kost dan bloggen in het NL. Ik heb het een tijdje in het engels geprobeerd, maar dan heb ik juist het gevoel dat ik niet duidelijk kan maken wat ik wil en dat mijn grapjes niet overkomen.