This behavior hasn't really bothered me before. When a Dutchman has to deal with a person who speaks another language, we always try to speak their language, instead of sticking to our own, and even when the conversation breaks down due to linguistic troubles, we switch to english instead of attempting to do so in dutch. It isn't just because we try to be helpful, it is also because no one understands dutch and the Dutch are just really proud of their multi-langual nature. An american friend of mine, who lives here in the netherlands, actually has to devote a week of every month specifically to the dutch language, because without "Nederlandse week" we would all just keep on speaking english to him.
And then there is the roleplay hobby. Most books are in english, so then we end up using english terms in our roleplaying games. It is not unusual to hear things like "Dat is dan twaalf damage." or "Hij gebruikt een contract." But where to draw the line between English and Dutch?
The reason why I am writing this is because I got my hands on the preview from the Eindhoven LARP yesterday. Their new setting is a gaslight fantasy social LARP set in a place called High Britain. Groovy.
But what made most people frown was not the great setting, it was the language of the document. It was writting completely in english. The problem with dutch people writing things in english is that you always notice. (Just read this post, I am quite sure you can find a few sentences that only a dutch person would use.) Sabrina actually thought it was quite bothersome to read the document and I had to agree. I would have done it in dutch, the players are dutch, why bother doing it in english? Or would I actually have done it in dutch if it were my document?
I then realised that I was being a hypocrite. I am currently working on my own Iron Kingdoms session, and it will have quite a bit of fluff written down. And I was going to do it all in english. And I can understand why I was going to do it too. I mean, things just don't look official in dutch for some reason. The dutch are actually scared of dutch roleplaying games because the few attempts to translate things into dutch are just horrible and leave a dirty taste in your mouth when you try to read the linguistic-frankensteins that the translators have created.
But more importantly, english is the international internet language; if you want feedback from the internet, you'd better write everything down in english. And you could translate everything you have written in dutch into english, but then we get back to the awkward translation problem and a lot of double work.
But more importantly, english is the international internet language; if you want feedback from the internet, you'd better write everything down in english. And you could translate everything you have written in dutch into english, but then we get back to the awkward translation problem and a lot of double work.
So now I am stuck at an impasse, should I put my money where my mouth is, and actually try to write it all in dutch and just hope that I don't need international feedback, or should I just accept that our hobby is english-centered and that we will just have to embrace our international nature, accepting all the awkward english sentences that we make?
And yes, I know I am even more of a hypocrite by doing this blogpost in english...
First off, your post reminded me of the method by which I first learned English in elementary school. It was called 'English Spoken' and the overarching story was about a Dutch man going to Britain in search of ghosts.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, most Dutch role playing games I have read were horrible in their own right, not because they were poorly translated. The only one of which I could find in the latter category was 'Oog des Meesters', which was a translation of the German 'Das Schwarze Auge'
I have tried grinding my way through 'Vreemde Tijden' as well as 'Schimmen & Schaduwen', but so far to no avaii, as it simply does not appeal as a role playing game.
I do however agree on your statement that quality control is important. Should you write a document, in any language whatsoever, have a non dyslexic native speaker look it over. You will have a second opinion which you lacked beforehand and they can point out any blatant mistakes you may or may not have made in your spelling.
I also find the concept of Dutch as a independent language a bit hilarious. I do not know of any language that has as many barbarisms and borrowed words as Dutch has.
Consider that boutique, bodega and apothecary all stem from the same Greek verb, but mean totally different things. And yet, the Dutch use all three words, which are respectively French, Spanish and Greek in their derived origin.