First of all, could you provide our readers with a bit of information about you? 

Hello! I am Irene Kim (31) and I currently reside in Amsterdam. I was born in Daejeon, Korea, and I lived most of my life in Seoul. I also lived in New York and Paris. I studied consumer science and worked as a researcher in the IT field, but I quit when I came to Amsterdam, and now I am looking for ways to live here. My mother tongue is Korean and I speak English at a comfortable level. Furthermore, I can speak basic French. I also think that my Dutch, Spanish and Japanese are very rudimentary, but I want to learn more in the future.

You have lived in multiple urban places around the world. This puts you in a perfect position to compare the daily life or flow in these spaces. What is the general attitude of local people living in these cities?

Seoul: They study hard, work hard, and live a busy life. They are sensitive to trends and active consumption.

NYC: It's a melting pot that is hard to distinguish locally, but the love for New York is a common denominator.

Paris: Unlike the notorious ones, people are kind and approachable and there is a sense of appreciation of culture and art.

Amsterdam: Sincere, very relaxed, reasonable and modest.

Thank you for comparing these cities through your own lens. How do you adapt (linguistically) when arriving in a new city? Do you have any coping mechanisms?

In the case of direct communication, there are so many people who understand and can speak English, so English alone doesn't seem to feel like a big wall. However, using the local language is a kind of politeness or a gesture to learn, adapt to, and communicate with the culture of the country, so I try my best to do that. And there are many cases where you have to read and write the local language for administrative work, document handling, and public work other than direct communication with people. When going out for shopping, product information or tags must be readable. In the case of French, I also took classes, and I used Duolingo very actively. My advice to readers is also to take classes and study with friends who can exchange languages. Generally, google translate is very useful, and I try to find more music, tv series and movies in the local language.

Currently, you reside in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. How long have you been living here and do you feel an internal driving factor to learn the Dutch language?

I've been living in Amsterdam for about 3 years. At first, of course, I wanted to learn Dutch too eagerly, so I enrolled in a Dutch language course and found a friend to exchange languages with. At that point I started actively on my own. However, I personally had an unpleasant experience in the classroom, and I think I started to lose enthusiasm when the language classes were not properly conducted. But then, as I lived in Amsterdam, I think that everyone speaks English well and the reason to learn Dutch is gradually disappearing, so I have not been trying. When I think about it now, it is very unfortunate, and I think I regret that. I will keep trying in other ways. In fact, the more I live in this place, the more I feel that I need Dutch.

Could you think of a situation where you would fully dedicate yourself to learning a new language? Do you think this still might happen in the near future?

Huh! First of all, when I lived in Paris, I originally spoke a little bit of French, and since it's my favourite language, I spent a lot of time trying to improve it. But after coming back to Amsterdam due to corona, I quit. Now, I have a growing desire to learn Dutch more seriously. Things in my career field demand a lot of Dutch.

 A scenario: an elderly native local tries to converse with an employee of a shop in the city centre of Amsterdam. The employee only speaks English and the local leaves the shop with a lot of frustration, noting that it is ‘rude and impolite’ that Dutch cannot be fully used in the city centre of Amsterdam. 

What is your opinion on language barriers for local people in an urban, cosmopolitan scape with a large focus on international-mindedness?

I also had a scenario-like experience at a restaurant. An old couple came and asked a question to the employee, but the employee could only speak English and could not speak Dutch, so they went out bitterly. I think it was difficult for them to accept. It would be nice to find a good balance of maintaining the original local language and culture while being international.

I remember us regularly visiting one of our favourite lunchrooms in Amsterdam and the staff got to know you better as a person. At a certain moment, one of the staff members was making a remark on how you should really try to solely talk (and practice) in the Dutch language. How does a comment like that make you feel? Does it provoke a certain emotion or is there any thought that lingers afterwards?

Yes, I think so. Obviously, as I live in the Netherlands, it is correct that I try to learn and use the language of this country, but I do not think I am doing that, so I sometimes reflect on myself. However, I think those comments are very different depending on the circumstances and intent. In this case, I felt very good intentions, so my gratitude was stronger. However, for example, there are people who can speak English with more aggressive and discriminatory intentions, and who know that I am not good at Dutch, but they only speak Dutch on purpose. Everyone has a good level of English, and English alone is enough to communicate. If it is not perfect Dutch (even for local Dutch people), it seems like this is what makes it possible in this environment. to use only English unconditionally for efficiency.

Do you have any tips for our readers that might be in the same position as you regarding the adaptation to different urban cities and the predominant languages spoken by the local people? 

I think understanding language is a very important tool to understand people, their thinking, and even their culture. Learning a new language is difficult and requires patience, but it seems to be a valuable and rewarding process. I think it would be nice to have an open mind and enjoy learning languages. Language exchange with locals, music, dramas, movies, books, newspapers, magazines in the local language is also great! These days, there are also easy and accessible methods like Duolingo, Memrise, Italki, so I hope you use them in a variety of ways.