I’ve just published a Dutch-language book titled Seven Languages in Seven Days. It teaches the Dutch-speaking reader how to understand written Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and West Frisian based on the languages they already know: their native Dutch, their (semi-)fluent English and their typically rusty school German and French. For them, I made the below video.
This book could also be written – rather than simply translated, since it will require quite an overhaul – for speakers of German and the Scandinavian languages. To make the video accessible for them, I’ve added English subtitles (machine-translated and lightly edited). But of course, if you’re a native speaker of yet another language, such as English, you’re still cordially invited to have a peek. Be welcome!
By the way, I’m delighted to say that the book has been very successful in the first three weeks of its life. Loads of media attention, extremely positive response from potential readers and even an official bestseller listing – my first ever in the Netherlands. There was even a great blogpost in English about it, written by my Portuguese language friend Marco Neves.
Gaston Dorren, language writer 
I’d love to see an English version of this book! But in the meantime, as a native English speaker with a good understanding of German, French, Italian, and Spanish, I’m curious whether it would be easier for me to learn Dutch or to learn one of the Scandinavian languages. Which do you recommend?
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I don’t see how an English version could be managed, frankly. I tried to write something somewhat similar, but it didn’t work out. A German edition is in the making though.
In answer to your question: I guess Dutch would be a bit easier, because it’s closer to German than the Scandinavian languages are. Dutch grammar may be slightly harder than that of the Nordics, I would say, but not a great deal, and I think vocabulary would be more familiar to you. Scandinavian pronunciation strikes me as a bit harder, but I could be wrong there. Anyway, good luck!
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That’s great to hear about the German version. I look forward to reading it! I imagine the difficulty with an English version is because it would need to cater to monolingual English speakers (rather than due to difference is the structure of the language)?
Good to hear about Dutch – I will give it a go!
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Exactly, the monolingualism is the problem! As I said, I tried to write something on these lines for monolinguals, making use of the hybrid character of English, but it didn’t work out. Or rather, publishers weren’t interested in it (I’d written several chapters), and i decided to bow to superior – if not wisdom, certainly knowledge of the market.
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This is exactly the idea behind Interlingua, which was developed to combine a simple, mostly regular grammar (based in English) with the vocabulary common to Western European languages, which in part is actually international beyond that area, such as many words of Latin or Greek origin. At least, it is comprehensible at first sight by speakers of Romance languages and educated users of English and other Germanic languages.
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So helpful book but only in Dutch! We are thirsty, too, here in Greece! We know English French and German and we would like a book like that. You could sell it in other countries and also add a small chapter about Dutch in it for us!! However, thank you for the Babel and Lingo!
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Thank you, Dimitra! Personally, I wouldn’t be able to write the book that you propose. I know only a tiny bit of Greek, and not even the modern variety. But if a Greek publisher finds a Greek linguist who is willing and able to convert my book into something suitable for the Greek market, they’re most welcome to contact my Dutch publisher (or contact me, and I’ll bring them together).
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We will be pleased with the English version translated in Greek. However, I understand the difficulty of this procedure! Thank you for the reply, though! Happy Christmas!
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Geweldig interessant, Gaston, koren voor mijn molen!
Hoe duur is het, en kun je het als drukwerk (!) naar Nieuw-Zeeland versturen dit maal? Ik zie er al naar uit.
Die Z van twee zevens op de omslag is wel clever maar komt overigens nu wat ongelukkig uit – trek er beslist geen hele cirkel om heen 😦
BTW, de header van je webpage zegt nog “nieuw boek … 2018”. Even updaten dus [in goed? Nederlands 😀 ]
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Gelukkig is die schijnbare Z op tijd nog veranderd in twee duidelijk herkenbare 7’s. Kijk maar op https://bit.ly/3agWnUu. En dank voor de attendering – ik heb die header inderdaad al te lang niet aangepast. Over het toezenden van het boek mail ik je even.
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