Few people know this, but when I was little I had a serious speech impediment. I had to go to speech therapy all though elementary school, every year in the middle of math. (which explains a lot). They could never discover the source of why I didn't say things correctly and finally I was able to convince my mom that I shouldn't go anymore. I think the reason I couldn't talk properly is that I don't hear sounds properly. I then try to mimic what I think I heard, causing mispronunciations. As I have gotten older, I have been able to fake my way through and disguise my problem, but with a new language comes new sounds and that makes learning a new language 10x, harder than it already would be.

I also have no phoentical skills, I have never been able to look at a word and automatically pronounce it correctly if I have never seen it before. ( I can normally say it somewhat right in my head, but when someone says something has a long a, I have no clue what that means) I couldn't say Hermione right until after the first movie came out. Which meant that in school reading out loud was my worst nightmare. After years of practice, I again can fool people in English, but probably not in Dutch or Nederlands as they call it. I am confessing my deep dark secret so that you, my readers, can understand. My biggest fear about moving all the way to The Netherlands is that, I will not be able to integrate into society because I won't be able to learn Dutch.

I have not been actively pursuing trying to learn Dutch in the States because, I am convinced that I will learn it wrong! I need someone to tell me over and over how something is pronounced.  If anyone out there has some foreign language learning tips out there, or recommendations for Nederlands classes near Utrecht that are good, I would love to hear them. I am just thankful that I am still able to telecommute for a bit to my current job, so I dont have to feel even more pressure than I already do. But rest assured, The Verlo will make sure I practice everyday until I speak Nederlands as well as he speaks English.