Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

I am doing research on Old Blues who died in World War Two. I have obtained a book IN DUTCH which appears to contain references to the death of one of them in Sumatra. The section concerned is about 700 words long. I can get the general gist but need an accurate translation to ensure that I do not miss any of the details or innuendos. Would anyone be prepared to do this, please? If so, I would send the text as an e-mail attachment. The text is in Dutch as scanned by OCR and checked word-for-word by me for accuracy.

PS Please do not suggest an "on-line" translation engine, I have tried several and they are simply not sufficiently accurate for my purposes.

What a pity you didn't ask last month. I had a Dutch work colleague but she left on New Year's Eve - moving to France so I don't think I can really contact her now as she will be busy moving in.

Eine Kleine beetje.
I did evening classes in Amsterdam but really only learned the basics.
If you can wait until I am back in Spain in the middle of the month, there are some cloggies in the village, who might be able to help.

Ja ma ek praat net Afrikaans !

Which ain't a great deal of help !

A Dutch friend of mine, once remarked that Afrikaans sounded like a mentally retarded three-year-old, trying to speak Dutch !

A bit cruel -- but I take his point !

I have a good friend who is Dutch, I will PM you my e-mail address and do my best to get you a translation.

jhopgood wrote:Eine Kleine beetje.
I did evening classes in Amsterdam but really only learned the basics.
If you can wait until I am back in Spain in the middle of the month, there are some cloggies in the village, who might be able to help.

Flat caps, wooly mufflers and whippets, John ?

NEILL THE NOTORIOUS wrote:Ja ma ek praat net Afrikaans !

Which ain't a great deal of help !

A Dutch friend of mine, once remarked that Afrikaans sounded like a mentally retarded three-year-old, trying to speak Dutch !

A bit cruel -- but I take his point !

I was told that Dutch was German spoken with a heavy cold.
Have another friend in the village who understands Afrikaans after about 15 years in SA.
But it looks as though DM has it sorted.

In answer to my request on this forum and the CHA e-Newsletter, I have received a dozen* offers of help, including one from Cyprus! Many thanks to all concerned - all is now solved.

PS *Now 23!!!

If you need any help in future, my wife is Dutch.
Nick.

Welcome Nick. I very succint post.

I only log on from time to time and just found this; glad you have it all solved. I also speak Dutch if need be in future.

Now 28 offers and stil rising. It would seem that an extraordinary number of Old Blues have Dutch spouses - there is clearly an opportunity for a post-graduate sociological thesis here!
Again, many thanks to all who responded.