Yes! I want to speak great Dutch! One day I will do it! This is something that most people say or think, but… somehow that special day never comes. It seems that most people tend to wait. Waiting for what? Maybe it works like this… What if it is just like swimming in the sea? First you start to feel the temperature of the water with one of your toes. Brrrr!
This is @#$% too cold (certainly if you swim in a Dutch sea)… but… if you still like the idea of swimming in the sea, then maybe you try to go in the water a little bit more…. now you are in the water with two feet…. brrrrrr it still does not feel good…. You feel bold now, and continue further…. now the cold water touches your knees. Brrrrr what to do next?
It is that decisive moment…..
All of a sudden you realize that this is the moment that you have to make an important choice. The lower part of your body finds it a great idea to go back to the sand again, but what would you do if the idea of swimming is still in your head? Luckily there is a choice, and sure it seems radical at first…. diving in… so now you dive in the sea with your whole body and indeed: ouch! it is cold! But…. less than a minute later, all of a sudden you realize that you are completely at ease…
Right now, you are enjoying swimming and playing in the water and maybe you start to think: why did it take such a long time to get into the sea? What was the problem? Was there a problem? Congratulations! The thing that you just realize is something that you could call the magic of diving in.
There is one thing that I have to admit… Yes, diving in the water is easy for me on a sunny day in August. What you see on the picture is not a seal, it is me! But… I must also admit that I am a world champion of procrastination. More than 4 months ago I bought the software for this website, but there was something that in Dutch you call koudwatervrees (fear of cold water). When I looked at the software, I was not really in the mood to play with it. There were so many things that I did not understand… But then… I made a decision… I combined the best of 2 worlds… I started to work with it for a couple of days in a row and… in the afternoon I also went to the beach! So now I could dive in two times a day…. :) and it really feels good!
Anyhow, what I would like to share with you is this: if you have been wanting to do something for a vey long time, but if somehow you are not doing it, then diving in is a magical solution!
This is my first blog for people that have been wanting for quite some time to speak great Dutch. People that like the idea of flow. Flow of learning and flow of speaking Dutch. If you like this idea, then come back to this site many times. My first guess is that once you dive in, you will also love it! The funny thing is this… in moments of inaction somehow your mind starts to worry about all kinds of silly things. But… once you dive in, you may feel uneasy at first but then, all of a sudden many worries start to wash away!
P.S: here is a mini Dutch lesson. Koudwatervrees is literally coldwaterfear. Ik vrees means I fear and you may also have heard of the word vreselijk (terrible). The Dutch idea is that if you find something terrible, you also fear it, because somehow it feels that you must avoid it….
