Quote:
in het Engels - dat tikt een stuk sneller dan Duits met al die umlauts die ik met ALT-129 e.d. moet tikken.
LOL.
So, go ahead with your answers (in het Engels) !
It would not be that complicated if Columbus had not (re-)discovered America in 1492.
IMO that was the coffin nail for the demise of the Hanseatic League.
Have you ever heard people speaking Low German ?
It is a dying language (like many people in northern Germany I understand it, but I cannot speak it).
So whenever I hear Dutch speaking people that reminds of Low German, because there are many similarities.
There are a lot differences in vocabulary, but the accentuation of Low German (Plattdüütsch !) is closer to Dutch than to modern High German.