About Learning Dutch with Berlitz Dutch is spoken by the 15
million inhabitants of the Netherlands. It is also spoken across
the border in northern Belgium, but there it is generally
referred to as Flemish. It is the official language of Suriname,
in South America, and of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba in
the Caribbean. Afrikaans, spoken in South Africa, evolved
directly from the Dutch that was brought there by settlers from
the Netherlands in the 17th century. Dutch, like English, is one
of the Germanic languages, and thus part of the Indo-European
family. It stands about midway between English and German and is
the closest to English of any of the major languages. Dutch is
the English name of the language; in Dutch it is called
Nederlands. Long a maritime nation, the Dutch have left their
imprint on many languages of the world. Many Dutch nautical
terms have been adopted into other languages. Dutch idioms and
syntax are still evident in present-day Indonesian. English
words of Dutch origin include dock,