Translations

I read Caribbean Netherland news from Curacao, Aruba and Bonaire.  I also read articles from St. Maarten, St Eustatius and Saba. These are all islands associated with Holland. As a result, most of my news feeds are now in Dutch. I will see an article in English one day and the next day the same article will appear translated into Dutch.  I am also offered spell check in Dutch. 

Google, apparently, owns me. It knows where I travel, where I visit, what I buy, what I read, what I research and now it knows that Dutch is one of my languages...NOT.

Our BBQ vendor (who is a Dutch engineer by day and a BBQ'er by weekend) said there is no reason to learn Dutch because there are so few people that speak it and they are all in Holland. There is no reason to read translated Dutch because the translations are so bad that one seldom knows what the translation to English really means. 

Once in a while the Bonaire News will have an article about paying taxes, road closures or some change in procedure. Since we are new to the island workings we are always interested to learn about the government and rules. Yet the translations leave us with more questions than answers. 

I recently read an article about what sets Americans apart from other countries.  Our expectation that everyone speaks or should speak English was at the top of the list.  Frankly, its true.  English is widely spoken on Bonaire and that is why we don't need to learn Dutch.  Our translator works well enough that we can get the gist of something with a few translated words.