Frysian is an old language, closely related to Old English and Scots and less so to Dutch. Today it is spoken by about 75.000 people on a dayly basis, in the north of the Netherlands (Friesland). Since this is my wive’s first language, I decided long ago to learn this language. It’s nice to understand what’s being said around you during a birthday party up north 🙂
Bus guy Bart
The bus company reached out to me through one of the bigger casting platforms, requesting a biligual voice-over: Dutch and Frisian. We quickly decided that we wished to collaborate, and next thing I was voiceing 1.723 bus stops plus 400 announcements like “Please move to the back of the bus, so that other passengers can board. Thank you!”
Of course we needed to make those announcements sound both clear and friendly, because you don’t want people to miss their bus stop. And we prefer a friendly atmosphere on the bus, right? When the regional radio station interviewed me about this job, the DJ gave me the biggest compliment you could possibly get as a non-native Frisian: he called me ‘ien fan ús‘: one of us. Now that’s something no-one will ever take away from me!
