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2nd August 2023
11:46am BST

Cillian Murphy plays J. Robert Oppenheimer in the movie, Oppenheimer. (Credit: Universal)[/caption]
“I could swear he was speaking in German, not Dutch. It certainly didn’t sound like Dutch and I am a native speaker of that language… anyway this caused a huge laugh here in the cinema in Amsterdam where I just watched it.”“In “Oppenheimer”, Oppenheimer is said to speak Dutch, as a Dutch person I can confirm this was a lie” said another Reddit user. A third Reddit user added: “Was a bold decision to not subtitle the Dutch part in Dutch. As a Dutch person who speaks Dutch, this wasn’t the best Dutch that has been spoken.” Language experts Preply spoke to a few native Dutch speakers who had recently watched the film, with one saying he “thought it was a mixture between ‘Limburgs’ (a Dutch dialect) and German” and another saying “I thought they made a mistake in the film when they said Dutch, thinking they meant ‘Deutsch’ as the speech sounded German”. Sylvia Johnson, Head of Methodology at the learning language marketplace, provided this response to the viral mistake: “Films can be an excellent resource for learning. You can use subtitles to expand your vocabulary and hear the correct pronunciation. “Even when hearing language that is not grammatically correct, you can put your skills to the test by identifying mistakes and correcting them! “Working on your pronunciation allows for smoother communication. However, mispronunciation is not necessarily a blocker for understanding. In today’s world communication often takes place between non-native speakers. “Even with mispronounced words, listeners can often rely on the context of the conversation to grasp the intended meaning. The surrounding words and the overall message can provide crucial hints to fill in the gaps caused by mispronunciation.”
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