How to Be a Dutch Dr. Doolittle

"If we could talk to the animals, learn their languages,  
Maybe take an animal degree...
...If I could walk with the animals
Talk with the animals
Grunt and squeak and squawk with the animals
And they could squeak and squawk and speak and talk to me!"

These are a few of the lines originally sung by Rex Harrison in the 1967 film Doctor Doolittle. Of course, the easiest way to talk to the animals is to learn their language. Believe it or not, just like people speak different languages depending on where they're from, so do animals! To help you channel Dr. Dolittle the next time you're in The Netherlands, here's a list of animals and the sounds they make in English and in Dutch.


chicken - de kip  -->  bok-bok - tok-tok
rooster - de haan  -->  cockadoodledoo - kukeleku
pig - het varken  -->  oink - knor
cow - de koe  -->  moo - boe
pigeon - de duif  -->  coo - roekoe
duck - de eend  -->  quack - kwak
fish - de vis  -->  do fish say anything in English? - blub                           
bee - de bij  -->  buzz - zoem
dog - de hond  -->  woof - woef
cat - de kat  -->  meow - miauw
mouse - de muis  -->  squeak - piep
owl - de uil  -->  hoo-hoo - oehoe

To hear the words pronounced in Dutch, go to acapela-group.com. Select either "Femke" or "Max" under "select a voice," copy and paste the word you want to hear in the text box, and press "say it"! The above animals and the sounds they make in Dutch can be found in Dick Bruna's book Boe Zegt de Koe.