[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by svda

The english level mentioned by Katsunamy is utter BS.

Not where I am. I work in IT, which means tech stuff. Everybody I know who is a reader, uses an e-reader, and reads in English, except if the original book is Dutch. But... nobody I know reads any original Dutch books.

And, as I said, English is a core subject in Dutch schools. It is taught as much, and at the same level as Dutch, starting in high school. There is even some discussion now if it wouldn't be better to start at prep school. ("Basisschool", for children between 6 and 12.)

At the age of 16-17, you are expected to speak, understand, read and write English at the same level as Dutch, and indeed, many people do so, or almost. The problem is that for some of them the use of English starts to decline after high school (especially when doing a study that does not require English), and at the age of 30, their English is only just passable.

However, the people who keep using English (as I do, it's basically required in IT), come to see it as their primary language.

Also, the article by Katsunami makes me wonder how many people were asked to participate ? Sometimes articles like that are no less than just paid for "public message" sponsored by ... again utter BS since downloading files generally is LEGAL for personal use in the Netherlands, whereas uploading is ILLEGAL.

I don't know. The number of participants isn't stated.

And, you're right, telling people that downloading stuff is illegal is bullshit. Even DVD's have intro's stating that downloading movies is illegal and stealing, and it's printed on the back of CD boxes and such, while the law says otherwise. Therefore, the intro's and warnings are actually lying.

Until the law changes, nobody is doing anything wrong in the Netherlands when downloading. (I don't say it's a good thing to do so, I'm only saying it's still allowed.)

Originally Posted by eschwartz

It sounds reasonable to claim that ebooks and pbooks are very different when it comes to pricing/availability in Dutch vs. English. I expect a better disproof to Katsunami's claims than "Why would reading behaviour differ just because it's electronic".

Reading behaviour differs BECAUSE reading is now electronic.

Now, when reading in English, people can shop around the world, instead of only shopping in Dutch stores. It greatly lowers the price of reading.

With regard to paper, most Dutch stores only stock Dutch translations of books; if it's not translated, the book is not available, and needs to be ordered, making the price of the English book even higher than the Dutch translation. The waiting time can be two weeks.

Online stores mostly have the English versions for about the same price as the Dutch ones (or a bit cheaper), but more often than not, the delivery time is 5-7 working days.

The delivery time of an ebook is not 5-7 working days: it's 5-7 seconds.

If you use an e-reader, you're basically committing literary suicide if you only read Dutch books. Not enough choice, not enough places to shop, too expensive.