Dear all,
sorry for the intruding question for help..
i wonder if there's anyone currently, or used to practice in OMA, Rotterdam wouldnt mind to suggest me whats the language enquiry for practing there.
Two years ago it was stated on their website that only english is needed, but now it stated Dutch language is needed..
A few friend of mine used to work there 3 - 4 years, used to only communicate in English(without knowing a single word of Dutch) and worked ok(in OMA, and NOX), but seems now the enquiry has rised?
would anyone knows the current condition be kindly give me any suggestion or comment? i cannot speak Dutch, and plan to make a trip to rotterdam to see if its ok to survive with only english language for getting my junior to senior level of architectural practice training.
Any comment is welcomed. Even just a say of 'naive'.
it all depends on the kind of projects they are working on at the moment and for which they could employ you. if they are working on projects in Holland it might be useful to understand Dutch to be able to work on more aspects of the projects than only cutting blue foam. If they have a lot of foreign commissions that you could be working on, Dutch isn't necessary, but maybe Mandarin or whatever. As far as I know English is the office-language. Just call them and ask.
You might be able to fall back on Danish, German or French too.
I have been noticing that the European markets have been more uptight and restrictive as of late.
I think it might be the possibility that many people from around the world who speak English as a second language are working in Europe.
So when you have two people who speak English as a second or third language trying to talk to one another, mistakes are bound to happen.
So, I think this would be the issue here... if you spoke another language that is in use in the Netherlands, you'd at least be able to repeat yourself to your best ability.
well, that was only announced yesterday. but for the past year OMA has been ditching ppl left right and centre - but sure that project ain't gonna help the non-dutch speakers out there.
Orochi, I think you really don't know how things work at OMA or in Europe. Hopefully Europe is multilingual, and OMA is very much about that. And the only language that is in use in the NL is Dutch (not French or Chinese :))
Basically, at OMA (like any other major practice anywhere in Europe) every architect will have a very decent English level that will allow him or her to sort 99,99% of problems, meetings or communications. They are not looking for the new Shakespeare. English-native people are only needed for publications or that kind of stuff.
That makes that except monolingual British or Americans, everybody (that means way more than 90%) staff at OMA speaks at least 2 languages, and many of them a third or forth language. For instance, someone who used to work for a while in a Dutch office, in a project in Germany (thus basically in German) being French his 1st language and talking to his jobmates in English (since he can't speak Dutch). :) That's nothing out of the extraordinary.
And obviously, when OMA has a project in China, France or Netherlands, architects who speak Chinese, French or Dutch have more chances to get a job than a monolingual American. But if you are very talented you will work for them over somebody who can speak 20 languages and is a moroon designing. Don't forget OMA is not a translation agency but an architectural office.
The problem with OMA... it's OMA, even in the booming times they received far more applications than jobs, so imagine in this economic situation. As for the latest job they offered this summer (for a project in Seoul), they received more than 1,000 portfolios (hard copies!) in one week. So figure it out.
Anyone practice in OMA, Rottredam?
Dear all,
sorry for the intruding question for help..
i wonder if there's anyone currently, or used to practice in OMA, Rotterdam wouldnt mind to suggest me whats the language enquiry for practing there.
Two years ago it was stated on their website that only english is needed, but now it stated Dutch language is needed..
A few friend of mine used to work there 3 - 4 years, used to only communicate in English(without knowing a single word of Dutch) and worked ok(in OMA, and NOX), but seems now the enquiry has rised?
would anyone knows the current condition be kindly give me any suggestion or comment? i cannot speak Dutch, and plan to make a trip to rotterdam to see if its ok to survive with only english language for getting my junior to senior level of architectural practice training.
Any comment is welcomed. Even just a say of 'naive'.
it all depends on the kind of projects they are working on at the moment and for which they could employ you. if they are working on projects in Holland it might be useful to understand Dutch to be able to work on more aspects of the projects than only cutting blue foam. If they have a lot of foreign commissions that you could be working on, Dutch isn't necessary, but maybe Mandarin or whatever. As far as I know English is the office-language. Just call them and ask.
You might be able to fall back on Danish, German or French too.
I have been noticing that the European markets have been more uptight and restrictive as of late.
I think it might be the possibility that many people from around the world who speak English as a second language are working in Europe.
So when you have two people who speak English as a second or third language trying to talk to one another, mistakes are bound to happen.
So, I think this would be the issue here... if you spoke another language that is in use in the Netherlands, you'd at least be able to repeat yourself to your best ability.
maybe this is why...
well, that was only announced yesterday. but for the past year OMA has been ditching ppl left right and centre - but sure that project ain't gonna help the non-dutch speakers out there.
You don't need Dutch at all to work at OMA.
Orochi, I think you really don't know how things work at OMA or in Europe. Hopefully Europe is multilingual, and OMA is very much about that. And the only language that is in use in the NL is Dutch (not French or Chinese :))
Basically, at OMA (like any other major practice anywhere in Europe) every architect will have a very decent English level that will allow him or her to sort 99,99% of problems, meetings or communications. They are not looking for the new Shakespeare. English-native people are only needed for publications or that kind of stuff.
That makes that except monolingual British or Americans, everybody (that means way more than 90%) staff at OMA speaks at least 2 languages, and many of them a third or forth language. For instance, someone who used to work for a while in a Dutch office, in a project in Germany (thus basically in German) being French his 1st language and talking to his jobmates in English (since he can't speak Dutch). :) That's nothing out of the extraordinary.
And obviously, when OMA has a project in China, France or Netherlands, architects who speak Chinese, French or Dutch have more chances to get a job than a monolingual American. But if you are very talented you will work for them over somebody who can speak 20 languages and is a moroon designing. Don't forget OMA is not a translation agency but an architectural office.
The problem with OMA... it's OMA, even in the booming times they received far more applications than jobs, so imagine in this economic situation. As for the latest job they offered this summer (for a project in Seoul), they received more than 1,000 portfolios (hard copies!) in one week. So figure it out.
a friend of mine worked with amo. she speaks english. im guessin she also survived the city
as of just before the summer, there was an estimate of no more then 15/20 people who spoke dutch in the office.
most people communicate in english,
the dutch as a nation generally all speak english too.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.