Dutch OCR

Dutch Language

The Dutch language is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people as a first language, and by another 5 million people as a second language, mainly in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is the majority language of the Netherlands and Belgium, and one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. The name Dutch is also used to refer to any of the various dialects of this language group, which are spoken mainly in the Netherlands and northern Belgium. These dialects are often referred to as "low" or "plat" Dutch (i.e. platte taal or "flat/plain speech"). The term Nederlands is also commonly used for the Dutch language, but then usually in a restricted sense, meaning "The standard form(s) of the Dutch language".