During my time in Secondary Education, English, German and French were mandatory subjects for all of the students and part of the final exams. I then went to work with Philips, the Lighting and Electronics Manufacturer, first as a quality tester of radio equipment and writer of technical documentation to be used by the retailers' service technicians, and later, after starting my study of English Language and Literature as a technical translator in the Glass Division.
Later in life I did a few years of Spanish and Italian as well. I must say that my fluency in the various foreign languages is of a mixed nature; in order of descending fluency: German, Spanish, French and Italian. German is naturally closer to Dutch than the others are; my Spanish is better than my French due to my reading Spanish newspaper, magazines and novels, rather than French. I only read Italian: I have no opportunity to practise speaking.