I want to really get to know Amsterdam

I really want to get to know the city well. What are some things I need to do before I go that an average tourist wouldn't do?

Why not enjoy your vacation instead of trying not to be what you can't hide anyway? Everybody will know you're a tourist and on vacation within a few moments of seeing and talking to you. There's no shame in it though.

What should I expect when I'm there? I have been studying Dutch for the past year and a half, but I could be better. Will it be easy for me to practice there or is it true that most Dutch people will just speak English with me?

I'm from the US as well and it took me a solid 2 years of speaking only to Dutch people to be able to get to a level where I don't have to think about it. Considering how international Amsterdam is an how easy it'll be for you to get caught in an English bubble it might not be the effort. If you really want to learn it there are places to get lessons but people here will switch over to English to keep things flowing, you need to be the stubborn one.

Also, is it rude to expect everyone to speak English? When I enter a market, can I assume the owner/people there speaks English so much so that I don't need to preface every conversation with "do you speak English?" I hear it is a very tolerant city and there is never any pressure to learn Dutch, but I'd like to know what everyday people living there think

They'll know quickly enough anyway, if they don't understand your english just point at what you mean.

And finally, if you have any tips for me to keep in mind while I'm there. It's very important to me to take in as much of Dutch culture as possible, and I don't want to fall into any typical tourist mistakes while doing so.

There's nothing worse than somebody trying to hard, just go with the flow. The rest will come itself.

/r/thenetherlands Thread