# @life_and_sunshine on Instagram - **Type:** Image - **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DUgPydvCHMd - **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/63278388-life-and-sunshine-instagram - **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/a52aaa7c12.jpg - **Posted:** 2026-02-08T16:36:14.000+00:00 - **Account Owner:** Nat β˜€οΈ (@life_and_sunshine) β€” https://gondola.cc/life_and_sunshine ## Caption Since I got so many comments about my post yesterday I decided to expand my explanation of the languages I used during my PhD defense slash for my PhD thesis πŸ€“ Spoiler! It’s mostly just Dutch and English πŸ‡³πŸ‡±πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ (I chose the American flag because I’m American and I have an American accent when I speak in English) πŸ˜‡ β˜€οΈ β˜€οΈ β˜€οΈ I’ve always had these two languages in my head 🧠 I grew up bilingual with an American mom and a Dutch dad πŸ€“ But most of my scientific education was in English πŸ˜… I went to an American high school and also got my bachelor’s degree in the US πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ which made me choose an English spoken Masters degree in the Netherlands πŸ‡³πŸ‡± β˜€οΈ β˜€οΈ β˜€οΈ It wasn’t until I started interning in labs in The Netherlands as a part of my masters degree that I came into contact with Dutch scientific language πŸ˜… and it was hard πŸ˜‚ I pretty much knew none of the words I needed πŸ™ˆ But I just kept trying and learning! And after 2x a 6 month internship and 5.5 years of a PhD I was faaaairly comfortable conversing scientifically in Dutch πŸ€“ although I will always prefer English when given the choice πŸ˜‰ β˜€οΈ β˜€οΈ β˜€οΈ But still… the 45min Q&A session in Dutch was VERY daunting (see my last post) 🫣 but also the Dutch written summary of my thesis was hard to write 😬 I had 2 of my colleagues check my writing before sending it to my supervisors to check βœ… because I was so worried about my word use πŸ˜… I had the best lab mates though and they helped me a bunch and I got it all done 🀩 AND NOW I’M DOCTOR πŸŽ“πŸŽ‰ β˜€οΈ β˜€οΈ β˜€οΈ #phddefense #graduate #doctor #phd #thenetherlands ## Stats - **Views:** 0 - **Likes:** 665 - **Shares:** 0 - **Comments:** 35 ## Tags phddefense, graduate, phd, doctor, thenetherlands --- Copyright (c) Gondola