Really try to learn Dutch from German or vice versa and you'll NOTICE that the languages are less similar than they initially seem. The example above may not demonstrate that more properly, although you may already see the languages have completely different spelling rules for starters (in which the fact that German uses upper case for all first letters of a noun and Dutch doesn't is the least of the differences). It is however funny that I've been said many times by people who don't speak any of the two languages that one is a dialect of the other.

Ich kann dir versprechen, dass es schwieriger werdet wenn du beiden Sprachen lernen werden.
Ik kan je beloven, dat het moeilijker wordt als je beide talen gaat leren.

Can you believe I said the same twice? (translation: "I can promise you, it'll become more difficult when you'll learn both languages").

So to anybody foolish enough to make the claim above.... Those who speak one of the two languages (or even both) natively will laugh at you.

(Yeah, both is possible. If I'd for example ever get kids from a German woman I'd make sure my kids would know both Dutch and German, at least I'd intend to... Inspired by a girl in my class when I was 5 or 6 or so who was aside from Dutch fluent in French due to her mom being Dutch and her dad being French).

Quick question: if I were to learn German, and study enough Dutch that I knew all the major differences between the two languages, could I then "Dutch-ize" my German to a point where it could be readily understood by a Dutch speaker, if such need arose?

There is a big chance a Dutch can understand you if you speak German clearly and slowly and vice versa. Especially when people live close to the German-Dutch border, where the local accents are heavily influenced by the "other language".

For simple things, as asking where the supermarket is, or a quick "hello" even, it will do. When it comes to a serious conversation about stuff like science, politics, religion, psychology, and so on, then you'll find out that merely speaking German with a Dutch accent (or vice versa) or even trying to use literal translations from one language to the other will really get people to think you've gone nuts, as you will soon find out how great the differences between the two languages are.

What doesn't help when you try to learn Dutch is that most Dutch are fluent in the English language, although a lot have a terrible accent and make a few grammar errors in their speech, you will mostly understand them and if you speak Dutchified German, I think you will very soon get the question "Do you speak English?" from them. And there are less Dutch people fluent in the language, but German is educated at Dutch schools, and due to that a lot of them have basic knowledge of the German language at least (Ich spreche auch ein bisschen deutsch), and some of them are even fluent in the language and will respond in German if you speak Dutchified German thinking you are German. When you are a waiter in a Dutch pub or restaurant near the coast, you are even obligated to be fluent in German as a lot of German tourists pack the place every year. Much to the chagrin of Dutch guests of those pubs and restaurants they will even start speaking to you in German in stead of Dutch due to this. (It's not really about hating Germans, but rather being spoken to in a foreign language by countrymen in your own country... I guess you understand why the Dutch hate that).

Long story short, in simple conversations, such as a quick hello or asking the way, it may work. but in more complex conversations, definitely not. The two languages are too different for that.

Ok! Thanks!

Totally agree (I'm learning Dutch and know German). First I thought they would be very similar apart from spelling, but if I trust too much my German then I feel like I get fooled by it, making me do mistakes.

The same when they say that Catalan is a dialect of Spanish, no way, they are soo different when you study them, Catalan is more similar to French grammar (I speak Catalan as mother tongue btw)

All I can say in Spanish is "Buenas dias" and "No comprendo espanol" and then it's hard to compare to Catalan, isn't it. I've been in Catalonia once, and I've quite often seen multi-lingual signs, with Spanish, Catalan, English, German and French, and yeah, from first glance I could see that the Catalan text was quite often a lot different from Spanish. Of course, I only know a few phrases in Spanish and no Catalan at all, so who am I to judge 😁

What you describe about mistakes, well many Dutch make a fool of themselves when trying to speak German, and perhaps you've found out why, as you now face the same trapdoors, only then from the "opposite direction" from my point of view (since Dutch is my first language). Many Dutch people have underestimated German since there are similarities... Dutch and German do share a bit of their origins, but not completely.

So you are trying to learn Dutch, eh? En? Begin je het al een beetje onder de knie te krijgen, of is het nog erg lastig?

Voor mij is het gemakkelijker te begrijpen maar moeilijk te schrijven
En ik lees graag voor :) Ik graag hoe nederlands klinkt

Good attempt.... I'll rate it 8.5 out of 10.
The last sentence was the only faulty one....
Did you mean "Ik hoor graag hoe Nederlands klinkt" or "Ik vind het leuk hoe Nederlands klinkt"?
Writing in Dutch or constructing a sentence in Dutch can be quite bothersome, I know... Dutch has a bit of an awkward grammar when it comes the the order of words in a sentence.

I think the last one...
I like how it sounds

Yup, then it would indeed be the latter one. :)