I've never lived in Amsterdam, but I have spent time there as a tourist (and not in the Center, where you expect people to interact with tourists all day long).

I've never lived in Amsterdam, but I have spent time there as a tourist (and not in the Center, where you expect people to interact with tourists all day long). Everyone spoke excellent English, even older and crustier looking Dutch whose English was obviously rusty. The only time I needed to use any of the Dutch I had learned before coming was with some immigrants for whom English would be their third language.