Archive for October, 2008
Weather in the Netherlands Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 27, 2008
The climate is changing. You hear about this every day. It’s a thought of concern, also – maybe even especially – for the Dutch people, who’ve been living with the dangers of the sea for as long as one can remember. We’ve confined the waters with dykes. Sometimes successfully, sometimes the waters fought back. In…
Dutch between German and English Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 22, 2008
Dutch: More like German or more like English? Dutch is often called the bridge language between German and English. And it is understandable why. In one case Dutch seems very alike German and in the other Dutch seems very alike English. I think it’s both true. Okay, important differences between Dutch and German you’d have…
The Dutch school system Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 20, 2008
Today I will tell you something about the Dutch school system. In the Netherlands the children have a compulsory education up to their 16th year. Most of the Dutch children go to primary school when they reach the age of 4. Before that, parents can choose to bring their young ones to kindergarten. Usually, this…
Dutch Cuisine Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 14, 2008
Dutch Cuisine Though I do not know a lot about the history of Dutch cuisine, I would like to tell you what a Dutch breakfast, lunch and dinner can look like. The Dutch are famous for their dairy products, especially for all the (cow’s milk) cheeses. Still, cheese in my home is not an often…
Dutch expressions and proverbs Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 11, 2008
Dutch proverbs and expressions. English and Dutch proverbs have more in common than we might think. Some phrasings developed in a fairly similar way, but of course there will always be little differences and big big big differences. So, just for fun, a few Dutch proverbs and the Dutch equivalent plus literal translation. Oh and…
Simple past and present perfect Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 10, 2008
Sometimes a new topic just falls right into your lap. Today, this happened to me. I was mailing with someone about the Dutch grammar for a certain project. So, when it came down to verbs, I mentioned that our tenses system is similar to the English system: Verleden tijd à Past Tegenwoordige tijd à Present…
Going Dutch Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 7, 2008
The last couple of days I’ve been searching the internet, trying to find an interesting topic to write about. Since I usually write short fiction stories and not non-fictional articles, I find it takes a bit of readjusting, similar to some kind of cultural shock! I stumbled across a website about non-Dutch people living in…