Archive for March, 2010
Dutch Words for Pets Posted by noortje on Mar 30, 2010
Holland is small country, so we don’t have exotic animals like bears and kangaroos as pets. But we absolutely believe that an animal can be a great friend, so some sorts we welcome into our homes. Sometimes even in our beds. Mainly we love everything that is furry, not bigger than the size of a…
Dutch Political Parties Part Two Posted by sarah on Mar 29, 2010
In my last blog I left off with telling you a bit about five of the major political parties in the Netherlands. As you could see, this is an interesting time for the Netherlands in terms of politics, with many party leaders coming and going. In this blog I’m going to continue on with this…
Annie M.G. Schmidt and the Adults Posted by noortje on Mar 26, 2010
We covered Annie M.G. Schmidt’s work for kids and teenagers, which leaves one group missing: what did Annie M.G. Schmidt write for adults? Although I kept this topic until last, Schmidt actually started out with writing for the adults. In 1938 she got herself out there by writing two poems that were both published in…
Dutch Political Parties Part One Posted by sarah on Mar 24, 2010
We all know politics can be a dangerous topic, therefore, I am simply going to give you all an overview of some of the major national political parties in the Netherlands, and I’ll try to keep my own political opinions mostly out of it. But! I thoroughly encourage you all to have a lively debate…
Dutch Political System in a Nutshell Posted by sarah on Mar 22, 2010
One of the benefits of learning a foreign language is that once you do, you find yourself getting more involved in the culture than you could otherwise. Yes, many people in the Netherlands speak English on some level or another, but generally all the interesting Dutch stuff happens in Dutch. One of those interesting things…
Annie M.G. Schmidt- Abeltje, Pluk and Minoes Posted by noortje on Mar 19, 2010
In my last blog I promised to tell more about Annie M.G. Schmidt and her writings for the children that outgrew Jip and Janneke. She wrote a lot of books in her life, but let me pick out three of the most famous ones that everyone interested in Dutch culture should know. Abeltje The first…
Possessive Pronouns in Dutch Posted by sarah on Mar 18, 2010
Possessive pronouns are used to show that something belongs to someone or a group of someones. The possessive pronouns are always used when people are the one’s doing the possessing. In Dutch, the possessive pronouns also come in emphasized and unemphasized varieties. Just like with the subject pronouns (link to post about subject pronouns) the…