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Archive for January, 2018

Why Is Dutch Courage Dutch? Posted by on Jan 29, 2018

Dutch courage. A well-known term for anyone that ever did something they never thought they were confident enough or strong enough for after drinking alcohol. How is that related to the Dutch? Last week, we looked at the “Dutch angle”, a film maker’s device for framing a shot, and how it is Dutch. Today, we…

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The Gouden Eeuw: A Golden Time for the Dutch Posted by on Jan 28, 2018

The 17th century does not spring to mind for many as a very prosperous and important time for the average person in the 21st century. After all, we now have the internet, electricity, good health care and we can travel all over the world in a matter of days. Despite that, the Dutch refer to…

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Back to Basics: Possession and Pronouns Posted by on Jan 24, 2018

One of the mistakes I’ve caught myself consistently making is to mix up all of the pronouns when it comes to talking about people’s things. If it isn’t using ik or je, I cannot seem to get them straight in my head. Ik heb hun auto gebruikt…zij auto….de auto van wie?!?!? What is a pronoun? The first question…

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Why The Dutch Angle Is Not Related To The Dutch Posted by on Jan 22, 2018

There are many terms in the world of film and photo. For our purposes, one stands out, however: The Dutch angle. Why is it called that way, and is it even related to the Dutch? Let’s find out What is the Dutch angle? In cinematography, a Dutch angle is a filmtechniek (filming technique) where the horizon (horizon) is not…

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Strong Winds Cause Chaos in the Netherlands Posted by on Jan 18, 2018

In the Netherlands, we woke up to some of the strongest winds in years. The majority of the country was in code oranje and code rood for wind gusts of up to 143 kph. The hardest hit areas were in the Randstad, Gelderland and the north of the country. The zware storm caused lots of damage or schade in buildings…

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Book Review: The Song and the Truth Posted by on Jan 17, 2018

My latest Dutch literature read is Het lied en de waarheid or in it’s English title The Song and the Truth by Helga Ruebsamen. Helga grew up in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) with her Dutch mother and her German Jewish father. Her family eventually moved to the Netherlands where she grew up. Het lied en de waarheid…

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Let’s Predict The Weather With Weerspreuken! Posted by on Jan 15, 2018

It is January, the start of 2018. It feels like the worst days of winter are behind us, and de lente (spring) is upon us. The weather can only get better, right? Niet zo snel! (Not so fast!) Throughout the centuries, people have come up with hundreds of weerspreuken (weather proverbs), some of which are actually true! Let’s look at the…

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