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Archive for January, 2020

Dutch Word of the Month January: Herdenking Posted by on Jan 28, 2020

January – the first month of the 2020s is coming to a close. This month really stood out with several events that made us stop, think, and look back. From joyful and exciting memories of what the last decade brought us to devastating losses. The word of the month January 2020 is herdenking. Click here for…

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The Canon of the Netherlands Posted by on Jan 23, 2020

The Canon of the Netherlands is an important topic.The canon is a selection of the top 50 people, acts or happenings that have shaped this country. In short, the Dutch canon is what makes the Dutch Dutch and how the country and its people have evolved. What is a canon? According to Webster’s dictionary, a…

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Woord van het Jaar 2019! Posted by on Jan 14, 2020

The last year of the previous decade has just elapsed two weeks ago, and that means that we have new woorden van het jaar (words of the year). Let’s see what words 2019 brought! Het klimaat Nothing gained as much traction in 2019 as het klimaat (the climate). From the Fridays for Future demonstrations all around the world to major climate…

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Dutch Music: Songs about Life Posted by on Jan 9, 2020

While watching a movie about the life of the famous Dutch singer André Hazes, I came across a term that I had not heard of before: het levenslied. Meaning Literally translated, levenslied means a song about life. The tradition of levensliederen began in the early 1900, and stems from the French chanson. Below is a definition of levenslied from…

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This Is THE Dutch Tradition If You Like Cold! Posted by on Jan 6, 2020

Gelukkig nieuwjaar, everybody! The jaarwisseling (turn of the year) marks an opportunity for many people to finally go get some of those goede voornemens (good resolutions) done! But for many Dutch people, it also means taking a moedige (courageous) step into cold water… Literally. Here’s all about a crazy cold Dutch tradition: the nieuwjaarsduik (New Year’s dip). What is this nieuwjaarsduik? Every year…

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