Archive for March, 2020
Binnenhof: Het Torentje Posted by Sten on Mar 30, 2020
The Binnenhof (Inner Court) is the center of the Dutch overheid (government). Located in the heart of Den Haag (The Hague), it oozes Dutch geschiedenis (history) and verhalen (stories). In this series, we’ll go building by building and explore what each is all about. Starting today with het Torentje! For more posts in the Binnenhof series, click here. What…
Spreekwoorden en Uitdrukkingen (Sayings and Expressions) 14 – Thuiswerken Posted by Sten on Mar 23, 2020
With the coronavirus being a worldwide pandemic, many landen (countries) are implementing quarantaines (quarantines), telling people: blijf thuis! (Stay at home!) A real #thuiswerken movement has begun, and of course, that comes with its own linguistic quirks! Here are a spreekwoord (saying) and an uitdrukking (expression) to make thuiswerken a little sweeter! For other sayings and expressions in this series, click here. Oost…
Why Dutch PM Rutte’s Address Was Historical Posted by Sten on Mar 17, 2020
The coronavirus is spreading across the world fast. Maandagavond (Monday evening) at 7 pm, minister-president (prime minister) Mark Rutte addressed the Dutch people from the Torentje (little tower), which is the office of the Dutch premier (prime minister). He addressed zorgen (concerns) about the virus and what the Dutch overheid (government) is considering. Here’s what he said and why it was…
Dutch Songs to Wash Your Hands Posted by Karoly Molina on Mar 12, 2020
Last week, Sten wrote a very interesting post about the coronavirus developments in the Netherlands. Like Sten mentioned, the Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezonheid en Milieu (RIVM) has made a few key recommendations. In this post, I would like to explore some of these recommendations. Handen Wassen According to information from RIVM and the World Health Organization…
Coronavirus: The Dutch Response Posted by Sten on Mar 10, 2020
Het coronavirus (the coronavirus) has reached Europe, including the Netherlands. While landen (countries) like Italy have decided that a landelijke quarantaine (country-wide quarantine) is the right way to contain the virus, what do the Dutch do? And how do they react? Let’s have a look, while also learning some Dutch! The Government’s Advice So far, the…
200 Years of Multatuli Posted by Karoly Molina on Mar 4, 2020
March 2020 will mark 200 years of one of the most renowned Dutch writers in history: Multatuli. To celebrate this, King Willem-Alexander inaugurated the Multatuli-jaar this past February at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. In this post, I will explain a little of Multatuli’s life and his masterpiece Max Havelaar. Wie was Multatuli? Multatuli was the…
Dutch Money: Talking About Money Posted by Sten on Mar 2, 2020
Geld (money). It is the lifeblood of our economieën (economies) and we need it in our dagelijks leven (daily life) for everything from boodschappen (groceries, household items) to treinkaartjes (train tickets) to buying a rijbewijs (driver’s license) once you get tired of all the vertragingen (delays) of the Dutch trains. In the previous posts about Dutch money, we talked about where the Dutch gulden came from…