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10 Tips for Learning Dutch Posted by heather on Dec 27, 2012
It is almost the start of a new year and for many people, learning a foreign language (or improving the one they are working on) will feature somewhere on the New Year’s resolution list. If that foreign language is Dutch, here are ten mini-tips about the language to get you started. 1. Dutch nouns have…
Dutch Verb Boot Camp: The Simple Past Tense (Part 1) Posted by heather on Jul 5, 2012
We have already talked about the present tense in Dutch, so let’s move on to the past tense. Today we will investigate weak verbs. In the past tense, we deal with verbs differently based on if they are a weak verb or a strong verb. weak verbs have letters added to make the change strong…
Frisian and the Skûtsjesilen Championships Posted by heather on Jul 3, 2012
On July 28th the Skûtsjesilen Championships will take place. Have you never heard of the word Skûtsjesilen? I hadn’t. So here is what I found out via the Holland.com website: “Skûtsjes are typical Frisian ships that were originally used as cargo ships by Frisian farmers. Skûtsjes have a long and flat structure with which they…
Dutch Swear Words Posted by heather on May 30, 2012
What is one of the things many people learn first when they learn a new language? Go on, you can say it – we won’t blush. As much as language programs seem to always start with numbers, greetings or even colours, for many people the first word is a swear word. You might have noticed…
What Time Is It? – Telling Time in Dutch Posted by heather on May 24, 2012
Telling the time in Dutch can be a little complicated until you get the hang of it. The real test comes after you have understood how it works and then need to explain that knowledge to someone else. Can you explain to someone how to tell the time in Dutch? If not, you might need…
Dutch Immersion Day Posted by heather on May 23, 2012
On the Transaparent Language blogs we have been talking about language immersion days – a dedicated way of helping you with your goal to learn Dutch by spending the whole day using and doing things in Dutch. What might a Dutch Language Immersion Day look like for you? Here are some ideas: Read the news…
Mata Hari – Part Two Posted by heather on May 16, 2012
Last week I told you about the early years of the Dutch woman known as Mata Hari. Today we will continue where we left off and learn about her later years. On March 13th, 1905 Mata Hari (a name M’greet adopted with her new life in Paris) debuted as an exotic dancer. So admired were…