Archive by Author
Infectious Diseases in the Netherlands Posted by Karoly Molina on Jun 10, 2020
Have you ever heard of the PIENTER-onderzoek in the Netherlands? In this post, I will explore what this is and how is it has been expanded with the current COVID-19 situation. PIENTER-onderzoek First things first: what does pienter mean? According to the Van Dale dictionary, it means schrander of slim. PIENTER-onderzoek means a clever or insightful research…
Dutch Numbers on Everything! Posted by Karoly Molina on May 27, 2020
Het Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek or CBS is the government organisation that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. The CBS has been around since 1899 and provides reliable information related to population, economic growth, unemployment, religion and more. This post will explore the organisation and what kind of information you can find. Geschiedenis Like…
Corona in Understandable (Dutch) Language Posted by Karoly Molina on May 20, 2020
Since the corona crisis began in the Netherlands, the Dutch government has made available so much information, however, this isn’t always done in simple language. This creates a problem for the 2.5 million people in the Netherlands who have low reading, writing and counting skills. Fortunately, the Stichting Lezen en Schrijven is doing something to…
Dutch Songs About Corona Posted by Karoly Molina on Apr 22, 2020
During the last couple of weeks, we have seen several videos of people united with music. From the tenor singing on his balcony in Italy, to whole neighbourhoods singing together, to DJ’s playing music for their neighbours, music is very much a part of our social distancing. In this post, I explore three songs that…
Practicing Dutch from Home Posted by Karoly Molina on Apr 8, 2020
Next week, those of us living in the Netherlands and Belgium will reach the 1 month mark of social distancing. Although Belgium and the Netherlands have taken different approaches, the idea of limiting social interaction to flatten the curve is at the core of each strategy. For those of us learning a language, social distancing…
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…
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…