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Birthday Cake or Birthday Pie? Posted by Karoly Molina on May 25, 2016
In Limburg, pie is king! When there is something to celebrate, pie is the one who is always present. Correction: vlaai is always present! Vlaai has definitely been something that has grown on me. I used to never think of pie; now, I crave it. Perhaps it is the slagroom-art pies have or the fact that everytime…
Drought in the Netherlands Posted by Karoly Molina on May 11, 2016
A few weeks ago, as I was traveling from Maastricht to Amsterdam by train, I kept looking out enjoying the view full of farms, green areas and streams. The groenheid of the Netherlands has always amazed me (perhaps because I grew up in Texas…not so much green there!). After some contemplation, I began wondering if it…
Remembrance and Liberation Day 2016 Posted by Karoly Molina on May 4, 2016
May 4th and 5th mark a very important time in Dutch history. May 4th is Dodenherdenking or remembrance of the dead when the thousands who died during World War II and the Nazi invasion in the Netherlands are remembered. Since 1961, the day also commemorates those who died in other military conflicts. There are several ceremonies throughout…
April (weather) does what it wants Posted by Karoly Molina on Apr 27, 2016
This month there has been a Dutch saying that I have heard almost on a daily basis: April doet wat het wil. It is very true that April does what it wants, at least this April. The weather in the Netherlands has been nothing short of gek with temperatures reaching the 20 degrees Celsius and then…
Back to Basics: Comparing Posted by Karoly Molina on Apr 20, 2016
On a previous post, I wrote about the incorrect uses of als and how dan is the correct word to use when pointing out differences in a comparison. On this post, I would like to expand on comparisons and the correct words to use. dan The following song by Tim Immers is a good point to begin…
Back to Basics: Incorrect uses of “als” Posted by Karoly Molina on Apr 13, 2016
The word als is a very versatile Dutch word. You can use it as a conjunction (Als je klaar bent met studeren, kunnen wij ijs gaan eten) or a preposition (Ik zeg dit als een Nederlands leerling). This is perhaps one of the reasons why it is a word that can easily be used incorrectly. Here are just two…
Back to Basics: D and dt endings Posted by Karoly Molina on Apr 6, 2016
NTR: SchoolTV recently released a very catchy song explaining the use of -d and -dt when conjugating verbs in Dutch. For the section Snapje? meaning Do you understand?, SchoolTV teamed up with the Dutch alternative rock band De Staat to create a catchy tune to help us all figure out when to use just a -d ending or…