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Happy Songs that Make you Want to Dance Posted by Karoly Molina on Sep 15, 2014
Every morning at 7:30am, the Dutch radio station 3FM makes it a point to cheer people on as they head to work or to school. Chiel Beelen, a DJ at 3FM, calls a listener, usually someone nominated by friends or family, and they must sing the song Begin de dag met een dansje. There are…
How to Politely (or Not) Tell Someone to Back Off Posted by Karoly Molina on Sep 5, 2014
When you learn a new language, you don’t only learn about the language. The language itself is a door into a new cultuur, which comes with its own set of gewoonten, tradities, ideologïen and karaktertrekken. When you learn a new language and interact with the people who speak that language, you open a door to…
Rainy Days Make me Want to Bake Posted by Karoly Molina on Aug 27, 2014
Summer seems to be over in the Netherlands. Most days have been bewolkt and the sun only makes short appearances. The temperatures have also cooled down and an umbrella is a must in my purse. These days have brought out the inner bakker in me. Perhaps its because I’ve been drinking more tea to stay…
5W Questions Posted by Karoly Molina on Aug 25, 2014
Asking a question is an important part of communicating. Questions are the means to how we get more information and help us understand our surroundings. This is why learning how to phrase questions in our target language is very important. We can ask for directions, for clarification, for explanation and for reasons. In the U.S…
The G in Groningen is for Gezelligheid Posted by Karoly Molina on Aug 21, 2014
On Sunday, Riccardo and I headed to Groningen. Although it was a very short trip, I was very excited to go to the northern most tip of the Netherlands. It took us almost three hours to get there, and we enjoyed a typical Dutch country scenery of bomen, boerderijen, koeien mixed with regen and wolken…
Better than Yes or No Posted by Karoly Molina on Aug 13, 2014
When we speak in our native language, we tend to have a better variety of ways to answer simple yes or no questions. In English, you can use sure, of course, I’d love to, etc. to express yes and absolutely no, no way, I’d rather die, etc. to say no. These varieties help us get…
Cough! Cough! Time to go to the Huisarts Posted by Karoly Molina on Aug 6, 2014
Every time I have moved, I have fallen into the traps of new germs and viruses, and after four months, the Dutch germs finally got to me! For the past eight days, I have been living a true Dutch common verkoudheid (cold), and it has not been fun at all. I do not meant to…