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The Netherlands and Human Development Posted by Karoly Molina on Jul 29, 2014
A recent study by the United Nations program for Development ranked the Netherlands as number four among the top ten countries with the best index of sociale ontwikkeling or social development. This study measured factors such as the development and progress of people in gezondheidszorg (health care), onderwijs (education), veiligheid (security) and inkomen (income), as…
Zeeland: The Flood and the Delta Works Posted by Karoly Molina on Jul 28, 2014
I remember learning to swim when I was young and hearing that in a fight between man and water, water always win. Because of this, I was always very respectful of water as I swam. As natural disasters related to water surged, this idea was reaffirmed. Water would always win. As I made plans to…
Traveling by Train in the Netherlands Posted by Karoly Molina on Jul 24, 2014
One of the novelties I have enjoyed the most in the Netherlands is to travel with the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (or NS for short). My only train memory prior to Europe is a very old one from the last times there was a passenger train in Mexico (before 1992). We took the overnight trip and played…
Fietsen Posted by Karoly Molina on Jul 15, 2014
They say you never forget how to ride a bike. I, like any other kid, learned to ride a fiets (bike) at a young age. I started with a tricycle, then a regular fiets with training wheels, and, finally, one Christmas morning a big kid bike appeared under the Christmas tree. Slowly but surely, I…
Eet Smakelijk Posted by Karoly Molina on Jul 7, 2014
Summer is here and the sun has been generous enough to shine on the Netherlands. As soon as the sun peaks out even just a bit, the terrassen of restaurants, bars and cafes are filled with people enjoying the good weather and a drink in the company of friends and family. Just like in last…
Word Use: Oranje Voetbal Posted by Karoly Molina on Jun 30, 2014
The best way to learn new vocabulary is to use it. One exercise that has always challenged me and helped me learn word use in other languages is a paragraph where you fill in the words. It seems like something we’ve done since grade school, but it helps use new words. When you work on…
Shopping and Not Understanding Posted by Karoly Molina on Jun 23, 2014
Speaking in your target language is the best way to practice. One of the suggestions from the integration material I’ve received from the Dutch government has been to go out and interact with people at stores. I agree that it is a great way to practice, but one of the challenges of the Dutch language…