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Words of Shock and Surprise in Dutch! Posted by Karoly Molina on Feb 27, 2019
English speakers tend to express shock and surprise with phrases such as Oh my God! or WOW! And while it is perfectly okay to use these in Dutch (because the trend with native Dutch speakers is to add some English words here and there), there are perfectly good words and phrases in Dutch you can…
Holleeder Family- The Dutch Godfather? Posted by Karoly Molina on Feb 6, 2019
I just finished reading the book “Judas” about a notorious Dutch criminal and it left me speechless! It covered the infamous Heineken ontvoering or kidnapping, the “underworld” of criminals in the Netherlands, and one family’s life in the middle of it all. Who are the Holleeders? The Holleder family is known first and foremost by the oldest…
The North Sea Dikes Open Once Again Posted by Karoly Molina on Jan 23, 2019
This month, the Haringvlietsluizen opened up to let fish swim between the North Sea and the Haringvliet which is south of Rotterdam in the province of South Holland. Parts of the dike will remain open so long as there is no risk of high water. Haringvlietsluizen- History The Haringvlietdam is part of the Delta Works which are…
The Dutch Day of Wallowing! Posted by Karoly Molina on Jan 9, 2019
Yes, you read the title right. There is a Dutch day of wallowing or zwelgen! Read below to find out about this curious event. What is zwelgen? According to my trusted Prisma dictionary, zwelgen means the following: gulzig en veel eten en drinken; zich te buiten gaan aan, genieten van; zich helemaal overgeven aan het hebben van medelijden…
The Dutch and All Their Money (Words) Posted by Karoly Molina on Dec 12, 2018
There are so many stereotypes about the Dutch and money: cost savvy, always looking for a good bargain, and in a not so nice way, cheap. But are the Dutch really this thrifty and what does their language use say about the role money plays? History To understand why the Dutch tend to save and…
Van Dale Word of the Year 2018 Posted by Karoly Molina on Dec 5, 2018
The official list of the Van Dale Word of 2018 is out and open for votes, but before we go to the list, who is this van Dale? Van Dale Dictionary If you are learning Dutch, you might have heard of the wonderful dictionary by Van Dale. Van Dale is like the Webster’s and Oxford…
Health Insurance in the Netherlands – Choices! Choices! Choices! Posted by Karoly Molina on Nov 14, 2018
It is that lovely time of the year when Dutch insurances or zorgverzekeraars publish their prices for the next year and we are all faced with the decision to change or not to change providers. So what do the Dutch have to choose and who decides what is insured and what isn’t? De Wet First and…