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How Dutch Kids Fight Coronavirus Boredom By Hunting Bears Posted by Sten on Apr 1, 2020
In times of thuisquarantaine (home quarantine) and gesloten scholen (closed schools), kinderen (children) are bound to get extremely bored. How can you deal with such verveling (boredom)? Well, some people found a way, and because of social media, the idea is spreading all over the country. What is this berenjacht (bear hunt), and why does it become so successful in the Netherlands? Let’s have a…
Binnenhof: Het Torentje Posted by Sten on Mar 30, 2020
The Binnenhof (Inner Court) is the center of the Dutch overheid (government). Located in the heart of Den Haag (The Hague), it oozes Dutch geschiedenis (history) and verhalen (stories). In this series, we’ll go building by building and explore what each is all about. Starting today with het Torentje! For more posts in the Binnenhof series, click here. What…
Spreekwoorden en Uitdrukkingen (Sayings and Expressions) 14 – Thuiswerken Posted by Sten on Mar 23, 2020
With the coronavirus being a worldwide pandemic, many landen (countries) are implementing quarantaines (quarantines), telling people: blijf thuis! (Stay at home!) A real #thuiswerken movement has begun, and of course, that comes with its own linguistic quirks! Here are a spreekwoord (saying) and an uitdrukking (expression) to make thuiswerken a little sweeter! For other sayings and expressions in this series, click here. Oost…
Why Dutch PM Rutte’s Address Was Historical Posted by Sten on Mar 17, 2020
The coronavirus is spreading across the world fast. Maandagavond (Monday evening) at 7 pm, minister-president (prime minister) Mark Rutte addressed the Dutch people from the Torentje (little tower), which is the office of the Dutch premier (prime minister). He addressed zorgen (concerns) about the virus and what the Dutch overheid (government) is considering. Here’s what he said and why it was…
Coronavirus: The Dutch Response Posted by Sten on Mar 10, 2020
Het coronavirus (the coronavirus) has reached Europe, including the Netherlands. While landen (countries) like Italy have decided that a landelijke quarantaine (country-wide quarantine) is the right way to contain the virus, what do the Dutch do? And how do they react? Let’s have a look, while also learning some Dutch! The Government’s Advice So far, the…
Dutch Money: Talking About Money Posted by Sten on Mar 2, 2020
Geld (money). It is the lifeblood of our economieën (economies) and we need it in our dagelijks leven (daily life) for everything from boodschappen (groceries, household items) to treinkaartjes (train tickets) to buying a rijbewijs (driver’s license) once you get tired of all the vertragingen (delays) of the Dutch trains. In the previous posts about Dutch money, we talked about where the Dutch gulden came from…
Dutch Money: The Dutch Euro Posted by Sten on Feb 24, 2020
Geld (money). It is the lifeblood of our economieën (economies) and we need it in our dagelijks leven (daily life) for everything from boodschappen (groceries) to treinkaartjes (train tickets) to buying a rijbewijs (driver’s license) once you get tired of all the vertragingen (delays) of the Dutch trains. Last week, we talked about the gulden, the Dutch currency before the country joined the euro. But…