Archive by Author
Why The Dutch Angle Is Not Related To The Dutch Posted by Sten on Jan 22, 2018
There are many terms in the world of film and photo. For our purposes, one stands out, however: The Dutch angle. Why is it called that way, and is it even related to the Dutch? Let’s find out What is the Dutch angle? In cinematography, a Dutch angle is a filmtechniek (filming technique) where the horizon (horizon) is not…
Let’s Predict The Weather With Weerspreuken! Posted by Sten on Jan 15, 2018
It is January, the start of 2018. It feels like the worst days of winter are behind us, and de lente (spring) is upon us. The weather can only get better, right? Niet zo snel! (Not so fast!) Throughout the centuries, people have come up with hundreds of weerspreuken (weather proverbs), some of which are actually true! Let’s look at the…
5 Things You Should Know About The First Westerstorm of 2018 Posted by Sten on Jan 5, 2018
In the last few days, we had some bad weer (weather) in the Netherlands. It is a country infamous for its rain and wind, but this was different. Actually, it was a storm so bad, that the term noodweer (“emergency weather”, severe weather) was used. What was going on? Find out below. 1. Windsnelheden boven 140 kilometer per uur!…
Trema’s: ë, ï, ü, ö, ä Posted by Sten on Dec 14, 2017
Dutch is a pretty straightforward language when it comes to letters available. There’s just the simple 26, no special letters such as å or æ. Easy from A to Z! But… There are instances where a trema (diaeresis, the famous Umlaut in German) appears in Dutch. Where and why, though? eu, oe, ui, au, ou First, there are the tweeklanken that you should know…
Curious Words In Dutch 2: Voorkomen Posted by Sten on Dec 11, 2017
There are many strange words in a language. Words that are just not used much, words that are pronounced in a weird way… Just words that have something curious about them! And those are the ones we look at in this series. Today, we look at voorkomen. Previous posts in this series: Curious Words in Dutch…
Chocoladeletters – Letters of Chocolate for Sinterklaas! Posted by Sten on Dec 5, 2017
‘T heerlijk avondje is gekomen (The wonderful evening has come)! It is December 5, the day on which Sinterklaas and his helpers, the Pieten distribute the presents they wrapped for all the Dutch. But there is more than just gifts: A lot of snoepgoed (sweets)! Today, we will look at a particular one: Chocoladeletters (Chocolate letters). Bread Letters Nowadays, these yummy…
What is a Fietssnelweg? Posted by Sten on Nov 28, 2017
That the Dutch love their bikes is no news. The country is full of bikes – but also bike lanes. The video below nicely shows how the Dutch got the network of bike lanes that they have now. The Dutch continuously strive to make the system faster, more efficient and easier to use, so that…