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Tweeklanken 1: ae, ai, aai, au/ou Posted by Sten on Jul 31, 2017
Dutch is pretty straightforward with its alfabet (alphabet): It has 26 letters, there are no special ones. So, that’s pretty simple! However, there are some lettercombinaties (letter combinations) that create a different sound. There are 16 of them, and in the coming weeks, we will have a look at all of them. Today, we start of with those starting…
Ordering Food in Dutch Posted by Sten on Jul 25, 2017
So last week, I discussed how to order drinks in Dutch. Let’s talk about ordering food today! Dietary preferences The first thing to consider is of course what your dietary preferences are. But what are those? Biologisch – biological, or organic food. Vegan / veganistisch – vegan food (you pronounce vegan the same as in English, by the way!)…
Ordering Drinks In Dutch Posted by Sten on Jul 16, 2017
Summer is here! And so a lot of terrassen (terraces), café’s (cafés) and bars (bars) are flooded with people, trying to afkoelen (cool off) a little in the zomerse hitte (Summer heat). Many people are getting drinks to cool off – but how do you order drinks in Dutch? So, you decided to hit one of the many little terraces (terrasjes) in the city, sit down…
Spreekwoorden en Uitdrukkingen (Sayings and Expressions) 8 – Time and money! Posted by Sten on Jun 19, 2017
It is Monday! Making money is what you probably do on a maandag (Monday) anyway. But it is also Monday, the international day for mourning the end of the weekend. So, I thought, let’s take the bitter out of that bittersweet feeling, and include time in today’s post. Time and money! Does that go together? Let’s find…
Spreekwoorden en Uitdrukkingen (Sayings and Expressions) 7 – Wood Posted by Sten on May 22, 2017
A new edition of Spreekwoorden en Uitdrukkingen! There are many different sayings and expressions, and there are plenty concerning hout (wood). Here are two that are used a lot and you will enjoy! Let’s start with the saying. For other sayings and expressions in this series, click here. Van dik hout zaagt men planken From thick wood one…
Mama, we houden van jou! – Mother’s Day in the Netherlands Posted by Sten on May 15, 2017
Yesterday was a great day for many mothers in the Netherlands – their children gave them presents and thanked them for being such awesome moeders (mothers). You might ask the question “maar waarom alleen op één dag van het jaar?” (but why only on one day of the year?), and that is a legitimate question. Not one to focus…
5 mei – Bevrijdingsdag: Celebrating Freedom Posted by Sten on May 5, 2017
Yesterday, I wrote about the Dodenherdenking, the Dutch Memorial Day, remembering all Dutch burgers (citizens) and soldaten (soldiers) that have fallen since the Tweede Wereldoorlog (Second World War). Today, that sad and difficult mood made a 180 degrees turn. Because today, it is time to celebrate vrijheid (freedom). A difficult end On 5 mei (May…