Archive for 'Culture'
Dutch Movie on Netflix: Black Book Posted by Karoly Molina on Sep 11, 2019
This past weekend at home, we came across a very popular Dutch film called Zwartboek or Black Book. This movie was released in 2006 and tells the story of survival of a Dutch-Jewish singer by the name of Rachel Stein during the last year of the Nazi occupation. Background Zwartboek was written by Paul Verhoeven and Gerard Soeteman…
Curious Words in Dutch 4: Ape(n)kop Posted by Sten on Sep 9, 2019
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. In last week’s post about Sayings and Expressions on monkeys, our reader Gre…
Spreekwoorden en Uitdrukkingen (Sayings and Expressions) 10 – Monkeys! Posted by Sten on Sep 2, 2019
Yes, really. Apen (monkeys). The Netherlands may one of the least tropical landen (countries) you can think of. Yes, we have the infamous broodjeaapverhalen, but we also have plenty of spreekwoorden (sayings) and uitdrukkingen (expressions) that contain the mensachtige (human-like) primates. Let’s have a look at two today, starting, as always, with the spreekwoord. For other sayings and expressions in this series, click here. Aap…
Dutch Word of the Month August: Puzzelwoord Posted by Sten on Aug 26, 2019
Like July, August is a quiet month for the news, real komkommertijd. But this month, something exciting happened: Lingo is back! And with it, some of Lingo’s iconic vocabulary. The word of the month is: Puzzelwoord (puzzle word)! Click here for previous Words of the Month What does it mean? Puzzelwoord (puzzle word) quite simply refers to…
August: A Stressful Month For Students In The Netherlands Posted by Sten on Aug 19, 2019
It’s August. A month of sun and relaxation. It is a real komkommertijd. But for starting college studenten (students), it is quite a hectic time. They are often moving away from home, to another stad (city), since the next academic year is starting on September 1. De aankomende studenten gaan op kamers! Op kamers gaan Op…
This Is Why Your Uncle Might Be Dutch Posted by Sten on Aug 12, 2019
We’ve explored before the rather curious reasons behind the uses of the word “Dutch” in different terms. From “going Dutch” to the “Dutch angle”, the lowlanders are popping up everywhere. Today, we are looking at the Dutch uncle. For other terms in this series of “Dutch” words, check this link. What’s my uncle got to…
Why The Dutch Are Obsessed With Koffie Posted by Sten on Aug 5, 2019
The British have their thee (tea), the Germans have their bier (beer) and the French have their wijn (wine). And the Dutch? The Dutch, they have their koffie (coffee). With an average of about 4 cups a day, the Dutch are one of the biggest coffee drinkers in the world. 4 Cups a day? Yes, an average of 4 cups a day. At…