Archive for 'Dutch Vocabulary'
How the Dutch do Charity – Particularly once every Year Posted by Sten on Jun 6, 2014
Giving money to charity is nice. We all know that. Many people donate some amount regularly to a certain cause, but no challenge or strings attached to that. The Dutch got an idea how to tie a challenge to it and actually get people involved. You might have heard of Alpe d’Huez, an infamous French skiing…
A bus on water – the Waterbus! Posted by Sten on May 30, 2014
In the Dutch west, to be exact in the surroundings of Rotterdam called the Rotterdam-Drechtsteden, the people have developed an interesting, peculiar way of transport. They call it the waterbus (water bus). It is, as its name suggests, a bus on the water. It is much like a regular ferry. The waterbus uses the OV-chipkaart, so you can…
Language Listening Lesson – Het Verhaal van Mark Posted by Sten on May 17, 2014
Summer is slowly approaching. However, these past two weeks have been rainy, very windy, cold… Nothing you would expect from a great summer! So while we are reviving the cold winter months with blankets and hot chocolates, why also not some cozy Dutch? Let’s start off with the first Triple L! (Language Listening Lesson) The following story…
Eindexamen – Could you do it? Posted by Sten on May 14, 2014
The Dutch high school students are shivering and fearful these days. The next two to three weeks will be crucial for their future – heel belangrijk (very important).What they have done in the last three years and what they will do in these few weeks is going to decide what university they can go to, what job they…
April Fools!!! – But why? Posted by Sten on Apr 1, 2014
Op 1 april verloor Alva zijn bril – with this phrase, the watergeuzen made fun of general Alva of Spain when they took his city Den Briel (therefore zijn bril) on April 1, 1572. Watergeuzen are what you could call “Water Beggars”. “Water”, because they came by their ships in the North Sea. They basically were Dutch civilians fighting…
Grondwet Festival – 200 years Posted by Sten on Mar 30, 2014
Yesterday, it was the Grondwet Festival (The (Dutch) Constitution Festival), because on March 29, it existed exactly 200 years. In 1814, 474 vooraanstaande Nederlanders (prominent Dutch citizens) were invited for the Vergadering der Notabelen (Congress of Notables) where they were to accept the draft for the Grondwet. After singing the Wilhelmus, the Dutch National Anthem, they voted in favor with an overwhelming majority of…
Indispensible – treinen! Posted by Sten on Mar 23, 2014
I think it is time for me to clear some things up about traveling in Dutch treinen (trains, singular trein). In everyday speech, the Dutch also introduced the verb treinen (literally ‘training’) to describe traveling by train. So just the word treinen can mean trains or ‘training’/traveling by train. To describe how treinen usually…