De Canon van Nederland is a list of 50 important points in Dutch history chosen by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Learning.  This list covers such important topics as the beginning of Dutch civilization, famous artists and writers, and cultural themes.  If you have an interest in broadening your knowledge of Dutch culture, this is a great resource.

One of the things I like about de Canon van Nederland is that it is also a great place to start practicing and learning Dutch.  There are plenty of images to look at and, best of all, videos to watch.  All of the information is given for learners of different ages.  If you look under “leerlingen” you will see that the entire website refreshes and gives you information at the basic children’s level. You can do this all the way up to the adult level.  Although this is obviously a site for Dutch history, this makes it a fantastic learning tool for us, those people learning Dutch as a foreign language.

If you’re not quite up to the challenge of tackling the website in Dutch, but you’re interested in Dutch culture and history, don’t despair.  The website is also available in simple Dutch, English, Turkish, Arabic and Indonesian.  Pick a topic you are interested in and have a look at it in your language.  But then don’t be scared to have a look at it in Dutch too!  Compare the Dutch article to the article you are looking at.  Try to see if any of the words look familiar or similar.  Make a list of words you see more than three times in one article, and start studying those words.

Every time I look at de Canon van Nederland I find something new and interesting to check out.  And I always start with the information at the lowest children’s level and work my way up.  You can really lose yourself for hours in this website.

Check out de Canon van Nederland here.

Once you’ve had a look at the website, tell us about something interesting you found by leaving a comment in the comments section below!