It was a bit odd realising that today’s post would be my last post in 2011 for the Transparent Language Dutch blog.  The year has really gone by very snel (fast).  Today I wanted to tell you about some of the things that happen in the Netherlands for the New Year’s celebration and hear about your Dutch language goals for 2012.

Oud Jaar/Nieuw Jaar (old Year/New Year)

In Dutch, the phrase for New Year’s Eve is actually Oudejaarsnacht, meaning old year’s night.  Rather than it being the eve before the New Year, you have an old year and new year.  I really like the phrase.

Oliebollen

We have already touched on the topic of oliebollen in a previous post, so I won’t go into too much detail here but it is quite a Dutch tradition to make and/or eat oliebollen on Oudejaarsnacht.  If you stay at a hotel for the celebration, you might even find one in your room.

Vuurwerk (Fireworks)

As of today, it becomes very noisy outside because everyone has begun to collect their fireworks from the shops.  In the Netherlands it is technically illegal to have fireworks before December 29^th.  In fact, it is even illegal to set them off until a specified time on December 31^st.  And while, naturally, fireworks do still get set off before the allocated day and time (there are even some going off nearby as I write this) it is on December 31^st that loud explosions and bright displays can be heard and seen across the country.

New Year’s Phrases

In case you want to wish people a happy New Year, here are some handy phrases for you:

• Gelukkig nieuwjaar – Happy New Year
• Beste wensen – Best wishes
• Fijn uiteinde – Happy/good ending

New Year’s Resolutions

Of course, a new year is usually the time many people review their goals and set resolutions for the coming twelve months.  Will you be setting some Dutch related New Year’s resolutions?  If so, we would love to hear about them.  Some ideas might include:

• Learning 100 new vocabulary words
• Reading a book in Dutch
• Following a Dutch TV programme
• Mastering all the Dutch tenses

And with that, I think there is nothing more for me to do then to wish you a gelukkig nieuwjaar!!

See you next year!