Dutch Political System in a Nutshell Posted by sarah on Mar 22, 2010
One of the benefits of learning a foreign language is that once you do, you find yourself getting more involved in the culture than you could otherwise. Yes, many people in the Netherlands speak English on some level or another, but generally all the interesting Dutch stuff happens in Dutch. One of those interesting things…
Annie M.G. Schmidt- Abeltje, Pluk and Minoes Posted by noortje on Mar 19, 2010
In my last blog I promised to tell more about Annie M.G. Schmidt and her writings for the children that outgrew Jip and Janneke. She wrote a lot of books in her life, but let me pick out three of the most famous ones that everyone interested in Dutch culture should know. Abeltje The first…
Possessive Pronouns in Dutch Posted by sarah on Mar 18, 2010
Possessive pronouns are used to show that something belongs to someone or a group of someones. The possessive pronouns are always used when people are the one’s doing the possessing. In Dutch, the possessive pronouns also come in emphasized and unemphasized varieties. Just like with the subject pronouns (link to post about subject pronouns) the…
Review of Dutch-English/English-Dutch Dictionaries Posted by sarah on Mar 16, 2010
When learning any language, at some point you will need to purchase a dictionary. But the question inevitably arises: what dictionary should I buy? Currently the market is flooded with all kinds of dictionaries, for all levels of language, and they all have their own purpose. Dictionaries are written with a specific audience in mind…
How to Say Hello and Goodbye in Dutch, Plus the 3 Kisses Posted by sarah on Mar 15, 2010
In Dutch there are many ways of saying hello and goodbye. Which greeting you will use will depend on the time of day. Most of the estimates for the times of day you can use these greetings are estimates, so use whatever seems most appropriate to you. For the Dutch, the night greeting is usually…
Annie M.G. Schmidt – Jip and Janneke Posted by noortje on Mar 12, 2010
Where was I in my last blog..? O yeah, Jip and Janneke. Okay, so the two young next door neighbors, Jip and Janneke, appeared weekly in Het Parool, a famous Dutch newspaper. Annie M. G. Schmidt wrote the stories between the journalists and editors in the building of Het Parool. Jip and Janneke share kiddy…
Useful Dutch Grammar Words Part Two Posted by sarah on Mar 10, 2010
In Part One of this series, we covered some of the basic kinds of words and some basic parts of sentences. Now that we’re onto Part Two, let’s get into some more specific types of words, more complicated parts of sentences, and the names of the different verb tenses. Just like in the previous list…