3 Examples of Dutch Ingenuity Posted by Karoly Molina on Jan 10, 2018
One of the things that attracts many of us to the Netherlands is how incredibly modern the country can be in regards to projects and laws. It was the first country to grant same-sex couples the right to marry. It has an incredible dam structure that keeps the country above water. The Dutch landscape has…
5 Things You Should Know About The First Westerstorm of 2018 Posted by Sten on Jan 5, 2018
In the last few days, we had some bad weer (weather) in the Netherlands. It is a country infamous for its rain and wind, but this was different. Actually, it was a storm so bad, that the term noodweer (“emergency weather”, severe weather) was used. What was going on? Find out below. 1. Windsnelheden boven 140 kilometer per uur!…
4 New Year’s Traditions from the Netherlands Posted by Karoly Molina on Jan 3, 2018
The 2017-2018 New Year’s celebration was my first in the Netherlands, and at home, we made it a point to be as traditional as possible. It was a very nice experience and the following are 4 traditions I learned: 1. “Alvast een fijne jaarwisseling” and “Gelukkig nieuwjaar” These are the two phrases you need to…
The Top Dutch Posts of 2017 Posted by Karoly Molina on Dec 27, 2017
2017 has been a great year for learning Dutch! The blog posts from this year covered a diverse range of topics some of which sparked great conversations! The most popular posts for this year are the following: Pronouncing the R in Dutch Pronouncing the R when speaking Dutch is a challenge. On this post, Jake…
Trema’s: ë, ï, ü, ö, ä Posted by Sten on Dec 14, 2017
Dutch is a pretty straightforward language when it comes to letters available. There’s just the simple 26, no special letters such as å or æ. Easy from A to Z! But… There are instances where a trema (diaeresis, the famous Umlaut in German) appears in Dutch. Where and why, though? eu, oe, ui, au, ou First, there are the tweeklanken that you should know…
Curious Words In Dutch 2: Voorkomen Posted by Sten on Dec 11, 2017
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. Today, we look at voorkomen. Previous posts in this series: Curious Words in Dutch…
Chocoladeletters – Letters of Chocolate for Sinterklaas! Posted by Sten on Dec 5, 2017
‘T heerlijk avondje is gekomen (The wonderful evening has come)! It is December 5, the day on which Sinterklaas and his helpers, the Pieten distribute the presents they wrapped for all the Dutch. But there is more than just gifts: A lot of snoepgoed (sweets)! Today, we will look at a particular one: Chocoladeletters (Chocolate letters). Bread Letters Nowadays, these yummy…