How to Sound Dutch in Dutch Posted by Karoly Molina on Aug 19, 2015
Even after learning grammar and enough vocabulary to hold conversations, language learners can always be spotted in conversation. What separates us learners from the native speakers are expressions that we rarely learn in the classroom.These expressions we pick up slowly because sometimes they do not make sense when we translate them to our own language and…
Back to Basics: Using the Present Tense Posted by Karoly Molina on Aug 12, 2015
I know most of you are thinking…why do we need to go back to the basics with the present tense? This is perhaps the first grammar lesson we get in Dutch classes, and, to be honest, one of the easiest rules. So why am I going to devote a post to the present tense? I’ve…
Showing Pride and Solidariteit at the Amsterdam Canal Parade Posted by Jakob Gibbons on Aug 6, 2015
This weekend was the climax of the famous Amsterdam Gay Pride, the festival in celebration of LGBT culture and equality in one of the most tolerant and gay-friendly countries in the world. As Karoly pointed out last month in her post ‘Love Wins!‘, the Netherlands has long been a forerunner in the LGBT rights movement, so…
The Dutch Eerste Maandag van de Maand Posted by Sten on Aug 5, 2015
It is Monday, 11:59 am, the first Monday of the month. It is about to be noon. Every month again, these last 60 seconds are a countdown. Then, exactly at noon, it happens. Many are shocked for a moment, wondering what to do. Is this real? Or just another test? In the end, this happens…
When driving…watch out for the bike! Posted by Karoly Molina on Jul 29, 2015
The latest integration project I have started is driving. While I learned to drive many many years ago, getting a driver’s license in the Netherlands is quite a process. Because I am a Dutch resident, I am required to take the driving exam even though I had a driver’s license in Texas and in Mexico. Some expats…
Tulip-mania…in French? Posted by Karoly Molina on Jul 22, 2015
I am a big book nerd and moving to the Netherlands gave me an excuse to look for books about the Netherlands. The latest book in my list was The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas. I know the choice seems bizarre because Dumas is a French writer, and, to make matters worse, never visited the Netherlands…
One Year After Flight MH17 Posted by Karoly Molina on Jul 17, 2015
One year ago, the Malaysia plane flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down in a rebel area of Ukraine. All 285 passengers and 15 crew members were killed. To make matters worse, the recovery of bodies and evidence was stalled because of the unrest in the area. A week later, the first remains…