Tag Archives: language
What do the Belgians Speak? Posted by Sten on Sep 8, 2020
We’ve talked about the differences between Dutch and Flemish before. Words and pronunciation are quite different between Dutch dialects and Flemish ones – but where does that leave us? Flemish is not a language; the official language is Nederlands (Dutch). So what gives? A tussentaal? Vlaams as an official language does not exist; It is Nederlands. In 1980, Belgium and…
Why Are The Dutch Called Dutch When They Shouldn’t Be? Posted by Sten on Sep 23, 2019
So, you may or may not have been wondering about this, but I certainly have. As a Dutch-German, I’ve always been stumped by the confusing demonyms (“a name used for the people who live in a particular country, state, or other locality”, thanks dictionary.com) used in English to refer to my two native countries. Why…
Italian in Dutch Posted by Sten on Feb 27, 2017
I was in Italy last week, and obviously came across a lot of Italian words – and many of them you know and use yourself, too! Think of all the coffee names, such as latte macchiato, cappuccino, espresso, and more. Are there words from Italian that were just adopted in Dutch, so-called leenwoorden? Leenwoorden Muziek Many words in music…
Fries – a language for itself! Posted by Sten on Nov 2, 2015
Fryslân – it will probably not tell you a lot. It is a word not from the Dutch, but the Frysian language, het Fries. Fryslân is the name of the Dutch province in which Fries is spoken: Friesland. Now, yes, there are many different dialects, and versions of Fries. But in this post, I mean Westerlauers Fries, or Standaardfries when I mention Fries. This is the…
Dutch New Year’s Resolutions Posted by Karoly Molina on Jan 8, 2015
2015 has begun and I am happy for all the opportunities it will bring. I am not the type to make too many resolutions, but considering this will be the year to culminate my Dutch language learning process (at least school wise), I need to set up a plan. By the end of this year…
How to Politely (or Not) Tell Someone to Back Off Posted by Karoly Molina on Sep 5, 2014
When you learn a new language, you don’t only learn about the language. The language itself is a door into a new cultuur, which comes with its own set of gewoonten, tradities, ideologïen and karaktertrekken. When you learn a new language and interact with the people who speak that language, you open a door to…
Cough! Cough! Time to go to the Huisarts Posted by Karoly Molina on Aug 6, 2014
Every time I have moved, I have fallen into the traps of new germs and viruses, and after four months, the Dutch germs finally got to me! For the past eight days, I have been living a true Dutch common verkoudheid (cold), and it has not been fun at all. I do not meant to…