Tag Archives: news
Garde Robe: An Amazing Discovery From The Golden Age Posted by Sten on Apr 21, 2016
Last Thursday, a most verbazingwekkend (astonishing) discovery was published: a lading (cargo) of 17th century noble items, most importantly a vorstelijk gewaad (royal gown) were found! In the waters off the island Texel, many scheepswrakken (ship wrecks) from that time, the Gouden Eeuw (Golden Age – see below in the Sideline) were lying out there, waiting for cargo. Because of wind and weather, many of them zonken (sank) and…
6 Ways to Read More News in Dutch Posted by Jakob Gibbons on Feb 23, 2016
Especially when learning a small cultural language like Dutch, it’s nearly impossible to separate the language from the culture of the people who speak it. That’s why jezelf op de hoogte houden (keeping yourself up to date) on current events in the Netherlands, Belgium, and other parts of the nederlandstaalgebied is a great way to…
The Dutch Version of the Correspondents’ Dinner Posted by Sten on Feb 15, 2016
Last Wednesday, February 10, the Dutch press held their version of the US Correspondents’ Dinner at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam. The idea is to copy the Correspondents’ Dinner and have the “President” of the Netherlands, Prime Minister Mark Rutte, make fun of himself, his fellow politicians and the press. So comparing to President…
Dutch Place Names, the ‘Mini-Schengen’, and Travel in Europe Posted by Jakob Gibbons on Dec 8, 2015
This post will discuss some recent developments in Dutch and European politics that may soon change foreigners’ options for traveling in the Netherlands and Europe. This is a great chance to work on place names in Dutch, which can sometimes differ greatly from their English equivalents. Don’t worry — there’s a vocabulary list at the end!…
Lockdown in Brussels and Security in the Netherlands Posted by Jakob Gibbons on Nov 24, 2015
After last week’s attacks in Beirut and Paris, Brussels is on lockdown. Brussels is the capital of Belgium, the European Union, and NATO, and is only a two hour train ride from Rotterdam, bringing this international conflict close to home in het nederlandse taalgebied in the Netherlands and Flanders. Many of the Dutch words used to describe security situations and…
Het Straatnieuws uit Utrecht – Interviewing the Pope! Posted by Sten on Nov 8, 2015
The pope. There is no doubt about it, he is an influential and important person, not just in the Netherlands, but in the entire world. He has now become Onze Vriend in Rome (our friend in Rome). On Tuesday, October 27th at 11 AM, the Straatnieuws journalists arrived to interview Paus Franciscus (Pope Francis). After months of geheimhouding (confidentiality), since nobody was allowed…
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…