Today the vocabulary is inspired by the visit to the biggest vegetarian festival in the Netherlands – Viva Las Vega’s in Amsterdam. It was my first time to attend a vegetarian/vegan festival and I have to admit that I felt like a kid in a candy shop – I could try everything without asking the usual question: Is it vegetarian? Everything […]
van ganser harte – from the bottom of one’s heart (from the entire heart) uit de grond van zijn hart – from the bottom of one’s heart van harte gefeliciteerd – my warmest congratulations
The Begijnhof: An Oasis of Peace in the center of Amsterdam
The old, narrow houses of Amsterdam remind you that it is not a city you rush through. It pulsates with its own pace. A city of details to stop and gaze at, while fascinated, you lose your way completely. You just have to slow down and look around. Walking the cobblestone streets, passing by the picturesque canals and the buzzing cafes, you imagine yourself as a character of an adventurous novel or in a silent black and white movie. I would not be surprised if every visitor has at least once thought: what if I leave everything back home and become a writer? Numerous writers have found their muse here, making Amsterdam the literary heaven it is.
My most favorite book as a child was written here” Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl, 1947″ (a dagboek= a diary) If you haven’t read it as a child, please read it now. It changes you.
Talking about books, I have to admit that I am enchanted by the small, privately owned bookshops and I also truly enjoy spending time in the Openbaar Bibliotheek (I highlyyy recommend it). Maybe one of the reasons why I want to learn Dutch so quickly is to be able to read in Dutch. Today I bought my first fictional book in Dutch – don’t be surprised it is a child’s book. They are easier to understand and smaller:) I will be reading from it with the help of a dictionary and will make sure to share with you if I come across some interesting words.
Wat voor boeken lees jij het liefst? / What type of books do you like to read most?
Today’s vocabulary is inspired by the literary world:
samenvatten (vatte samen, heeft samengevat) – to summarize
lezen (as, heeft gelezen) – to read
verzinnen (verzon, heeft verzonnen) – to invent, to make up
het boek (pl.~en) book
de roman (pl.~s) – a novel
het sprookje (~s) – fairy tale (Eeen sprookje begint vaak met “Er was eens…”
het kinderboek – children’s book – een boek voor kinderen
het essay (pl.~s) – essay
het gezegde (pl.~s/~n) – a saying
het spreekword (pl.~en) – proverb
het proza – prose
het gedicht (en) – poem
de poëzie (pl.poëzieën) poetry
de fictie – fiction
het tijdschrift – magazine
de krant (pl.~en) newspaper
de tekst (pl.~en) – text
het artikel (pl.~s/~en) – (een tekst in een krant of een tijdschrift) article
het woordenboek – dictionary
de boekwinkel = de boekhandel – bookstore
tweedehands boekenmarkten – second-hand book markets
Boekhandel met cafésfeer – a bookstore with a cafe feel / atmosphere
de boekenkast – bookcase
het onderwerp (pl.~en) = het thema (pl.~s) topic
het genre (pl.~s) genre
de literatuur – literature
de recensie (pl.~s) = de kritiek (pl.~en)
de schrijver (~s) a male writer (jemand die boeken of teksten schrijft)
de schrijverster (~s) a female writer
bekend = well-known
populair – popular
de samenvatting (pl.-en) – summary
de titel (pl. titels) – title
de inhoud – content, contents
de bladzijde (pl. bladzijden) – page
de alinea (pl.~s) = de paragraaf (pl.~grafen) paragraph
de zin (pl. zinnen) sentence
het hoofdstuk (pl.~ken) – chapter
de boekenlegger = bladwijzer – bookmark
de maatschappij – society
If you are a book lover like me, I know you will appreciate this: tomorrow, if you are somewhere around Spui, visit the book market. I was there last week with my friend Eva and we truly enjoyed it – you can find all kinds of interesting, old books there.
Every Friday in Amsterdam: the book market at the Spui
“Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.” — Joyce Carol Oates
milieuvriendelijke vervoermiddel – environment-friendly transport
To practice my Dutch comprehension, I watched this video first without subtitles and then with subtitles to hear the pronounciation of the words carefully:
Today was one of those days when you feel so happy that you walk around with a silly smile on your face and say hello to people you don’t even know. And they respond with the same happy smile. You feel light, relaxed and thankful … for everything. Thankful for the sun; the amazing homemade food the market offers, the band that plays a lovely song you’ve have never heard before; the picturesque park, where dogs are allowed. Michael, our dog, is shaking his tale in agreement with me. I hope your day was as calm, happy and relaxed as ours.
Don’t forget to check the Dutch vocabulary at the bottom – today’s citywordhunt topic was inspired by the Pure market.
Life in the Netherlands is quite great by itself (canals, thousands of cafes, museums,bicycles and what not), but what makes it better is cheese (kaas). What makes it even better is that cheese goes incredibly well with a bottle of white wine. But about this in some other post…
Let’s start with the cheesy facts first:
Just these few facts prove that Netherlands is the cheese heaven. If you still don’t believe me, check out the video
Living here it is a must toknow the dutch vocabulary to be able to order the right cheese according to your own taste preferences.
Cheese variety
The most famous dutch cheese is Gouda (Goudse kaas) and Edam(Edammer kaas). However, there are many more you could try: Leidse kaas, Hollandse gatenkaas, Friese nagelkaas, Kruidenkaas, Geiten- en schapenkaas, Rookkaas, Smeerkaas. I am not a kaasverkoper (cheese specialist – yes, there are such people here), but I heard that the local cheese lovers choose Boerenkaas – a fresh local farmer’s type of cheese, made of raw, unpasteurized milk. Another interesting type you could taste is unique grass cheese – Graskaas – don’t worry it is not made of grass. It is prepared with the the milk of the cows, which are fed only with young, fresh spring grass. Oh, if you like strange things, try the green cheese made with pesto, it is delicious!
Hoe langer een kaas rijpt, hoe harder hij wordt – The longer a cheese matures, the harder it becomes.
I think now you are absolutely prepared to go and choose the best dutch cheese out there. If you did not have enough of cheese, let me leave you with a great dutch saying:
Ieder kaasje heeft zijn gaatje
Literally it means ‘Every cheese has its hole’, used to express that we all have our flaws, meaning “nobody’s perfect’.
Bread is a significant part of the Dutch way of life. At least two of the daily meals consist of bread. The Dutch are among the biggest bread consumers in the world, so don’t be surprised if they regularly eat a sandwich for lunch. I think that we Bulgarians eat quite a lot of bread as well, so I will not complain about the great variety of fresh, crunchy bread.
Here are some useful words to help you order the bread you like.
There are, of course, many more types of bread, but the ones above are quite common. My favorite bread is “volkoren brood“. On Wednesday mornings I buy fresh bread from Le Perron, at the Albert Cuyp markt – delicious, fresh bread.
Le Perron brood
Dutch Vocabulary:
het brood (pl.broden) – bread
de bakkerij – the bakery
een sneetje brood – a slice of bread
een boterham – a sandwich (one sliceo only)
een gesneden brood – ‘a sliced loaf of bread
de broodkruimels = het pannermeel – bread crumbs
Practice some listening to the history of Le Perron:
Finding the perfect place for your new home in a foreign country without understanding the language can be quite a challenge. Two months ago when moving to the Netherlands with my husband and our dog I remembered a favorite quote of mine by Cesare Pavese “Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends.You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things: air, sleep, dreams, sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” Of course, there are a lot of useful expat rental guides out there and luckily most of the dutch professionals speak impressive English. But at the end of the day, it won’t hurt to know some dutch words and be better prepared when choosing your new home and signing a contract. If you don’t feel like learning them, do print them to have them handy while browsing the dutch rental websites. Good luck.
Let’s start with the most important terms:
de makelaar (pl.~s) – real estate agent
te koop – to buy
te huur – to rent
beschikbaar – available
verkocht – sold
de vraagprijs – the asking price
de wijk (pl. wijken) – neighborhood, district
de buurt (pl. buurten) – neighborhood, area
Types of housing: (het soort – type)
het huis (pl. huizen) – house
het flatgebouw – apartment house
de flat (pl. flats) = het appartement – apartment
de eenkamer/ tweekamerflat / de driekamerflat – a flat with 1/ 2/3 rooms
de eengezinswoning – a single-family home
vrijstaand – detached
twee onder een kap – semi-detached
Types of rental homes:
ongemeubileerd – unfurnished
gestoffeerd – partly furnished
gemeubileerd – fully furnished
Description (De beschrijving)
the usual steep stairs in Amsterdam
de tekening – sketch
de bijzonderheden – the details
kenmerken – characteristics
de afmeting – size
de woonruimte – living space
de indeling – the layout
het bouwjaar – date of construction
aantal kamers – quantity, number of rooms
aantal slaapkamers – number of bedrooms
de woonoppervlakte – living area
de tuin (pl. tuinen) – garden
de verdieping = de etage – floor, level
de begane grond – the ground floor
tuin en overige buitenruimtes – garden and other outside spaces
de lift – elevator
het balkon (pl. balkons) balcony
de verwarming – heating
het dakterras – the deck ; the roof terrace
de parkeerplaats – parking lot
de kamer (pl. kamers) – room
de keuken (pl. keukens) – kitchen
de bijkeuken – the pantry
de kinderkamer – kids room
de slaapkamer – bedroom
de woonkamer = de huiskamer – living room
het toilet – toilet (= de wc)
de badkamer – bathroom
de kelder (pl. kelders) – the basement (in the kelder)
de zolder (pl. zolders) – attic, ceiling (op de zolder)
de vliering (pl.-en) – attic
de trap (pl. trappen) stairs
de hal – the lobby
de gang – the corridor
Renting (!! pay special attention to those)
de inventarislijst – the inventory list
de waarborgsom – deposit, guarantee
de inventaris – the inventory
de huurder – the tenant ; the renter
de verhuurder – the landlord/ landlady
de huurprijs– the rental price (the rent)
de huurperiode – rental period
minimale huurperiode – minimum rental period
de ingangsdatum – the effective date (for the moving in)
why I want to learn Dutch so quickly is to be able to read in Dutch. Today I bought my first fictional book in Dutch – don’t be surprised it is a child’s book. They are easier to understand and smaller:) I will be reading from it with the help of a dictionary and will make sure to share with you if I come across some interesting words.
Life in the Netherlands is quite great by itself (canals, thousands of cafes, museums,bicycles and what not), but what makes it better is cheese (kaas). What makes it even better is that cheese goes incredibly well with a bottle of white wine. But about this in some other post…
Citywordhunt Dutch 