A Weedburger and Other Viva Las Vega’s Stories

GalleryJune 30, 2014June 30, 2014 Bela3 Comments

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 […]

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A guest post by the little dutch mouse called Anouk:)

June 21, 2014June 21, 2014 BelaLeave a comment

Dutch cheese-one of the best in the world 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 to know 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.

Stages of maturity of the Dutch cheese

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’.

Renting a place in the Netherlands – Vocabulary

June 16, 2014June 16, 2014 BelaLeave a comment

home

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)

house in Amsterdam — 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)
de einddatum – end date, final date (moving out)
de periode van – a period from
Betaalperiode – paying period

Going shopping for fruit today

June 10, 2014June 10, 2014 BelaLeave a comment

de appel – apple
de perzik (pl. perzikken)
de abrikoos (pl. abrikozen) – apricot
de banaan (pl. bananen) banana
de pruim (pl.~en) plum
gedroogde pruimen – dry plums
de citroen – lemon
de limoen – lime
de kiwi (pl. kiwi’s) – kiwi
de kokosnoot – coconut
de kers (pl. kersen)- cherry
de peer (pl.peren) – pear
de sinaasappel (pl. ~s) – orange
de mandarijn – tangerine
de dadel – date
de grapefruit – grapefruit
de aardbei (pl.aardbeien ) – strawberry
de druif (pl. druiven) – grape
de rozijn – raisin
de vijg – fig
de ananas (pl. ananassen) – pineapple
de granaatappel – pomegranate
de pompelmoes – pomelo
kweepeer – quince
de rabarber – rhubarb
de watermeloen (pl.~en) – water melon
kantaloep – cantaloupe
de meloen – melon
de framboos (pl.frambozen) – raspberry
de braambes (pl.bramenbessen) – blackberry
de braam (pl.bramen) – blackberry
de bosbes (pl. bosbessen) – blueberry
de blauwe bes – blueberry
de aalbes – red currant
de kruisbes – gooseberry
de zwarte bes – blackcurrant
de guave – guava
de papaja – papaya
kaki – persimmon
lychee – lychee
de mango (pl. mango’s) – mango

A fruit song to hear the pronounciation:)

Other useful words related to fruit:
rijp – ripe
groen, onrijp – als fruit nog niet rijp is – green
bedorven – rotten, spoilt
gedroogd fruit – dry fruit
zoet – sweet
zuur – sour, acid
de Fruitsalade – fruit salad
met slagroom – with whipped cream
stukjes peer – pieces of pear
partjes mandarijn – pieces of tangerine

Here is a good recipe for a super zomerfruitsalade:
http://www.ah.nl/allerhande/recept/R-R1088520/super-zomerfruitsalade

The world is a colorful place

May 31, 2014May 31, 2014 BelaLeave a comment

De kleuren van de regenboog worden traditioneel benoemd als (van buiten naar binnen): rood , oranje , geel , groen , blauw , indigo en violet .

The colors of the rainbow are traditionally named (from the outside to the inside): red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

Oranje is de kleur van Nederland – Orange is the color of the Netherlands.
The popularity of the color orange is related to Oranje, the name of the Dutch royal family.The relationship between orange and the Netherlands arose in resistance to Spanish dominance in the 16th century. The leader of the resistance, William of Orange, is the “Father of the Fatherland” (Source: The Dutch, I presume)

All the colors you would ever need

bruin – brown
groen – green
limegroen – limegreen
oranje – orange
rood – red
blauw / indigo – blue
hemelsblauw – sky blue
turkoois – turquoise
wit – white
zwart – black
roze – pink
geel – yellow
violet – violet
lila – lilac, violet
parse – purple
grijs – grey

En maar – and more
zilver – silver
goud – gold
beige – beige
zwart-wit – black and white
licht – light (ex. lichtblauw – lightblue)
donker – dark (donkergroen – dark green)
veelkleurig – multicolored
eenkleurig – one-colored, monochrome
kleurenblind – colourblind
helder – bright, vivid
de tint / de nuance – tint, shade
de toon – hue, shade

Vocabulary:

de kleur (pl.~ en) – color
van – of
de regenboog (pl. de regenbogen) – rainbow
traditioneel – traditionally
benoemed – labeled
als – as
van buiten naar binnen – from the outside to the inside

Persoonlijke Gegevens

May 28, 2014August 19, 2015 Bela3 Comments

* Plural nouns in Dutch have the article “de” regardless whether the word starts with “de” or “het”in the Singular form

Persoonlijke Gegevens (personal information / лична информация)

het formulier (pl.~en) form / формуляр
de voorname (pl. ~n) – first name / име
de achtername (pl. ~n) – family name / фамилия
de man – man / мъж
de vrouw – woman / жена
de geboortedatum (pl. de geboortedata) – date of birth / рождена дата
de geboorteplaats (pl. de geboorteplaatsen) – place of birth / рождено място
het adres (pl. ~sen) – address / адрес
de woonplaats (pl. ~en) – residence / местоживеене
het huisnummer (pl.~s) house number
het telefoonnummer (pl.-s) – telephone number / телефонен номер
telefoonnummer overdag – telephone number during the day / телефонен номер през деня
IBAN / bankrekening – bank account
het dienstverband – employment / работа, заетост
tijdelijk dienstverband – temporary employment / временна заетост
vast dienstverband – permanent contract / постоянен договор
de werkgever – employer / работодател
de uitkering – social security
de e-mail (pl. -s) email
ondertekenen – to sign / подписвам
de handtekening (pl.~en) – signature / подпис
de leeftijd (pl. ~en) – age / възраст
het geslacht (pl. ~en) – gender / пол
mannelijk – male / мъжки (пол)
vrouwelijk – female / женски (пол)
de burgerlijke staat – marital status / семейно положение
in dienst zijn sinds – to be employed since / нает от
alleenstaand – single / необвързан
getrouwd = gehuwd – married / женен/омъжен
gescheiden – divorced / разведенde nationaliteit – nationality / националност
het vaderland – native country / родина
de moedertaal – mother language / роден език
Ik ga hiermee akkoord – I agree / Съгласен съм