Ploiesti in the eye (AI) of the beholder

Ploiesti is an interesting town in its own right, best known as an intersection, a cross road, albeit a convenient one from where many other perhaps more interesting places can be reached. How would Ploiesti look like as  one hyperbolic, wondeful place? To top it all...

Learn Dutch, or how I might have done it differently

I learned Dutch well enough to pass (just about) the NT2 II exam in about three years. While I am not sure if I could have done this any quicker in the circumstances, these are some thoughts and tips I would like to share. The most important element is the motivation....

Cycling in the LowerLands

Cycling in Netherlands is an experience. From the sight of city cycling traffic in the morning and to the pristine cycle paths laid out in the middle of nowhere, the unsuspecting tourist may feel in need of some readjustment. There are many places in Europe where...

fewer Dutch people go on a ski holiday

I just read this NOS article which says that there about 20% less people going in a skiing holiday that in 2000. The reasons given are the increased price of a winter holiday, the fact the population is getting older in...

man caught with lots of money at the border

According to this article a 35 year old man of unknown nationality, coming from Germany, was caught by the German police as he was crossing the border. He declared that he had €3000 on him, but upon further search the police found €4450 in the dashboard....

Welcome to 2018 – fireworks in the Netherlands

2018 is here and as usual the Dutch are doing what they do every year: firing carbide guns and fireworks. Health and safety take a back step for a day or two and every child, young or old,  partakes in the seasonal delight. Last year (jan 2017) I saw entire...

my interaction with Dutch: the joys, the struggles, the whole story

get to know the lingo

get to know the lingo

I am still learning Dutch with the aim of being fluent. I've been at it for almost two years now through a combination...

read more
A2

A2

I have finished the first stage of my training in Dutch and apparently my level is now A2, from the European language...

read more
Dutch and Romanian, who would have known

this is a list of Romanian and Dutch words sounding eerily similar or dutch words which are just interesting for a Romanian speaker

praz – prei [prɛi]
păstârnac – pasternak
mușcătură (bite) – hap
chel – kal
a da vina pe cineva – iemand de schuld geven
dop – dop