File attached…. "ingesloten" of "in bijlage" :

Sometimes you don't really learn some of the most important words in classic language lessons. I'm not saying language lessons aren't useful: far from it! It's just some essential terms slip under the net. Very often these are expressions or sayings that you just don't learn, you pick up.

For example 'attached'. This, in the sense of 'please find the document attached (to an email)'. And here the problem starts. You don't know what attached is, so you look it up in a dictionary which just says something like, 'aangesloten' (more like connected), so you use it! Unfortunately it seems that this is not the correct word to use.

Fortunately for me, my Dutch speaking friends are cool and have informed me that:
 "ingesloten" of "in bijlage" is the norm.

Keep making mistakes everybody! But always be ready to accept corrections. It's the only way to improve.

Met vriendelijke groet(en) / hoogachtend

Ending a letter or an email in another language can be tricky. There are certain formulas you simply have to learn, so here's a link to the 'taaladvies.net' website to help you out:

Wat is de beste slotformule: Met vriendelijke groet(en) of Hoogachtend?

http://taaladvies.net/taal/advies/vraag/539/ 

Gedichtendag 2014

Tomorrow is Poetry day (Gedichtendag) 2014!

A day when we are encouraged to think of  and maybe even compose poetry in Dutch. Check out the following link for more details about gedichtendag and poezieweek: http://poezieweek.com/gedichtendag/index.html

One interesting initiative that you can find on the site is
Poetry at Work… (Or Poetry out of Work)….

A fun look at how we can bring poetry to work…at work!
Why not try changing your out of office reply to a piece of your own poetry.
Check this example out from the Poezieweek site:

Mijn stoel is leeg, de deur is dicht
en ik ben even uit het zicht
maar als er dingen zijn die dringen
stuur deze blijver een bericht:
[mailadres collega]

Joke van Leeuwen

Now try it!
http://poezieweek.com/gedichtendag/outofofficepoetry.html
http://poezieweek.com/gedichtendag/index.html

Leren pauzeren met Roy

Ben ik een dictator?

Woord van de dag: rouwen

What will I do tonight (or in Dutch translation 'What shall I tonight to do?)?

Let's check out the free newspaper available in the metro, called Metro.

Aha!... films.

Ooh, 'Gravity'. It's had good reviews…hmmm.

Oh. I can understand most of this in Dutch (glows).

Hang on. What the…. ? "Zij rouwt"…!? (confused look)

Must be the verb 'rouwen'. Is it similar to an English verb? (thinks….)

Nope. Gonna have to look it up.

Rouwen: 'to mourn'

Etymologie of rouwen in Dutch: Proto Germanic 'hrewwana'.
Cognate with Old English 'hreowan' from whence 'rue' a little used word for 'sorrow' (for example, "He rued the day…").

The etymology of mourn is from the PIE root mer- (to remember).

Sounds like a fun film!

English should be Brussels' official language.

This might sound like any other blogger spouting off about Belgium and its old, intricate and sometimes confusing linguistic issues and so can easily be dismissed. Who am I to make a difference, right? I'm just some blogger bloke.

The thing is, I didn't say this: "English should be Brussels' official language". Flemish Minister for Education Pascal Smet did. In this article he says it would help Brussels to be further perceived as an international city and (although he doesn't say this in the article) might smooth over some of the linguistic tensions in this multilingual capital.

It seems Mr Smet is echoing German President Joachim Gauck's comments when he suggested English should be the EU's official language. Although there are many obstacles to this idea, not only because it is undemocratic, it's clear to me Gauck is suggesting a more streamlined communications process in the workings of the EU.

But on a personal and completely egocentric level alone…please don't make it more difficult for me to learn Dutch Mr Smet. It's hard enough as it is! I can't find a Dutch speaker willing to speak to me in Dutch in Brussels anyway! This would make it even worse… Let's keep Brussels multi-cultural and mutli-lingual. It's one of the things that makes it a special place.

Vive la différence!

My Dutch Accent

So…is this how I sound when I speak Dutch?
(I hope not…)