When I was in the central library last week in The Hague, I came across a poetry exhibition using magnetic poetry:
I had a few magnetic sets of my own over the years, but they ended up just gathering dust in my closet. I did give instructions to Mom to give them to the neighbor’s kids if they were interested, so maybe the random joy of making (and destroying) poems can come alive again.
This game has been added to the Dutch Apps page.
Guess Words is a Hangman type app made for Dutch, English, French and German. English is the default language but you can switch to Dutch in the settings.
This app does not get the best reviews, but if you are looking to learn random vocabulary, it should be useful. When you first start to learn Dutch, this app might be more frustrating than helpful because you do not have a large vocabulary to work with. Instead, you will just find yourself picking random letters (usually vowels or R, S, T!) in the hopes that something will pop up.
The free version is limited to five letter words, although the paid version allows for three to seven letter words. This app also gives you the option of entering a word yourself (up to 12 letters) and then having your partner guess it.
Today I had my oral test at Volksuniversiteit, to see what class I could sign up for. I wanted to go for the A2 halfbeginners course, but I needed to take an oral test to prove that my level was good enough for that class. I called the line this morning (Ik spreek een beetje Nederlands, maar spreek u engels of niet? I speak a little Dutch, but do you speak English or no?)
To my surprise, they were able to schedule me for an oral test tonight at 7pm. Which meant that Marco and I had to rush through dinner a bit (chicken stir fry, yum) but it worked out. And it meant getting it over with quickly before I stressed about it too much.
It would be the first time I took a bus alone, not counting the times I have gone to Marco’s work. But I did ask Marco to come with me to the bus stop I needed to wait at, which proved quite helpful. I had researched where I needed to go using the 9292 app, so that was not too much of a problem after that. And all of the buses have computer screens with the upcoming stops and and a reminder to check out with your OV-chip card.
Also interesting was the fact that since my appointment was at 7PM, about 7 or 8 people on the bus were also getting off at the same stop as a handful of classes started at that time. That made it pretty obvious where I needed to go.
The oral test itself wasn’t that bad. Wat is dit? Dit is een tafel. De tafel of het tafel? De tafel (table) and getting a bit harder from there. We spoke about 95% Dutch, and I had to say Ik weet het niet about five or six times (= I don’t know). I was usually able to answer in complete sentences and sometimes provide extra information. The last bit of the oral exam was harder – he started to get into expressions and similar, which I simply have not memorized.
So in the end he suggested the same level that I was interested in (A2, which is a step above beginners but not quite intermediate) because it was quite clear I would be bored if I was placed into A1 but I did have issues with word order. (I usually forget to put the verbs at the end of the clause or sentence when it is required.) I am familiar with most of the rules – I just don’t have enough practice speaking yet nor do I have the rules memorized.
In the next few days Marco and I will register for the class officially, but tonight I just feel like quietly celebrating (and relaxing).
This app has been added to the Dutch Apps page.
Word Tap is a word finding game available in multiple languages, including Dutch, English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, and Portuguese. The default is English so you will have to switch the language in the settings if desired.
The game has a two minute timer in classic mode. Level mode has you progress through 10 levels. Your goal is to find as many words as possible before the time runs out. Longer words with rarely used letters give you a higher score. Words can be formed in pretty much any direction – left to right, right to left, up to down, down to up, and diagonally. (So you can click a letter, click the letter to the right of it, and then go diagonal for the next letter).
In addition, you can hold a letter and drag to move it in a new direction. You can also shake the iPhone to give yourself new letters.
Here is the latest book that I read at The Hague Public Library:
This book is from Leespunt.nl and has two stories in it: Vader en zoon / Dik (Father and son / Thick). The book is listed at A2 level. I read the first story (15pg) using a Dutch-English dictionary app but I did not use a dictionary app at all for the second story (17pg). If took about an hour in total.
The library has one more A2 book. After that I have a few choices at B1, the next step up in difficulty. Next week!
Three business days.
Maybe three and a half… That’s how long it took to get approval for my VVR (residency permit). Marco and I had our appointment with the IND and The Hague’s GBA this past Friday on the 11th, and when we came home yesterday the approval letter was already in the mailbox.
Of course, there are a few factors which help:
1. I am American (not a country they typically scrutinize).
2. I already had my MVV (not required for Americans) so I had already received permission to move here.
Happily, the letter also says De arbeidsmarktaantekening luidt ‘arbeid vrij toegestaan. TWV niet vereist.’, which translates to “The labor endorsement reads ‘work freely permitted. TWV is not required.’ ” Though the economy is not the best so I don’t expect to be able to get a job tomorrow. ;p
This is just the approval letter though. Since we live in The Hague, the visit to the GBA and the IND are combined into one. IND had a quick turnaround, but the GBA might take 2-3 weeks more. So the letter I received said that I can’t come pick up the document yet – probably because the GBA has not assigned me a BSN yet. I will receive another letter when everything is truly ready to go.
So Marco and I have sat down and started looking more seriously at Dutch courses. In The Hague it seems the choice (for us) is between two: Direct Dutch and Volksuniversiteit (aka something like “People’s University”).
Both organizations have a range of courses at the beginning – for example Voltsuniversiteit has an absolute beginners course (A1) and a half beginners course (A2), whereas Direct Dutch has a beginners basic course (A1) and a beginners elementary course (A2 I assume). Both require taking a short oral test if you are not starting at the very beginning, but that is to be expected (and makes sense).
One of the reasons we are thinking about choosing Volksuniversiteit is because of when the class starts. For Direct Dutch, the intermediate class would start February 6th, but the beginning elementary course (which they might put me in as my verbal skills leave much to be desired) starts March 19. I don’t really want to wait that long. On the other hand, at Volksuniversiteit, the two A2 sessions start February 6 or 12th.
The other consideration is where in The Hague the courses would be offered. The university has various locations depending on the class you are looking for, while Direct Dutch just has one location at Laan van Nieuw Oost-Indië 275, so I do not have to switch buildings every three or four months.
On the other hand, if I look at the university course, I have a choice of Tuesday mornings (9;15 – 12:30PM) at Sweelinckplein 42 or Tuesday evenings (7:00 – 10:15PM) at Oostduinlaan 50. And then at each you have the choice between a bus or a tram, and one or the other is closer but might require a transfer. It’s all about choices.
So sometime soon, I wil have to go get more information and I have to take the oral test to double check what level I am. 😉 I expect A2 but we will see how it goes…
For some months now it has been known that a new Apple store would be moving into The Hague – the largest Apple store in the Netherlands, in fact, even larger than Amsterdam. They would be taking over space from another well-known bookstore that goes by the name of Selexyz (pronounced something like sa-leks-yas). They would be moving into the De Passage, a shopping area I have blogged about occasionally.
That store, in turn, would be moving in with another bookstore, De Slegte. I don’t visit that bookstore that much, partially because they have a lot of books but nothing that seems to interest me particularly.
When I visited De Slegte, most of the stock was already gone – it was probably only about 20% full:
Of course, there were still some books available, but it was definitely a very small amount:
Of course, the most interesting thing is this:
As part of the terms of its lease with ASR Vastgoed, Apple will prohibit the decade-long tradition of displaying a large Christmas tree in the rotunda of the shopping arcade because it will block the company’s retail storefront.
Boo! No more Christmas tree in De Passage?!
So, it started snowing today. Not a lot of course, but something:
Today was definitely a slower day. I went to Albert Heijn to pick up some grocery items. I did pretty good in terms of figuring out the language, even correctly figured out that the cashier was asking if I had an extra 20c piece (truthfully all I heard was ‘twintig’ and I guessed). I was thrown off a bit when she asked for my bonus card, as I did not think I picked up any bonus items or anything on discount. But when I looked over the receipt later I did see some savings, so it is probably best to just present it each time.
I wandered over to the library again but was thrown off by later opening hours on Mondays – the library does not open until 12PM. Marco explained that some stores or other establishments still have later opening hours on Mondays, but that practice goes back to when not many stores were even open on Sundays at all.
A few hours before Marco returned home from work I decided to take a crack at organizing his DVDs again. As he had moved around a lot of stuff in his apartment to make room for me and my items, his DVDs ended up being put back in rather jumbled order. Today I just worked on sorting his blue rays and his wrestling DVDs. I still have TV shows and DVD movies to go (whenever). Those tend to be the two largest sections.
Lastly Marco and I watched the 2009 Star Trek movie, the reboot of the original series. I never watched that TV show, although I understand most of the Kirk/Spock/etc jokes that have entered the culture. Growing up I generally watched Next Generation, Voyager, and DS9. But I never got into the last version, Star Trek Enterprise. Even if it did have Scott Bakula from Quantum Leap…
This app has been added to the Dutch Apps page.
Dutch Words – Nederlandse Woorden (by Tung Vu) (Apple)
This is a pretty interesting game which requires you to move around letters to find and make a Dutch word. It’s a newer app (Nov. 2012) and is consequently still a bit rough around the edges as it crashes occasionally. It is highly recommended that you read the instructions on the official Apple app website, because they are not repeated in the game itself.
You start with a mostly empty board, with six letters in random places.
Step 1: Tap a letter to select it (image 2).
Step 2: Tap a square to indicate where you want it to move to (image 2). Note: You can only move a letter to that square if there is a clear path for it to get there.
Step 3: Swipe a word to get it to disappear and gain points (image 1). The words can be left to right, right to left, up to down, or down to up.
Note also the magnifying glass – that is a Dutch-English dictionary that shows you the definition for the last legal Dutch word you played.
Also note the three letters at the top left (ATT, AXT). These are the three letters that will appear at the next turn in a random place. You can also press the reset button to reset the board.
As mentioned above, the game crashes occasionally, but not too often. You can leave the game and return to it by pressing the home button with no consequences (for example if you wanted to open a dictionary program which might give you some ideas of what words to look for).
Life in the Hague 