Posts from May 2009

Het Wilhelmus

Posted by Transparent Language No Comments
May 15 2009

Het Wilhelmus is the name of the Dutch national anthem. I’ll have the Dutch and the English translation below. Try and see if you can understand the Dutch without looking at the English translation. Also, the English translations are not exact. I changed the words around so that they would make sense in English. The entire anthem contains 15 stanzas, but most Dutch people sing just the first and the sixth stanza. I also have a Youtube video so that you can sing along to the Dutch national anthem.

Wilhelmus van Nassouwe (William of Nassau)
ben ik, van Duitsen bloed, (I am of Dutch blood)
den vaderland getrouwe (loyal to the fatherland)
blijf ik tot in den dood. (which I will remain until I die)
Een Prinse van Oranje (A prince of Orange)
ben ik, vrij, onverveerd, (I am free and fearless)
den Koning van Hispanje (The King of Spain)
heb ik altijd geëerd. (I have always honored)

Before I go on the sixth stanza, let me give you a little background about the song. No one really knows who wrote this song, but it’s written from a first person narrative of Willem van Oranje or William of Orange. He’s also known as Willem de Zwijger, or William the Silent. William was a Dutch prince that led the revolt against Span. In this song William pledges his loyalty to his Dutch roots. He also states that he doesn’t have personal ill will towards the king of Spain, but that he is more attached to his nation.

 

Mijn schild ende betrouwen (My shield and reliance)
zijt Gij, o God mijn Heer, (are you, O God, my Lord)
op U zo wil ik bouwen, (It is you on whom I want to rely)
Verlaat mij nimmermeer. (so never leave me again)
Dat ik doch vroom mag blijven, (Hope that I remain brave)
uw dienaar t’aller stond, (as your servant for always)
de tirannie verdrijven (and may defeat the tyranny)
die mij mijn hart doorwondt. (which pierces my heart)

YouTube Preview Image

 

 

New Version of Byki Dutch iPhone App – Now you can learn List Central lists on the go!

Posted by margiebrenner No Comments
May 12 2009

New Byki for iPhone v.1.1Get greater control of your Dutch language learning with the latest Byki Dutch App for iPhone and iPod Touch v1.1! This version is still only $7.99, and includes the original Byki App’s pre-loaded content of approximately 1,000 Dutch words and phrases. But, it adds a whole new dimension by linking to List Central on Byki.com.

You can now have the power to access and download your favorite Dutch vocabulary lists from the List Central community, including hundreds of lists created by other users. The best part is that users who own Byki Deluxe can now use their Byki Dutch iPhone App to study lists that they create themselves!

With the new version of Byki Dutch for iPhone, your learning can now be customized to your interests when you use it in conjunction with Byki.com. Whether you choose lists from the community or lists that you have created yourself with Byki Deluxe, you can now learn them on the go, wherever and whenever you have five minutes to fit in some language learning!

Try it out, and if you like it, leave a comment on the iTunes store and let the rest of the world know how Byki Dutch helps you with your language learning.

Visit Byki Dutch on the Transparent Language (our parent company) Apple App Store

Liberation Day

Posted by Transparent Language 3 Comments
May 12 2009

Bevrijdingsdag is Liberation Day in the Netherlands. It marks the liberation of the Netherlands from Nazi control. The Netherlands was liberated by Canadian troops, and now it’s a national holiday.

Bevrijdingsdag came about under Operation Market Garden. When I first learned this in class, I thought it was a grand flea market sale, but it was actually a tactical strategy to defeat the Nazis.

Operation Market Garden was one of the largest airborne missions of all time. Some people see this Operation as a success, while others view it as a failure. I’ve heard of first hand accounts of Dutch citizens in the Arnhem area starve in the Hongerwinter or Hungerwinter. My maternal grandmother told me of stories about eating tulips when things really got tough.

There are several museums dedicated to Operation Market Garden. There’s the National Liberation Museum at Groesbeek, Wings of Liberation Museum Park in Schijndel, and the Airborne Museum Hartestein in Oosterbeek.

 

There’s also a bunch of monuments that honor the men who died in Operation Market Garden. There’s a monument in Driel dedicated to the Polish soldiers who participated in Operation Market Garden. A picture of it is provided next to this paragraph. There’s also a famous monument for the Dutch in Sint-Oedenrode. There’s a picture of it on the bottom of the page.

Countries, Nationality, Languages Continued

Posted by Transparent Language 11 Comments
May 9 2009

Using the information from the post before, let’s use that to make complete sentences.

Just pretend that someone asks you “Where are you from?” in Dutch, formally (Waar komt u vandaan?) and informally (Waar kom je vandaan?)

You can answer this question by saying, “I am from the United States” in Dutch, (Ik kom uit de Verenigde Staten). This is just an example. You can insert any nationality within that statement. If you want some practice, just type in your nationality in the comments section. Be sure to include an English translation so that beginner readers can figure out what you’re saying.

Now let’s just pretend someone asks you, “Where do you live?” in Dutch, formally (Waar woont u?) and informally (Waar woon je?).

You can answer this question by saying, “I live in China” (Ik woon in China). Again, you can insert any country in place of China. I’m curious about where some of the readers of this blog live. If you have the time, please write the country that you live in, in the comments section. Don’t forget to translate this into English so that beginner readers can determine what you’re saying.

Now let’s just pretend one more time that someone asks you, “Do you speak Dutch?” formally (Spreekt u Nederlands?) and informally (Spreek je Nederlands?).

You can answer this question by saying, “I speak Dutch” (Ik spreek Nederlands) or I don’t speak Dutch (Ik spreek geen Nederlands) or I don’t speak Dutch very well (Ik spreek niet zo goed Nederlands).

Here’s a list of languages that you could choose from:

French (Frans)

Italian (Italiaans)

Spanish (Spaans)

Russian (Russisch)

German (Duits)

Japanese (Japans)

Chinese (Chinees)

Hope to hear from you guys soon!

 

Countries and Nationality

Posted by Transparent Language 1 Comment
May 6 2009

Hallo! (Hello!)

Today is the day we go over the various countries and nationalities. After this post, the next one will deal with saying things like “I am from…” and “I speak…” To hear the pronunciations in Dutch, check out the Dutch Byki series.

China (China), Chinese (Chinees)

United States (Verenigde Staten), American (Amerikaan)

England (Engeland), Englishman (Engelsman)

France (Frankrijk), Frenchman (Fransman)

Germany (Duitsland), German (Duitser)

Holland (Holland), Dutch (Hollander)

Italy (Italië), Italian (Italiaan)

Spain (Spanje), Spanish (Spanjaard)

Japan (Japan), Japanese (Japanner)

Greece (Griekenland), Greek (Griek)

India (India), Indian (Indiër)

Africa (Afrika), African (Afrikaan)

Europe (Europa), European (Europeaan)

Asia (Azië), Asian (Aziaat)

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