I've got one word for you: GEZELLIG!

When I arrived in the Netherlands back in April 2003, I couldn't speak any Dutch at all. Learning the language before coming to the country wasn't that urgent for me; I knew that once here, I would have to follow an integration programme, which would include Dutch lessons. Therefore, I could use the first few months to settle down in my new home and learn my way around things in general.

Nevertheless, as it normally happens when you are exposed to a foreign language in your daily life, I soon began to pick up words and short phrases. The roads and the supermarket provided enough entertainment to keep me busy with things like parkeerterrein, snelweg, fietspad [parking lot, highway, cycle path] or kassa, aanbieding, rundvlees [cash-register, bargain, beef]. Television and radio were an endless source of new words and they showed me how the language sounded. My mind was like a sponge without me even noticing it most of the time. All the new words would dance in my head wherever I went, all day long.

Overhearing other people's conversations, I tell you, is not always a bad thing. Especially, when you are learning a new language and you get plenty of opportunities of catching new words and phrases from just listening to what other people around you are saying. During those first months in the Netherlands, neighbours exchanging greetings on the street, people talking at a nearby table in a café, clients and shop assistants at the winkel [shop] they all contributed to enlarge my still very reduced Dutch vocabulary.


It is during many of these "eavesdropping sessions" that, along with the classic Goedemorgen! [good morning], Dankjewel!! [thank you] and the cheerfully long Dooooooeeeeeiiiiiii![byeeeeeeeee] that Dutch people keep repeating over and over when they part, one word caught my attention because it seemed to come up in conversations all the time: "Gezellig!"
You may have noticed that I haven't immediately offered a translation in English, just as I do with every Dutch word I include in my posts. There is a very good reason for this: the word gezellig doesn't have an exact equivalent in English, or any other language for that matter. If you look it up in the dictionary, you will find that it is often translated as "enjoyable, pleasant, cozy, snug, social...." (from the "Van Dale Groot Woordenboek). The point is, gezellig means every one and all of these things at the same time.


The Dutch use the word a lot and it is mainly used to describe something that is fun doing, things that look nice and cosy or old but quaint; people who are friendly and gregarious; situations that involve people being together sharing time in a pleasant atmosphere.

So, how is the word gezellig used in Dutch? Let's take a look at some examples:


A gezellige café is a place that you want to recommend. If someone tells you that in a recent trip to the city he or she discovered this gezellige café, you might want to take note of its location and visit it yourself at the first opportunity. The general atmosphere of the place will probably be friendly, the decoration quite pleasant and the food unpretentious but good.

That night out you spent with friends, when everyone was in a congenial mood and time flew without you noticing it because you were having so much fun sharing drinks, light talk and laughs; and if at the end of the evening before going home everyone said, "we should do this again soon!", dat was gezellig! [that was fun]



You invited some friends over for coffee and, if you are like me living in Holland, that probably means they arrived at around 8 in the evening and you were expecting them with the coffee and one biscuit klaar [ready]. You had arranged the room prettily, making it comfortable, maybe you lit some scented candles and, if you have one, the fireplace as well.
If these friends were visiting you for the first time, when they arrive, they will probably look around approvingly (we hope) and exclaim: wat een gezellige zitkamer! [what a cosy or inviting room!]
And finally, since you are an excellent host/ess, your guests had a very nice time and at the door before leaving, they thanked you for your hospitality and told you that het was erg gezellig! [it was very pleasant, we enjoyed it very much]

Trust me, if you heard this compliment from your Dutch friends, your evening was a complete success!

Can you think of other gezellige situations, places, things...? Do you have in your own native language a word that compares to the Dutch word gezellig? I'd love to hear from you!

Het begint met taal* - (It begins with language)

When John and I decided that we wanted to be together and that the place to actually do it (at least initially, we thought) would be in the Netherlands, lots of questions and doubts starting dancing in my head. Would I be able to leave my country behind? How would I feel being separated from my parents, my family in general? How different would life be in Holland? How long would it take for me to adapt, to feel at home in my husband's country? What were the tribulations and trials I would have to go through until I could feel all settled down and content with my new life?

Those were rather big questions and at the time, I didn't want to give them much thought for I preferred to stay 100% focused on more practical matters: getting all the paperwork done for my visa, quitting my job, preparing for the wedding and for the trip to Holland.

One thing though, that I didn't really worry about at that point was how I was going to learn the Dutch language or communicate in this country. When I arrived in the Netherlands in April 2003 I didn't know one word of Dutch - not one! I knew that once my residence was granted, I would have to start an official adaptation programme or inburgering and that this would include Dutch lessons. At least in that front my mind was at ease and I didn't feel I needed to learn any Dutch prior to my coming to the country. Besides, I was convinced that my English would be enough for me to get around and communicate with people for the basics at least, until I could speak the native language.


During the first few months before my official inburgering or integration programme started, and as I happened to find myself alone at home a lot (for my poor husband had of course to work for the both of us) I slowly began getting acquainted with the Dutch language through television, newspapers, street signs, leaflets and brochures; picking up isolated phrases and words, paying attention to the recurrence of sounds, noticing pronunciation and intonation patterns and of course, comparing it to English and even Spanish.

My first impressions weren’t very positive, though: the gruff accent, all the gurgling I heard, the sounds coming from the back of the throat – it all sounded too guttural and hard to my ears used to the softer and sweeter sounds of my native Spanish and familiar Italian.
Things didn’t look any better in the written form either. Even though I could pick up the meaning of words through their similarities in spelling with their English equivalent, or though I could discover in other words some similarity to Spanish through their common Latin origin, the incredible length of Dutch words and the strange combination of consontants looked too daunting to me.

zandzeepsodamineraalwatersteenstralen

Still, I patiently waited for my course to start. I began attending regular classes in a “college”, five days a week and four hours a day at first. I was pleased with the level of teaching at the school since the course followed the guidelines of the CEFR or Common European Frame of Reference (a guideline used to describe achievements of foreign language students in Europe), the teachers were friendly and the whole environment felt familiar of course, due to my background in the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) world.


I soon got sucked into it and because I was making fast progress (was I probably “cheating” because I knew how to learn a foreign language?) I felt quite satisfied with myself. After a couple of months I was able to express my needs and keep relatively complex conversations and write short compositions in Dutch.
In order to move even faster and improve my skills, I decided to spend extra time at the lab every day, and ended up dedicating at least six to seven hours a day to learning the language.

At this stage of the process I was also getting pats in the back all around – from my husband, my in-laws, neighbours and friends. New acquaintaces would ask “how long have you been in Holland?”, and when the answer came, they would look impressed and exclaim things like “you speak it quite well already for such a short time!”
I would glow with satisfaction at every compliment - all the hard work was evidently paying off and I was obviously learning to speak Dutch.


Ten months after starting my course, I sat for the dreaded NT2 exam, level 2 (Nederlands als Tweede Taal or Dutch as a Secound Language) and passed all four tests with flying colours. Like Leo DiCaprio in Titanic, I felt I was the king of the world of inburgering.

I had done it!!!!
But Had I?


to be continued....


*Het begint met taal is a campaign launched by Postbus 51 (a governmental organisation) to promote the integration of newcomers into Dutch society through the learning of the Dutch language. If you have recently moved to the Netherlands, or if you have been living here for a while but you can't yet speak the language and therefore can't fully take part in Dutch daily life, I recommend you take a look at this site, Here you'll find information about what to do and where you can sign up for Dutch lessons.