Groningen News
Crossing the Language Barrier in the Netherlands
Internationals coming to the Netherlands are struggling to integrate into Dutch society until they learn the language. But improving language skills is hard if there is no one to practice with.
Carved out of wood
Clogs of all colors and sizes decorate the shelves of the Van der Meulen shoe store, located in the small Dutch village of Eenrum, in the north of the province of Groningen. Robert van der Meulen, who has been making the traditional Dutch footwear for over 30 years, leads us through his workshop, where he turns tree trunks into wearable clogs (called “klompen” in Dutch) nearly every day.
“I think and dream in Grunnegs”
If you’ve ever been offered a “puutje” by the cashier at your local Groningen supermarket you probably assumed you just misunderstood. But, actually, these are perfectly normal words in the Grunnegs dialect, spoken by most people in Groningen. We speak to Marten van Dijken, a true Grunneger, on the dialect’s special celebration day.