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Want to join in with the A-Z of Turning Dutch? What’s that? I hear you cry. Simply put: what springs to mind about life in the Netherlands when you think of the letter A? What aspect of life in the land of the Dutch do you associate with the letter B? And C? You get the picture.

The A-Z of Turning Dutch has been running for a few days on Twitter now, so you can jump in over there. Or you can read along here with the responses. And I can assure you there are worth reading! So let’s get going, from the beginning.

The The A-Z of Turning Dutch: Letter A

This series provides a fascinating insight into the Dutch culture, the things you bump into when you live here and what makes the Netherlands, well Dutch. I am loving the responses – and the explanations of why the word means something to you.

So without further ado – here are all the things you associate with Dutch life that start with an A. Turns out – it’s quite fruity!

• appeltaartjes
• afspraken
• Albert Heijn
• Aanvalluh!
• aardappelen
• appel
• aardbei
• appelmoes
• Alkmaar
• andijvie
• apart
• aardig
• aalbessengenever
• aangetekende
• aardvarks in Arnhem (all I can say is: check out the tweet for an explanation)
• Action (the shop)
• asociaal
• apenstaartje
• AOW
• acties
• agenda
• aangenaam
• Ajax
• AZ

I think it is worth elaborating on the word apenstaartje. For those of you that are not yet familiar with the word it is essentially this: @. Which is, as the Dutch name suggests, like a monkey tail, right? It’s word that I totally did not get when I first moved here. My husband would reel this word off every time he shared an email address but I had no idea what he was saying. I therefore had to mumbling a word that sounded like it whenever I shared my email address. Turns out I was not alone using a wrong version of this word. I love this A LOT!

I thought it was appelstaartje. Honestly. Been saying it for years.

— Tracy de Jongh Eglin (@TracyEglin) November 17, 2022

Next post? B of course….

Over to You

What A would you add to the list that encapsulates Dutch life?

The post The A-Z of Turning Dutch – Starting With, Surprise, the Letter A appeared first on Turning Dutch.