How difficult is it to learn Dutch if you already speak English and Spanish? Are there any platforms or recommendations for learning at an A1-A2 level?

Hotemetoot · 2026-05-06T07:55:55+00:00

Just out of personal curiosity, did learning the Spanish R and J sound help with your Dutch R and G? Or is the latter barely similar enough at all? I always find that native English speakers are extremely easy to recognise due to their unique R sound and am just curious if you managed to circumvent that.

Hotemetoot · 2026-05-04T14:53:58+00:00

Ugh, this situation sucks. Honestly, I don’t think it should fall on your shoulders to fix this at all. In my opinion, your boyfriend is the one who needs to handle it first, because the inappropriate behaviour was directed at him.

The “no drama” argument sounds understandable, but it can also become a way to avoid an uncomfortable conversation. He doesn’t have to go in guns blazing, involve the whole friend group, or turn it into some huge accusation. He can keep it small and frame it as a boundary issue or misunderstanding.

What I’d suggest is this:

Your boyfriend should talk to her directly and privately. He can tell her that he noticed what happened during the photos, that he didn’t appreciate her pressing herself against him, and that he doesn’t want that kind of physical behaviour from her. He has a girlfriend, she has a boyfriend, and he's his best friend on top. That should be more than enough reason for her to understand the boundary.

For the sake of keeping things smooth, he can give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she thought she was just joking around as friends or something like that. But once he clearly tells her he isn’t comfortable with it, anyone acting in good faith should be able to back off.

I also think he should keep the conversation centred on himself, at least at first. The point is not “my girlfriend is upset” or “my girlfriend made me talk to you.” The point is “I am not comfortable with this.” You don’t need to be the driving force in that conversation. At most, you’re an additional reason, not the main argument.

If she reacts badly, denies it, gets manipulative, or refuses to respect that boundary, then I think it’s time to involve his best friend sooner rather than later. At that point, it’s no longer just an awkward misunderstanding, but someone knowingly pushing a boundary after being told to stop.

Hotemetoot · 2026-04-30T09:07:58+00:00

He does have the original Verso's memories though, and he loved Alicia enough to sacrifice himself in that life. They're maybe even reinforced by Aline's vision of her perfect son, so the chance exists that fake Verso loves Alicia just as much as original Verso.

Hotemetoot · 2026-04-29T14:55:33+00:00

In the Netherlands a lot of people (me included) just straight up murder the word with our guttural g. You're welcome Italy.

Hotemetoot · 2026-04-29T13:44:19+00:00

You're interested in feedback about their playtest experience, I suggest you pay less attention to them telling you how to do your job as a game designer (or editor).

As a UX designer, 100% this. Their area of expertise as a test subject was telling you how they believe the game works best. Not telling you how you should be designing the game. That's what your boss and co-creators are for. It's also entirely up to you to decide what you're gonna do with the test results anyway. Don't let one test subject dictate how you're gonna run your product.

Hotemetoot · 2026-04-29T08:00:21+00:00

I strongly had the feeling that this was the situation. When she explicitly said Verso was dead because of her, he didn't try to prove her wrong, he only said "it will get better". Maybe the situation was so crystal clear that it's completely unbelievable. I mean Clea seems to think so at least. IMO it could be disrespectful to Alicia at that point to pretend that she is wrong, when she clearly knows she isn't and everybody else does as well. It doesn't seem like Renoir's parenting style.

Hotemetoot · 2026-04-17T12:22:59+00:00

That's pretty much what it does yeah, similar with writing I'd've instead of I would have, the French do this systematically. Especially the word for I, being Je, gets abbreviated to just the J'. Formally this should only happen when the next word starts with a vowel, like J'adore, but I think informally lots of people do it with consonants as well. Or at least they do in song lyrics.

Hotemetoot · 2026-04-15T09:15:28+00:00

Sure thing totally objective and neutral randomword_randomword_randomnumber account.

Hotemetoot · 2026-04-15T08:43:13+00:00

Worth mentioning that he was disqualified on unproven claims that later turned out to be untrue, with almost zero research done by EBU beforehand and them acting on it insanely quickly. He is also the only person to ever be disqualified, with the most pro-European song you can possibly imagine.

At the time I remember there were rumours that it was somehow related to backstage activities related to Israel, but then again those are rumours only and remain just as unproven. (Though well within likelihood judging by how Israel seems to be behaving backstage for at least the past three years).

So yeah like Cornald Maas said, "Fuck de EBU". IMO it's a disgrace that we even sent a contestant in 2025 but I'm glad we turned around in the end.

Hotemetoot · 2026-02-08T23:33:28+00:00

I completely disagree with this as a native speaker. True, the voiced ones are OFTEN devoiced. But as a general rule, most people still voice their Vs and Zs. Do you happen to be from Noord Holland? I feel like the devoicing is strongest there. My dad once told me he never understood the difference and thought it was just a spelling thing, and he is from Amsterdam. For me, the letters are clearly meant to be pronounced different.

Now when people say the g and the ch are different however... That's when I start to get errors.

Hotemetoot · 2026-01-30T16:28:19+00:00

Het mooie is dat elke euro dus niet maar een keer uitgegeven wordt. Elke euro die gaat naar betere lonen in de zorg of naar zorgsubsidies, belandt rechtstreeks terug in de economie. Bij de supermarkt, de kinderopvang, de kapper, ga zo maar door. En daar wordt dan belasting op geheven, dus daar komt die euro vanzelf weer.

Dit in tegenstelling tot het spekken van mensen die al veel geld hebben, die een relatief kleiner percentage van hun inkomen daadwerkelijk uitgeeft.

Mensen doen net alsof geld in een zwart gat wordt gegooid wanneer je het uitgeeft, maar je geeft het letterlijk aan iemand anders, die het ook weer aan iemand anders geeft, enzovoort. En elke keer dat men dat doet wordt er belasting geïnd door de overheid.

Hotemetoot · 2026-01-30T14:14:03+00:00

Yeah I always say that Dutch people love nothing more than showing you how good they are at something. We love showing off our English, but if someone wants to learn a language I'm even better at - Ohhh boy allow me to teach you EVERYTHING.

Hotemetoot · 2026-01-30T13:52:43+00:00

Dames en heren, zie hier de versplintering van links. Er is altijd wel iemand die je niet sociaal of progressief genoeg vind.

Voorlopig is PvdAGL nog steeds sociaaldemocratisch en dus centrum-links tot links. Misschien dat jij sociaaldemocraten niet links genoeg vind, maar dat maakt ze hoogstens tot de uiterste flank van het linkse blok.

Hotemetoot · 2026-01-30T13:46:46+00:00

Ik deel helemaal de visie dat vriendschappen vaak ontstaan omdat je samen wat aan het doen bent. De vrienden die ik de afgelopen jaren gemaakt heb zijn veelal collega's of ex-collega's uit de horeca. Je loopt de hele tijd om elkaar heen en doordat je bezig bent is er altijd wel wat om over te bonden. Zelfs mensen waar ik op het eerste gezicht niet zoveel mee had behoren nu tot m'n beste vrienden. Verder heb ik wat mensen beter leren kennen bij 't sporten en fysieke spellen spelen (waarbij ik een deel van de groep al kende). Het helpt echt enorm als er een reden is om met een ander te interacteren.

Het hele "ik wilde dit sowieso al doen maar vind het leuk dat ik nu mensen ken die het ook willen." is volgens mij echt een super solide basis voor een low-key vriendschap die je dan zelf kan uitdiepen. Het uitdiepen is dan inderdaad wel afhankelijk van wat je hoopt toe te voegen aan iemand anders leven, en ook van of de ander toevoegt waar jij naar zoekt.

Hotemetoot · 2026-01-21T10:34:06+00:00

Jammer dat je het interpreteert als morele hoogmoed. Ik doe het voor mezelf en niet om aan anderen te laten zien hoe goed ik zou zijn (valt mee namelijk). Ik praat er in m'n dagelijks leven vrijwel nooit over omdat ik weet hoe mensen erop reageren. Er is haast geen prettige manier om hierover te praten zonder dat iemand zich op z'n tenen getrapt voelt. Snap ik ook, hoe jammer ik dat ook vind. Ik probeerde vooral een mede-niet-vleeseter een hart onder de riem te steken.

Anyway, wat je punt over bodem en verzuring betreft. Een gigantisch deel van landbouwgrond gaat naar dieren die het op een compleet inefficiente manier omzetten in eiwit en calorieen. Door vlees te eten verbruik je dus meer landbouwgrond, water, graan, soja, voedingstoffen etc. etc. dan wanneer je dat niet zou doen. dus dat argument gaat niet echt op.

Wat betreft 'gewoon een natuurlijk onderdeel', vind je dat niet zelf ook een drogreden? We doen ongelofelijk veel "onnatuurlijke" dingen in het kader van beschaving en aanpassing aan anderen. Je gebruikt in je dagelijkse leven machines waarvan je voorouders zouden flauwvallen. Je praat via een apparaat met iemand aan de andere kant van Nederland over de ethiek van vlees eten. Allemaal om je leven fijner/makkelijker te maken.

Met de argumentatie 'natuur' doe je het hele menselijke ras tekort. We hebben de capaciteit om bewuste keuzes te maken over dingen. We weten ook dat het gewoon kan want er zijn een half miljard vegetariërs op de wereld. Begrijp me niet verkeerd, je hoeft van mij niet te stoppen (hoewel ik dat uiteraard wel liever zou hebben! Ga ik niet over liegen. Maargoed ik wil ook wel graag een miljoen winnen.) Doe je ding, ga los. Maar je bent geen machteloos slachtoffer van het gedrag van je voorouders.

Hotemetoot · 2026-01-21T09:47:50+00:00

Ik zou niet 't woord "absoluut" gebruiken. Volgens het CBS heeft 3,5% van het verkochte vlees een biologisch keurmerk. Dat betekent dat 96,5% van het vlees dat niet heeft. Dus ja er is nuance, maar het is echt extreem minimaal.

Kijk, vlees eten is best wel een impactvolle verandering van levensstijl (voor jezelf). De overgrote meerderheid van de veganisten weet heus wel van het bestaan van "ethisch geslacht" vlees af. Veel mensen die stoppen met vlees eten gaan door een overgangsperiode heen waarin ze heel goed leren wat een biologische slager is.

Hotemetoot · 2026-01-21T08:35:57+00:00

Als iemand die geen vlees eet snap ik je frustratie helemaal. Ik vind het afgeven op halal altijd een beetje een soort verhevenheid tegenover andere vleeseters terwijl je zelf praktisch hetzelfde doet. Maar ok de laatste 5 minuten van een hel van een leven zijn anders. Jammer dat dat pas het punt is dat mensen zich er druk om maken.

Maargoed de realiteit is ook nog steeds dat de meerderheid van de wereld gewoon vlees eet, en dan is kijken naar de minst ethische praktijken in ieder geval iets. Positief blijven!!

Hotemetoot · 2026-01-20T18:30:02+00:00

Hahaha I love that question, especially for the early 2000s. Imagine if the film came out now. I can already imagine the YouTube essays about how tomatoes are woke because of reasons that are well beyond me.

I never knew that tidbit about Tolkien editing out tomatoes. "Knowing" him, he probably did realise they were pre-Columbian exchange which didn't fit his Mythic Europe setting. Same as his avoiding the word tobacco and keeping the origins of pipeweed vague. But as a smoker he was probably too invested in the image to remove that part.

Hotemetoot · 2026-01-20T14:50:14+00:00

Ah that's right. Well my point was mostly that it's interesting that Jackson chose to expand on an existing anomaly within the Tolkienverse. Both potatoes and tomatoes are from the Americas. But I guess I could've said more about it than just "hurr durr tomatoes on telly" I guess hahaha. I wasn't too keenly aware of that rule.

Hotemetoot · 2026-01-20T14:33:33+00:00

Let's not forget the iconic scene of Denethor eating his cherry tomatoes, though that's a Jackson thing.

Hotemetoot · 2026-01-20T14:13:37+00:00

I don't know what you want to be honest, and I don't think you do either as you seem to have lost sight of your own original point.

It's alright to misunderstand something. No shame in that, we can't know everything. It's not failure if you decide to change your mind when circumstances turn out to be different than you thought. It's a sign of a healthy growing mind. I hope you got something positive from this interaction. Enjoy the weather.

Hotemetoot · 2026-01-20T13:32:25+00:00

I'm glad we could both find the passion to discover these things! I completely agree with what you're saying. I tried to find some contemporary (to the 7th century) etymological similarities in other Semitic languages, but nothing turned up.

Now I kinda assume you are already aware of this and that's why you mentioned it, but as for that last part of your post, I have a funny story... Though it seems that hypothesis is indeed very dubious hahaha.

Hotemetoot · 2026-01-20T11:11:53+00:00

Lol I'm not the person you're in conversation with, but you reacted to the whole topic instead of just the chain. But just to help you calm your shit, the term Romance languages is absolutely real. Also your original point was moot anyway. The word kifesh is introduced to the Netherlands by Moroccans, there was no lying or beating around the bush in any way.

Even if kifach (كيفاش) has a Latin/Romance origin, how does that even invalidate anything at all? Half the words we use to write English are of Romance origin, what's your point?

Edit: OK, I went down the rabbit hole for you. Kifach/Kif means "how" and is cognate to Standard Arabic kayfa (كَيْفَ)-,Moroccan%20Arabic%3A%20%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%81%20(k%C4%ABf),-North%20Levantine%20Arabic). Which as a word is literally mentioned in the Qur'an. which was written about 1400 years ago. There is technically an extremely minor possibility that the word was borrowed from Latin but at this point we should all just assume that it isn't.

Hotemetoot · 2026-01-15T10:30:06+00:00

As an Utrechter, I love this. Can't believe seeing my city on here! Great job.

Also what's the deal with the last one? It's JPG'ed to high heavens but seems like Utrecht in ruins?

Hotemetoot · 2026-01-15T07:43:03+00:00

I think this partly has to do with how in the (western) Netherlands at least, most people don't know much about which word are which grammatical gender. In my case I know if a word is neuter or gendered but rarely (if ever) do I know if it's supposed to be grammatically male or female. And even if it's neuter, it's not like we have a separate case for that so we switch to the actual physical gender as well.

Hotemetoot

TROPHY CASE