Learn how to talk about holidays and days off
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to DutchPod101.com. This is Lower Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 7 - What Do Dutch People Do With Their Time Off? Eric here. |
| Jacob: Hallo. I'm Jacob. |
| Eric: In this lesson you’ll learn how to discuss plans for national holidays. The conversation takes place in somebody's living room. |
| Jacob: It's between Tina and Bettine. |
| Eric: The speakers are friends, so they'll be using informal Dutch. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Tina: Bettine, kun je me wat vertellen over vakanties en vrije dagen in Holland? |
| Bettine: Iedereen die een vaste baan heeft, krijgt ongeveer 22 vakantiedagen. Dat zijn dagen die je vrij kunt nemen, terwijl je wel wordt doorbetaald. |
| Tina: Dat klinkt leuk. Gaan mensen dan weg, naar het buitenland? |
| Bettine: Ja meestal wel. Bijvoorbeeld camperen in Frankrijk of België. |
| Tina: En verder? Kerstmis bijvoorbeeld. Is dat ook vrij? |
| Bettine: Ja, Kerstmis (25 en 26 december) heeft iedereen vrij. |
| Tina: Wat gebeurt er op Kerstmis? |
| Bettine: Lekker eten! |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Tina: Bettine, could you tell me something about days off and national holidays in Holland? |
| Bettine: Everybody with a steady job gets about 22 days off every year. They're days you can take off, and you still get paid. |
| Tina: That sounds nice. Do people go abroad then? |
| Bettine: Mostly, yes. For example, people go camping in France or Belgium. |
| Tina: And besides that? Is Christmas a day off? |
| Bettine: Yes, on Christmas, so the 25th and 26th of December, everybody is off. |
| Tina: What happens on Christmas? |
| Bettine: People have good food! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: In that conversation they were talking about one of biggest national holidays in the Netherlands. |
| Jacob: That’s right. Christmas is a big holiday. After Christmas, we have holidays until at least the second of January, so it’s considered a big holiday season. |
| Eric: What other holidays do you consider important? |
| Jacob: Well, I’d say Sinterklaas or “Saint Nicholas Day.” |
| Eric: Saint Nicholas is basically a sort of Santa Claus. He rides a white horse over the roofs, climbs down chimneys, and leaves presents behind. In return children always leave something for his horse, usually a carrot. |
| Jacob: I also can’t leave out King’s day or Queen’s day, which is the current monarch’s birthday. The whole nation goes on holiday and turns the day into one big party. There are free open markets all over the country. Anyone can sell things, organize games, and so on without needing a license. And there’s lots of drinking! |
| Eric: Sounds like fun! Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Jacob: vertellen [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to tell |
| Jacob: vertellen[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: vertellen [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: vakantie [natural native speed] |
| Eric: vacation |
| Jacob: vakantie[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: vakantie [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: vrij [natural native speed] |
| Eric: free |
| Jacob: vrij[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: vrij [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: terwijl [natural native speed] |
| Eric: while |
| Jacob: terwijl[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: terwijl [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: bijvoorbeeld [natural native speed] |
| Eric: example |
| Jacob: bijvoorbeeld[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: bijvoorbeeld [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: kamperen [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to camp |
| Jacob: kamperen[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: kamperen [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: Kerstmis [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Christmas |
| Jacob: Kerstmis[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: Kerstmis [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: wat [natural native speed] |
| Eric: what |
| Jacob: wat[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: wat [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: lekker [natural native speed] |
| Eric: tasty, delicious |
| Jacob: lekker[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: lekker [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Jacob: eten [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to eat |
| Jacob: eten[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: eten [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Jacob: Een vrije dag. |
| Eric: which means “a day off.” You can use the phrase either to say that you've taken a day off, or to say that a certain day is a national holiday. For example, you can say… |
| Jacob: Vandaag is een vrije dag. |
| Eric: “Today is a national holiday,” or you can say… |
| Jacob: Ik heb een vrije dag |
| Eric: which means “I have a day off.” Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Jacob: Een vaste baan. |
| Eric: which means “A steady job.” |
| Jacob: If you have a vaste baan or “a steady job,” it means that you have a permanent occupation, as opposed to people who work freelance or people that only work part time. |
| Eric: Then what do you say for freelancers or part-timers? |
| Jacob: In Dutch, we say deeltijdwerker for “freelancers” and “part-timers.” |
| Eric: Can you give us an example talking about a steady job? |
| Jacob: Sure. For example, you can say.. Mijn vriend heeft eindelijk een vaste baan gevonden. |
| Eric: .. which means “My friend finally found a steady job.” Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Jacob: Dit is lekker eten! |
| Eric: which means “This is delicious food!” |
| Jacob: Dit is lekker eten! is an expression of pure delight and means “This is nice food!” The more formal phrase would be Dit smaakt werkelijk voortreffelijk! |
| Eric: which means “This really tastes excellent!” Depending on the situation, pick the right phrase to say how delicious the food is. |
| Jacob: Right. When you’re invited to a Dutch friend’s home and have dinner together, make sure to remember the phrase Wat een genot. Dit is lekker eten! |
| Eric: .. which means “What a pleasure! This is delicious food!” Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Eric: In this lesson you’ll learn how to talk about holidays and free days. In our dialogue Tina asks Bettine to tell her about... |
| Jacob: vakanties en vrije dagen |
| Eric: which literally means “holidays and free days.” |
| Jacob: A vakantie basically means “a holiday,” usually a “national holiday.” For example, the days from Christmas up until at least the second of January are considered to be vakantie in Holland. A vrije dag, however can have two different meanings. |
| Eric: As we mentioned in the previous section, it can mean national holiday like Remembrance Day, or it can just be “a day that you have taken off” while the others in the company continue working. Jacob, can you give us an example sentence using this word? |
| Jacob: Sure. For example, in a business situation you can say...Sorry, woensdag kan ik niet, dat is mijn vrije dag, donderdag kan wel. |
| Eric: which means “I’m sorry, Wednesday I can’t, that’s my day off. Thursday would be alright.” Or you can say... |
| Jacob: Ik zou wel eens een vrije dag willen hebben. |
| Eric: which means “I wouldn't mind a day off.” Jacob, is there another useful expression related to holidays that we should know? |
| Jacob: If you’re working in the Netherlands and just got your working contract, make sure to check whether it has the term terwijl ik wordt doorbetaald |
| Eric: Which means what? |
| Jacob: It literally means “While I will still be paid” and means you’ll get payment for national holidays and your days off too. |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Jacob: Tot ziens! |
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