Hi friends,
In light of the Spooky Halloween season we are in at the moment, I thought it would be fun to learn some Halloween-inspired Dutch vocabulary this week :-)
Halloween in the Netherlands
Although the Dutch traditionally haven't celebrated Halloween very much, it is now a day that many Dutch people do celebrate. Some host parties, and others cosy up on the sofa with a cup of tea and movie. Kids who ring the doorbell to trick-or-treat is typically not something that you see in the Netherlands on Halloween. We do however have a very similar event to Halloween called Sint-Maarten on the 11th of November. I will share the story of Sint-Maarten in a blog post in a couple of days. Now onto the vocabulary :-)Dutch Spooky season & Halloween-inspired Vocabulary
- Haunted House = Spookhuis
- Pumpkin = Pompoen
- Witch = Heks
- Ghost = Geest/ Spook
- Costume = Kostuum
- Spooky = Griezelig
- Spider = Spin
- Spider Web = Spinnenweb
- Goosebumps = Kippenvel
- Scary = Eng/ Angstaanjaagend
- Scared = Bang
- Boo! = Boe!
- Bat = Vleermuis
- Candy/sweets = Snoep
- Skeleton = Skelet
- Jack-O'-Lantern = Halloween-Pompoen
- Trick or Treat = Je Snoep of Je Leven
- Dark = Donker
- Poltergeist = Klopgeest
- Spell = Toverspreuk
Now it's your turn to practice
Fill in the translations of the English words in following sentences:- De (poltergiest) was niet (scared) voor de (bat).
- Het is al (dark) als de (ghost) roept (trick-or-treat)!
- Als je (scared) bent krijg je vaak (goosebumps).
- De (witch) doet een (spell) waardoor de (spider) in een (pumpkin) veranderd.
- Ik hoorde ('boo!') in het (haunted house)... (Spooky) hè?!
You can share you answers to this Halloween quiz in the comments below :-)
Spooky greetings from Amsterdam,
Marieke, OLS Community Manager - Dutch
English translations of the exercise:
*(1) The poltergeist wasn't scared of the bat., (2) It's already dark when the ghost calls 'Trick-or-Treat'!, (3) If you're scared you often get goosebumps., (4) The Witch does a spell that turns the spider into a pumpkin., (5) I heard 'boo!' in the haunted house... Scary right?!