The Netherlands is often called 'Holland'. This is an inaccurate name. North and South Holland are just 2 of the 12 provinces which make up the united kingdom of the Netherlands.
Historically, those 2 provinces have been very important as they house the Capital, Amsterdam, and the seat of government, den Haag. Calling the Netherlands 'Holland' can be compared with calling the UK 'England' though most Dutch people don't feel as strongly about it as Scotts might do and often make the mistake themselves.
Things you probably know about the Netherlands; almost everyone has a bike and cycle paths make life easier and safer for cyclists. Its 16.000 sq miles are densely populated and the polders are well known abroad as they've been reclaimed from the sea and have been turned into agricultural land and livingspace.
Amsterdam has some very famous museums among them the van Gogh Museum and het Rembrandt Huis.
Many tourists also visit the famous 'Achterhuis' where Anne Frank wrote her diary during the war years and which has been preserved as a memorial to her and all the Jews who perished in concentration camps.
Amsterdam has many some 160 canals criss crossing the city. It is sometimes called Venice of the North. A canal trip is well worth taking as you get a real feel for the city from the canal boat vantage point.
The diamond industry is big in Amsterdam and it's worth visiting a diamond factory.
We watched a couple of youtube films on the country last Friday. This is the link to one of them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYGKuwqksz0
If you are going to be absent for lessons for any reason, please e-mail or text me, but remember, we only have 10 weeks in this course, so please make a point of being at classes.
I was impressed with the level of understanding of Dutch last Friday. It's really an achievement after 4 weeks.
Keep up the revising as I'm keen to introduce more vocabulary and verbs next week...
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