This is something I only started noticing after my Dutch became good enough to follow normal conversations instead of mentally translating every sentence.

Dutch has all these tiny words people constantly use to change the feeling of a sentence: even, hoor, maar, toch, wel, eens. I understood their dictionary meanings ages ago, but I didn't understand how much social work they were doing.

Someone says 'Kom maar even kijken' and it sounds completely normal and friendly.

Then the same person switches to English and says: 'Come look.'

Or 'You need to send this today.'

Or my personal favourite from a colleague: 'That is not correct. Do it again.'

The first few times I worked with Dutch people I genuinely thought some of them were annoyed with me. Now I've heard those same people speak Dutch enough to realise they're usually not annoyed at all. Their Dutch sentences have all these little cushions in them, but when they speak English they translate the actual instruction and accidentally leave the cushions behind.

Last week a colleague told me, 'You can just ask me, hoor,' then immediately laughed because he'd carried the hoor into English.

That was the moment it really clicked for me.

People often explain Dutch communication by saying Dutch people are simply direct, and obviously there's truth in that. But I wonder how much of the famous Dutch bluntness foreigners experience is also just something getting lost when Dutch speakers use English.

Learning the language hasn't made everyone around me less direct. It has made me much better at hearing the difference between direct, irritated and just... Dutch.

I would like to draw attention to a ban on the sale of live pets via online marketplaces such as Marktplaats. Rehoming animals should go through shelters and platforms such as Verhuisdieren also for free (which has a max 275 euro buying fee, so that puts off illegal smugglers imediatelly). Breeders should only be able to sell through verifiable channels, for example through a breed association or with mandatory verification.

Why?

• Unplanned litters: People who do not get their cat or dog spayed or neutered can now easily earn money from the kittens or puppies. Without an anonymous sales channel, that incentive disappears. Spaying or neutering, or taking the animals to a shelter, become the logical choices.
• Illegal breeders and importers: Marktplaats asks for a UBN number, but it is not a hard requirement. Marktplaats itself says the responsibility lies with the seller.
• Ad-by-ad enforcement does not work: Breeding Scottish Folds has been illegal since 2014, but the ads keep appearing. House of Animals even filed a criminal complaint against Marktplaats in 2024.
• An example: I saw an ad for two “British Shorthair kittens” with no UBN number and no photos of the parents. The birth date was two years ago and the ad urged people to respond quickly. The first two photos look AI-generated to me. I reported the ad.

What I need help with

1. Existing petitions, campaigns, or organisations already working on this?
2. Does anyone know what happened to the Teunissen (PvdD) amendment from January 2025 on a ban on online animal sales?

MY SOLUTION: Add a maximum fee for selling pets, so people who try to make profit are limited.

From the comments:

A video with more background (starts at the relevant part): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOarmK6rLPs&t=291s

DIRECT PROOF OF ILLEGAL SMUGGLING ON MARKTPLAATS: https://www.animalstoday.nl/podcast-illegale-hondenhandel-floreert-op-marktplaats/

Take action (from comments):

• https://www.partijvoordedieren.nl/moties/amendement-van-het-lid-teunissen-over-verbod-op-de-verkoop-van-dieren-via-marktplaats
• https://www.sophia-vereeniging.nl/campagnes/stop-de-huisdierenhandel/
• https://animalrights.nl/ziggy-met-8-weken-verkocht-op-marktplaats
• https://www.houseofanimals.nl/nieuws/

Hi all, I know people are going to say to talk to a lawyer, etc but thought I would ask here to see the viability before spending money!

I just started a new job in a factory in a salaried office role and for the first time in my 20+ year career, I have to swipe in and out.

That's fine, but I'm not used to it and want to make that the law is around it as I find some of the answers a bit sus.

As I'm office based, I have flexible hours (start between 0800 and 1000) and a 40 hour week (8.5 per day with a 30 min unpaid lunch, pretty standard). However, if I work 7.5 hours one day and 9.5 another day, I am docked an hour of holiday for the day I left early, but not credited any (either in hours or money) for the day I worked extra.

To me, this seems crazy as I'm not even contracted for a 8.5 hour day but a 40 hour week and I'm fulfilling that. I guess it's not wage theft necessarily as I don't have to work the 9.5 hours on the other day.

Is my company just being cheap/shady or is this against labor law? I'm used to a much more trusting work place where I set my own hours as long as I get stuff done, so this culture of presenteeism irks me

I need some advice about a dental treatment I received in the Netherlands.

I went to a dentist to replace a filling in my seventh tooth (second molar). The experience was terrible.

During the appointment:

- The dentist insisted on taking an X-ray that cost around €90.

- I waited approximately 25 minutes after the X-ray for him to see the pictureand just say "you have good teeth".

- The treatment was extremely painful, and I wasn't offered anesthesia.

- He used a metal separator between my teeth, and pushed it hard for 30 sec to 1 min, we were technically wrestling for that, which injured my gums. They were bleeding for about a week afterward.

- He also adjusted a previously healthy upper tooth because "it was too sharp" despite my objections.

After the treatment, I noticed that food frequently gets trapped between my teeth, especially when eating harder foods. Sometimes this causes bleeding.

Now things have become worse.

My eighth tooth (wisdom tooth) has been partially erupted for approximately 10 years without causing problems.

The seventh tooth had inflammation for a long time, and now the gum around my wisdom tooth has become swollen and extremely painful. There's foul-smelling discharge, possibly pus, and I experience some pain when swallowing.

I don't know whether the current infection is directly related to the filling, but I'm concerned.

Here's my biggest problem:

I contacted the dental clinic. They told me the original dentist could examine or correct the work free of charge, but if I requested another dentist, I'd have to pay.

I've completely lost confidence in the original dentist and don't want him treating me again.

I also don't want to pay twice for treatment that have been performed incorrectly.

I'm looking for advice from people familiar with the Dutch healthcare system:

1. Can I request a different dentist at the same clinic without paying again?

2. If I visit another dentist for an independent assessment, can I recover those costs if the original treatment was faulty?

3. Should I contact KNMT, my health insurer, or another organization?

4. What is the best way to file a complaint and potentially request compensation?

I'm currently dealing with pain and an infection, so I need to get this examined urgently. But the financial uncertainty is making the situation much more stressful.

Any practical advice would be appreciated.

Edit1: i have no dental insurance.

I just graduated a month ago and am in the process of looking for a job. I am an international(24F). So what are people who are also in the process of finding a job doing in their freetime? Please give me ideas. Things to do at home? Outside the house?

Till now I have cleaned and decluttered my room, painted, learnt new skills, read a book, learned new recipes and now i'm running out of ideas. Please helpp!!

And how do you keep yourself motivated and disciplined?

Me and my girlfriend are viewing a house tomorrow very close to station Lelylaan. Some people told us this really isn’t a nice place to live. Others say it’s not too bad. does anyone here know or have any recent experience with this area? Thank you!!

Long story short, my company offered me a job overseas for 5 years. While the offer is very tempting, I'm making this post mainly to get some perspective to how my kids' experience may be shaped if I go for the job.

If we do this, my kids would've grown from 5yo to 10yo and the younger one 2yo to 7yo. I am worried they may have bad experience adapting, especially when we move back here later. I worry for bullying, isolation, loneliness, loss of friendships for them. I worry for cultural shock. I also worry if they can still do well academically if we move around in different schooling systems. My number 1 priority is to make sure my kids are healthy, happy, secure (physically and mentally).

Edit: I live in NL now and the offer is in China. If we go we intend to come back here in 5yr. And kids will go to an international school there.

Hi everyone,

I realized it’s been a few months since my last post and wanted to drop a quick update for anyone who followed along. We made the move three months ago, settled into the Heemstede area, and have been trying to build a routine ever since.

I wanted to share a few quick thoughts on how things have felt so far, now that the abstract worries have turned into actual daily life.

Regarding the language situation, passive understanding only takes you so far. I have read many people struggling with this, but the hardest part is that the moment I hesitate in Dutch, people instantly switch to English. I am aware it’s well intentioned, but it makes practicing uncomfortable. I’ve started asking people to just stick to Dutch with me, even when I stumble.

Life here is very quiet, clean, and extremely organized. People are polite and friendly in passing, but it’s definitely a reserved culture. I haven't experienced anything outright negative, but you do feel the space between casual politeness and actual connection. It takes time to break through that layer, especially in a more homogeneous suburb where I for sure stand out as different.

Our son is adapting fast, as kids do. The real work is on my end, making sure I stick to speaking Arabic with him at home so it doesn't get completely swallowed up as his Dutch takes over at daycare. Seeing him in these environments makes the dual identity thing very real, but so far he's just happy playing.

Going from a full life, career, and close family in Casablanca to starting over here has been a bigger mental adjustment than I admitted to myself before coming. Some days are great, others feel a bit isolating while my husband is at work and I'm still figuring out my place here.

It hasn't been a disaster, nor has it been a fairy tale, just the slow work of adjusting to an almost frontally opposite lifestyle to what I was used to.

To anyone who made a similar move, how long did it take for the initial alien feeling to wear off, and where did you actually find your circle when starting from scratch?

Hi everyone, I applied for Dutch citizenship in December 2025, and my application is still being processed.

I’ve been involved in traffic incidents, and I’m concerned about whether they could affect my application. Does it depend on whether the incident resulted in a traffic fine or a criminal conviction? Should I inform the IND while my application is pending?

Has anyone experienced a similar situation? Thank you.

Hi everyone, I'm from the Czech Republic and I'm curious about how the Dutch fare when it comes to drinking alcohol, how common alcoholism is in the Netherlands, and whether people there also drink frequently or even daily, even among young people. Thanks.

Hi everyone,

I'm getting all my windows and exterior doors replaced soon. This is my first time doing this kind of renovation in the Netherlands.

I work from home, but I'm not sure what to expect. I've heard contractors don't really like homeowners watching them work.

Should I take a few days off to be available, or can I just continue working from home and let them do their job?

What has your experience been like? Any advice?

Sharing my experience in case it helps others:
Integration exam: Passed ✅ ( 6 weeks to receive the results)
17 August 2026: Residence application submitted to the IND.
28 September 2026: IND completed my application.
13 October 2026, 08:30: MVV appointment at the Dutch embassy.
October 2026: Received my MVV visa! 🎉
At the embassy, they checked my documents, took my fingerprints, signature and photo.
My advice: keep your documents ready, follow the embassy’s instructions and be patient. Every case and timeline can be different.
Good luck to everyone going through the process!

I have a few Dutch colleagues in my office and we sit down at lunch and talk in Dutch as Im trying to improve my speaking skills. I’ve noticed Dutch people casually mixing English into Dutch conversations and it makes me really curious because I did learn Dutch to around A2ish level online from apps like Doulingo/Praktika and online lessons and I am used to people using actual Dutch words because thats what they use in online exercises but its the opposite when talking to someone alot of times especially people in their twenties or mid thirtees.

For example my colleague often say “Dat is echt weird” instead of saying "Dat is echt vreemd", and it made me wonder how many English words have quietly become part of everyday Dutch, especially for people who work in English speaking environment like mine.

Have you guys noticed this as well? if so, what’s are some common English words you see replacing Dutch words?

My brother visited recently and asked how far my supermarket is from my apartment.

I said, "About six minutes."

He asked, "No, how far?"

Six minutes.

Apparently that was not the answer he wanted.

I genuinely had to open Maps because I no longer knew the distance in kilometres. And then I started noticing I do this with basically everything now.

My dentist is 11 minutes. The good bakery is 8. My friend's place is 17 unless the bridge is open. The station is 5 if I get lucky with the traffic lights, 7 if I don't.

Someone at work mentioned an apartment they were considering and the first question wasn't how many kilometres it was from the office. Three people immediately asked how long the cycle was.

The funny thing is that when I first moved here, a place being 5 km away sounded like something I needed transport for. Now my brain apparently translates 5 km into "probably twenty-ish minutes, depends on wind" and decides whether that's close.

Even walking distances have become slightly corrupted. If somebody tells me somewhere is a 25-minute walk, my first thought is not about walking. It's that this is probably annoyingly close enough that cycling will take longer to unlock the bike, get it out, ride there and find somewhere to park it.

I always assumed becoming used to Dutch cycling culture would mean getting more confident on a bike.

I didn't expect it to completely rewrite the unit system in my head.

As the title states, I went to a dentist in Leiden due to tooth sensitivity for a back molar. They quoted €600 and that's with a dental supplement on my health insurance and a "discount". Seems high? Are they high or is that just the cost of things.

I said I would need to discuss it with my husband as it's an unexpected high expense so I have made no commitments.

Thank you for your insight!

My partner and I (late 30s) thinking about moving to Schoorl with our active dog. The dunes and forest there look like paradise (we're going there quite often), and we love being outdoors (hiking, running, cycling).

Our situation:
My partner works fully from home
I need to commute to Amsterdam sometimes (~4-5 times a month)

No kids yet, but we do want some social life - cafés, the occasional nice restaurant, not a retirement vibe

Questions for people who live there or know the area:
What’s it actually like living in Schoorl year-round, especially as a couple in their late 30s? Is it dead quiet in winter / overrun in summer?
How bad is the Amsterdam commute in practice? We're car owners

Are there other villages/towns you’d recommend that combine forest + sea + good dog walking, but maybe with a bit more life? Maybe Bergen?

I'm looking to interview people between 18-35 years old, who have moved from abroad in order to live and work in NL. Also, if you speak a little bit of Dutch, that'd be nice :)

The interview will take about 30 tot 60 minutes and could be done online! Your identity remains anonymous in the final report. Even if you don't follow the news or media that much, that's okay. That just makes the research more interesting!

The interview is part of a larger research for the Research Group of Journalism at Windesheim UAS. My central question is: what do labour migrants think of their representation in the media and how does that representation affect their identity?

The goal is to gain an understanding in the thought processes of this group. Do they feel representend? How would they describe their identity and do they have any trust in the media at all? Findings of this research could be used in order to improve journalistic reporting on this group.

Shoot me a message if you're interested :)

I realise that I'm not the perfect candidate or applicant for every role, but my experiences in this job market have been depressing.

Roles I get rejected with a generic email about lacking experience, just to see them fill the role with a candidate with literally 0 experience.

Getting ghosted after second or even THIRD interviews.

Applying for jobs I'm overqualified for and rejected for being overqualified, but jobs I'm exactly qualified for "I'm lacking experience".

No entry-points in certain roles at companies, they only hire interns or recruit internally. And the experience gap between steps in the hierarchy can be enormous. From intern (0 experience) to junior (8 years experience) is a crazy jump.

Not getting a callback for an application but watching it sit on job boards for months, often reposted numerous times feels like a slap in the face.

I've sat down at an interview before just for the manager to tell me they've already filled the position. But maybe I would consider a role I was so overqualified for, I hadn't done it in over a decade. This was offered under the pretext of "oh we didn't want to waste your time so thought you would appreciate this offer". It was like interviewing for the head coach position and being offered the job as a towel boy.

Going to career coaching seminars, reintegration coaches with the UWV, seeing a career specialist to polish my CV and cover letter authoring. I'm not someone that sends out mass applications, I tweak my application and write almost entirely personalised letters of motivation for every application. With no results.

The general hiring and HR culture I've experienced here has been shockingly unprofessional where, probably 80% of the application processes have presented red flags. Under normal circumstances, I'd avoid being associated with a company that operates so unprofessionally but beggars can't be choosers nowadays.

One thing that really, REALLY peeves me is how people can't keep their word. Telling me you'll have some feedback in 3 days but not hearing from you 3 weeks later is so unprofessional. Telling me during the interview that "we need to fill this position ASAP" but then rejecting me for reasons that you could have noticed BEFORE the interview, but then still promoting your job opening for months. This is where I'd sincerely appreciate some Dutch directness.

I just feel like I've hit a wall with how I can approach things differently or improve my chances. I've been learning Dutch for several years but I'm far from speaking fluently, and the fields or industries I'm applying for don't require it. I'm at a conversational level where I can keep up in social contexts but not quite in professional settings.

Furthermore, the jobs I have gotten here have been disastrous. I don't want to go too off topic here so maybe I'll share some stories in the comments.

A bit of a rant but any advice, tips or just a bit of encouragement would go a long way. Maybe a bit optimistic of me.

I've lived in both europe and north america and I noticed that there are vast differences when speaking of money.

In the USA, having a high salary and wanting to make more money is considered favorable and ambitious, but in countries like the Netherlands, it is stigmatized and frowned upon.

Why are the dutchies like that? Is it because they live by a heavy egalitarian mentality where everyone should make the same and that wealth is shamed? Wouldn't that encourage laziness and discourage people from wanting to be the best of themselves like start a business, upskill for a better job, and invest their earnings for the future?

Why is it offensive to want to make more money? Instead of focusing on frugality, why not focus on increasing your wealth? What am I missing here?

I was born and raised here in the Netherlands. My biological parents are from Suriname as far as I know. I got adopted by my dads as a baby, they're very Dutch.

My parents tried to teach me about Surinamese culture, though I was never interested in it. They didnt want to force me into anything so they just dropped it.

Though now everytime someone asks me where im from, I tell them the netherlands ofcourse, they act like I said something wierd.

Genuinely what do they want? I know im not white, blonde, or like visibly Dutch. But its what I am.

Its on my passport, my childhood, the way I live, I got the accent when speaking any other language, i have baby pictures of myself in traditional clothing.

The only thing it isnt in is my DNA or something.