Student
Typical Dutch

Everything is ‘lekker’!

Lekker eten, lekker weer, slaap lekker, ga lekker zitten, lekker ding, mmmm lekker. Whether it refers to food, the weather, how you slept, a nice sit-down, someone you fancy… ‘Lekker’ is everywhere and everything.

‘Lekker’ was one of the first words I learned when I first arrived in the Netherlands. ‘Lekker’ is a special word that can be used in many instances. It means tasty, yummy, delicious, but also nice, good, comfortable, attractive etcetera.

The Dutch language is really interesting. It is a unique language with a great history. When you hear how many dialects it has in proportion to the size of the country, you realize how amazing it is. Dutch is also spoken all over the world. In Europe, Asia, Oceania, America and Africa. If you don’t believe me, just ask a Dutch person or Google it.

Dutch is also quite a hard language to learn, but the use of ‘lekker’ is pretty easy. You can use this word to describe almost anything you like. The Dutch themselves love this word and they use it quite a lot.

There is a catch, though. I thought you couldn’t go wrong with using ‘lekker’ but trust me, you can. Don’t tell a friendly Dutch person you just met: ‘Ik vind je lekker.’ He or she might think you are a bit weird. But to people you know you can safely say ‘lekker!’ on many different occasions. Now go and try it out!

Maja Tišma, MSc student of Leisure, Tourism and Environment, from Serbia.

Do you have a nice anecdote about your experience of going Dutch? Send it in! Describe an encounter with Dutch culture in detail and comment on it briefl y. 300 words max. Send it to resource@wur.nl and earn 25 euros and Dutch candy.

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