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The Dutch 'Anaconda' challenge
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© 2025 IamExpat Media B.V.
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Albert Both
I help with an approach of learning Dutch that is completely different from any other language course. It is called Dutch Brainwashing. The immediate result is that you learn at least 7 times faster and that you can say much more in Dutch than you ever imagined...Many people find it hard to imagine how easy it is to boost your Dutch, but... it is possible and it is far more fun too! All you need to do, is to open up... Be willing to play and start to see things from a broader perspective.... Immediately you'll notice that once you speak Dutch it makes your life a lot richer! If you like this idea then read my FREE eBook Why You Hate Learning Dutch & 7 Secrets To Change It or come to my FREE worksop Finding Dutch Flow, How Top Open The Floodgate To Dutch Fluency Simply go to http://www.talencoach.nl Read more

The Dutch 'Anaconda' challenge

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Nov 20, 2012
Paid partnership

Unfortunately, not always! For instance, what exactly is an: "Internetpaginainformatieverbeteringspuntenplan?"

Before you panic or simply give up, have a look below at some sneaky language peculiarities and how to deal with them.

The looooong Dutch challenge
The Dutch love long words, or as I call them, "anaconda" words. The real question is not why they use them (or how to avoid them), but rather how to break them down, and of course, how to remember them.

Let’s have a look at a few examples:
› "anacondawoord" (anaconda word)
› "coachingsessie” (coaching session)

Do you still believe that the Dutch word is that much more difficult? Try ignoring the single space between words and try again. Better now?

Here is another example: "eenpersoonsbed" (single bed). Look closely and break into smaller pieces:
› "een" (one)
› "persoons" (person’s)
› "bed" (bed)
Not that bad if you pause to take a closer look, right?

The 60 letter word
Back to our example: "Internetpaginainformatieverbeteringspuntenplan" - a real anaconda word! The most important thing to remember is not to get overwhelmed.

Let’s take a deep breath and start looking for pieces:
› "Internetpagina" (Internet page - just like above, add a gap between the two words)
› "Informatie" (information)
› "Verbeter" (to make better, to improve)
› "Een punt" (a point)
› "Een plan" (a plan)

So, what we have here is a word describing a plan with points to improve the information on an Internet page!

Let’s get wild here and add "actiestrategie" (action strategy). Now we have: "internetpaginainformatieverbeteringspuntenplan-
actiestrategie."

This 60 letter anaconda word exists only in theory - even most Dutch people would agree that such a long word is unacceptable, if not ridiculous. The point to take away from this example is that you should always stay calm and work with what you know.

Furthermore, all these long words have one thing in common that makes them that much easier to understand: they only ever refer to one "thing" (i.e. there are no double meanings).

Watch for the adder, befriend the "anacondas"
The Dutch love to say: "Er zit misschien een addertje onder het gras" (Maybe there is a little adder (small venomous snake) under the grass), which means that when things look too easy, there may be something more going on; a hidden agenda if you wish.

To those who have already started learning Dutch, this comes as no surprise. But believe me: it is better to be alert and look out for the adder than to think of the entire language as a swamp and avoid it because you imagine the snakes are bigger and much more dangerous there!

By Albert Both