What is the Dutch “muurtekeningen” dinner tradition?
Een lelijke maar leuke traditie met muurtekeningen
A2 Dutch listening practice · Dutch · Picked for people who know a little
Some Dutch households run a muurtekeningen-traditie: ask every dinner guest to draw something on a designated wall and sign it. Over years, the wall fills up with squiggles, profile portraits, doodles, and kid art, and becomes a visual guestbook of everyone who’s eaten there. The tradition pairs with the Dutch hosting style, which is informal and dinner-centric (guests bring wine or bloemen, kitchens stay open, conversations run long). It’s a homemade alternative to the gastenboek of older guesthouses.
In this clip, a Dutch host explains the rule: “Hebt een bijzondere traditie thuis. En laat mensen die bij jou komen eten een tekening maken.” The wall builds up over the years.
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How common in written Dutch
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Harder words in this video
These words are harder than A2. Here is what they mean.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-NL 2014 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
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