ENGLISH TIP
Colophon?
In Dutch publications, you often see the heading Colofon above details of the author, designer, photographer, and so on. Contrary to popular belief, the English equivalent of this word is not colophon. This word exists, but is only very rarely used, in a different meaning and never as a heading! So what should you use instead? The answer is simple: nothing! Such information does not usually have a heading in English.

PRONUNCIATION
Excuse me?
Linguistic research has shown that non-native speakers of English can generally understand English spoken with a Dutch accent quite well. Native speakers, however, often find it less easy. North Americans in particular have difficulty understanding English spoken with a Dutch accent. They are also less tolerant of pronunciation mistakes than other native speakers. This may come as a surprise to some Dutch people, as research has also shown that the Dutch expect the British, for instance, to be more critical than Americans in this regard. Conclusion? If you're going to give a presentation in North America sometime soon, it may be time to brush up your pronunciation skills.

PREPARATION
'Bad and boring'
The importance of preparing well for a presentation, especially when your audience includes native speakers, was underlined again recently by Simon Kuper, a British football journalist who grew up in the UK and the Netherlands. He was quoted in De Volkskrant newspaper on the quality of English pronunciation among the Dutch: "Alle Nederlanders kunnen zich redden met Engels, en dat is bijzonder. Maar denk niet dat je het dan echt beheerst. Ik was eens op een conferentie van de gemeente Rotterdam en daar besloten vele sprekers hun praatje zelf maar in het Engels te doen. Dat werd heel slecht en saai. De eerste de beste Britse spreker komt meteen tien keer zo slim over."

SMILE
Groan, groan
When a knight reads a book, who is always at his side?
His page.

Where can you find more nobles than in a royal court?
In a library - every book has a title.