Taalhuis Amsterdam

MORE INFO AND REGISTRATION HERE

Join us on Friday, 6 March, for a lecture in the series About Spoken Languages: From the Rhineland to Mokum: The Journey of Yiddish, from Its Origins to the Printing Press in Early Modern Amsterdam

About Spoken Languages
Every language is a source of unique knowledge and cultural expression. Smaller languages provide new perspectives on the world. They give words to cultural phenomena, show how people communicate, and how communities form their identities.
In the lecture series About Spoken Languages, five academics shed light on a smaller or less-known (and sometimes non-standardised) language.
Cappadocian, Pontic & Pharasiot Greek. Minor-Asian Dialects of Greek
Cappadocian Greek belongs, together with Pontic and Pharasiot Greek, to the Minor-Asian dialects of the Greek language. These are archaic dialects that developed during the second millennium AD and further evolved under strong influence from Turkish.

About this lecture
What do the Bible in Yiddish, old Amsterdam printing houses, and the word mesjogge have in common? How did Yiddish — the language of home and street — come into being, and how did early modern Amsterdam grow into the center of the Yiddish printing press?
In this lecture, we take you from the first Yiddish texts in the Rhineland to the heyday of Amsterdam’s book printing industry. Through stories, prayers, proverbs, and early printed works, a vibrant culture comes to life — from living room to synagogue, from market to printing house. And even today, we still hear echoes of that past: words like mazzel, tof, goochem, and jatten reveal just how deeply Yiddish has penetrated the Dutch language.

• Date: Friday, 6 March
• Language of instruction: Dutch
• Speaker: Justus van de Kamp

Other lectures in this series:
20 March: Cappadocian, Pontic, Pharasiot by Prof. Dr. Mark Janse
27 March: Catalan by Dr. Eva J. Daussá
10 April: Palestinian Arabic by Dr. Nina van Kampen
22 May: Frisian by Dr. Alexia Kerkhof

€18 per lecture | entire series €80
Student rate*: €6 per lecture | entire series €25
Entry is not possible after the lecture has started.
*The student rate applies to students enrolled at a university or university of applied sciences. Select ‘Invoice’ as the payment method and indicate in the ‘Additional remarks’ field that you are a student.

MORE INFO AND REGISTRATION HERE

INTERESTED? PLEASE SIGN UP VIA WEBSITE HERE.

Catar vinos españoles… ¡en español!
Habla español mientras catas seis vinos de diferentes regiones vinícolas de España en Taalhuis Amsterdam. Durante este taller de dos horas, cada vino irá acompañado de su tapa y podrás practicar tu español en un ambiente relajado. Después de esta cata, podrás, como hacen los españoles, hablar de vino en español.
Con Pascal, profesor de español y educador certificado en vino.
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Tasting Spanish wines… in Spanish!
Practise your Spanish while tasting six wines from different Spanish regions at Taalhuis Amsterdam. In this two-hour workshop, each wine comes with a matching tapa, and you’ll improve your Spanish in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. After this tasting, you’ll be able to talk about wine in Spanish, just like the Spanish do!
With Pascal, a Spanish teacher and certified wine educator.
Friday, 13 March 2026, 17:00-19:00, Gerard Doustraat 220
Ticket: €42,-
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Other workshops in this series:
Tasting French wines… in French!

INTERESTED? PLEASE SIGN UP VIA WEBSITE HERE.

MORE INFO AND REGISTRATION HERE

Join us on Friday, 20 March, for a lecture in the series About Spoken Languages, focusing on Cappadocian, Pontic, and Pharasiot Greek, three Minor-Asian dialects of the Greek language.

About Spoken Languages

Every language is a source of unique knowledge and cultural expression. Smaller languages provide new perspectives on the world. They give words to cultural phenomena, show how people communicate, and how communities form their identities.
In the lecture series About Spoken Languages, five academics shed light on a smaller or less-known (and sometimes non-standardised) language.

Cappadocian, Pontic & Pharasiot Greek. Minor-Asian Dialects of Greek

Cappadocian Greek belongs, together with Pontic and Pharasiot Greek, to the Minor-Asian dialects of the Greek language. These are archaic dialects that developed during the second millennium AD and further evolved under strong influence from Turkish.
In Cappadocian Greek in particular, this resulted in a combination of inherited Greek features and Turkish phonological, morphological, and syntactical elements.
In the first half of the lecture, the historical and cultural background of the Minor-Asian dialects will be explored. The second half is dedicated to the main linguistic characteristics of Cappadocian Greek in comparison with Pontic and Pharasiot Greek. One of the questions addressed will be whether these varieties should be considered Greek dialects or separate Hellenic languages.

Speaker: Prof. Dr. Mark Janse

Prof. Dr. Mark Janse is Emeritus Research Professor of Ancient and Asia Minor Greek at Ghent University, Affiliated Researcher at the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics at the University of Cambridge, and Honorary Consul of Greece in Ghent.
He is a member of the Academia Europaea and has been a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College (Oxford), the Harvard University Center for Hellenic Studies, and the Onassis Foundation in Greece.
A documentary about his research on Cappadocian Greek and its impact on the Cappadocian community in Greece, directed by Koert Davidse, was released in 2014 under the title Last Words.

• Date: Friday, 20 March
• Language of instruction: Dutch
• Moderator: Diederik Burgersdijk
• Entry: Entry is not possible after the lecture has started.

After the lecture, around 22:00, a glass will be raised to celebrate the new multilingual year. Following a Greek tradition, Prof. Dr. Mark Janse will cut the Vasilopita.

Other lectures in this series:

• 19 February: Yiddish – Dr. Daniella Zaidman-Mauer
• 27 March: Catalan – Dr. Eva J. Daussá
• 10 April: Palestinian Arabic – Dr. Nina van Kampen
• 22 May: Frisian – Dr. Alexia Kerkhof

MORE INFO AND REGISTRATION HERE

THIS EVENT IS FREE. PLEASE RSVP VIA OUR WEBSITE HERE TO SAVE YOUR SPOT FOR A LEVEL INTAKE/TRIAL LESSON.

Do you want to learn a new language? Come to meet our teachers, learn more about our school and language courses, and experience a free Arabic, Dutch, Farsi, French, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, or Turkish trial lesson before making a decision.

We invite you to join us for our open day on Saturday, 28 March 2026, at Gerard Doustraat 220.

📍Gerard Doustraat 220, De Pijp.
🕛 From 13:00
FREE EVENT / GRATIS

During the open day, you’ll have the chance to join trial lessons for various Taalhuis languages and attend intake sessions to determine your level and needs before signing up for a course. It’s a perfect opportunity to explore your language learning options. While trial lessons take place in the classrooms, you can enjoy your drinks and our handmade cakes at the café, browse books in our multilingual library, or explore our Mediterranean market with fair-trade products and books.

Trial lessons and intake sessions are completely free and you can join as many sessions as you want as long as you reserve your spot in advance.
Save the date and stay tuned for the full schedule.

THIS EVENT IS FREE. PLEASE RSVP VIA OUR WEBSITE HERE TO SAVE YOUR SPOT FOR A LEVEL INTAKE/TRIAL LESSON.