In de Nederlandse les met Marieke en Martin

What does “buitenland” mean in Dutch?

Dutch builds “abroad” by pressing two everyday words together: buiten (outside) and land (country) snap into buitenland, “outside-country.” Someone from abroad is a buitenlander, and a foreign student is a buitenlandse student. Once you see the two halves, the whole family opens up — and you can guess dozens of Dutch compound words by asking what they literally describe.

In this Dutch lesson, Martin visits Marieke’s class in Rotterdam: “Hier geeft Marieke Nederlandse les aan buitenlandse studenten” — students from Spain, Russia, Germany, France, and England, each insisting “Ik wil Nederlands spreken!” (I want to speak Dutch!). The prefix buiten- turns up across everyday Dutch: buitenkant (the outside, lit. “outside-side”), buitengewoon (extraordinary, lit. “outside-ordinary”), buitensport (outdoor sport), buitenspelen (playing outside). The standalone noun het buitenland = abroad, and in het buitenland wonen = to live abroad. If you know buiten and land separately, you already know what the compound means before anyone explains it — which is the best thing about transparent Dutch compounds.