By Dan Garmat

Kaas and Effect

Now as I enter my second month of Dutch residency, I am trying to live more like a resident of the Netherlands. In Part 1 of this blog, I shared how AI helped me decode the candy aisle at Albert Heijn. In Part 2, things got a bit more dramatic, with a travel crisis thankfully mitigated by my quick-thinking and expertise with GenAI prompting. Now, in this final installment, I’m turning my attention to something slower and sneakier: curiosity. Specifically, the kind of micro-curiosity that makes you wonder why you keep seeing certain words, and whether your AI assistant can teach you Dutch one oddly specific word at a time.

The Learning Acceleration Test

Situation: I want to learn some Dutch and follow my curiosity. I keep seeing a few words, and I’m getting curious about what they mean.

The Idea: Can Claude help me know just the words I’m most curious about, specifically, almost as a personalized vocabulary list, and since it can translate, can it help me build connections by teaching me the Dutch etymology (which is nigh impossible to find in English online)?

The test prompt:

…

…

Task difficulty: 3

Grade: A

The impact: Being able to act on curiosity this quickly and effectively brings an extra boost of dopamine to the process of learning a language. 

Including understanding and appreciating kaas:

Tot slot (in summary)

So there you have it—three very real moments of uncertainty, three very different tasks, and one throughline: using AI well isn’t about replacing thinking, it’s about preserving your capacity to think where it matters most.

Sometimes it’s about not accidentally buying the wrong kind of licorice. Sometimes it’s navigating a high-stakes travel hiccup with one ounce more calm. And sometimes it’s chasing a random Dutch word down a rabbit hole of curiosity and ending up somewhere surprisingly connective.

I don’t expect AI tools to “know me,” but I’ve learned how to use them to amplify my instincts, not override them. That’s what made these moments feel like wins—and why learning to use these tools as part of life, not apart from it, has made this early expat chapter a little more grounded.

Also, kaas. Always kaas.

Learn more about what AI can do for us in overwhelming situations here.