Learning Dutch while studying/working – Can you do that?

The Netherlands is known as one of the countries with the best English as a second language. To be honest, this is one of the reasons why I wanted to study in The Netherlands. Many programmes in universities (especially masters) are offered in English, and outside of the university people also have no problem speaking English. Unfortunately, this situation is also the reason why it took me forever to gather all the motivation to start learning Dutch. I felt like it was not necessary, I did not need it, and I could survive in The Netherlands without being able to speak Dutch. To some extent, it is true. However, as time passed by, and every time I needed to speak to strangers, I had to apologise and say: “Sorry, I do not speak Dutch”. It just hit me and I thought: this does not feel nice. I have done multiple times of groceries shopping and I still could not understand a word the cashier asked, even words as simple as “bonnetje mee?”.

Finding motivation is one thing, finding ways to learn Dutch is another thing. If you go to YouTube, you can find a bunch of videos about learning Dutch. My personal favourite channel is Dutchies to be – Learn Dutch with Kim. She regularly posts videos about Dutch grammar or simple daily conversations in Dutch like calling a friend or doing groceries. What I like the most about her videos is the way she explains, it is easy to follow and her way of speaking Dutch is just perfect for learners at any level (original speed is a bit slow, but you can adjust the playback setting). Other channels are DutchPod101, Learn Dutch with Bart de Pau, and so on. What I also like to do is to watch cartoons on Netflix with Dutch dubbing and English subtitles. And do not forget about Duolingo! This app is often underestimated because of some weird sentences that it teaches us to translate (something like: jij bent een eend), but personally, I think Duolingo is quite useful in terms of enhancing your vocabularies up to B1 level.

The problem with all these means of learning Dutch I mentioned earlier is the fact that we can use them for free (or at least for a small price). Therefore, I felt like giving up easily because I had nothing to lose. I came to the decision that I needed to follow a real Dutch course, something regularly, that really can force me to learn Dutch. In November 2019, I started following my first ever Dutch course which was offered by collaboration between SIS Foundation and Gemeente Delft. The course went well despite the fact that everything needed to be turned into Zoom meetings since March 2020. In June 2020, I got my A2 Dutch certification, and I was so proud of myself! I realised that following a paid course is something that really works for me because I am kind of forced to do it and if I would stop doing it, I would lose my money. Not a very good reason of course (this makes me sound like a money-oriented person), but well, that worked. With the timing, it was not always easy because of my study at that time but I managed to cramp it somewhere within my busy schedule. Sometimes I would think that doing the homework is part of leisure activities. I tell myself: Do not think of it as a burden, this is fun!

Not long after I obtained my A2 Dutch certification, I continued further to the B1 course. I attended the course offered by ETC, a training centre under the Embassy of The Kingdom of The Netherlands in Jakarta, Indonesia. I thought it might be nice to follow a Dutch course in which the teacher speaks the same native language as me, that might help me to understand things easily. The course was offered online but unfortunately, due to the timezone difference between the Netherlands and Indonesia, it did not work well for me. I managed to obtain my B1 certification with difficulties. Currently, I am following an online B2 Dutch course offered by Volksuniversiteit Rotterdam. It takes a lot of energy and every day I want to give up, but then I remember that I want to be able to speak proper Dutch to my students and colleagues, and it gives me energy again to keep going on.

Some tips that I can give to fellow Dutch learners:

• Keep on telling yourself: yes, you can do it! It is not easy, but it is not impossible.
• Have a trusted Dutch friend to help you out. Many Dutch people are able to speak Dutch fluently because it is their native language, but not many of them can explain why it is het boek and de boeken.
• Find your biggest motivation that will help you keep going on: can be anything, like Dutch boy/girlfriend or finding a job in The Netherlands.
• Find your best way of learning Dutch. As I said above, following a course works best for me, but it might be not the case for you.
• Last but not least: It does not have to be perfect. People will understand you anyway even though you mistakenly say deze instead of die.

To conclude, I want to answer the question on the title of this blog post: yes, you can do it! Avans even offered a Dutch course for beginners as an elective course, and I think I also stumbled upon a Dutch course offered in Breda. The question now changes: you can do it, but would you want to do it? Good luck and see you somewhere around LD building where we can talk about koetjes en kalfjes 😉