A record number of international students enrolled in Dutch for foreign language courses this year. Although all TU Delft MSc courses are in English, an increasing number of foreign students choose to take eight or more extra hours of language study a week.
Demand for part-time language courses is now at an all-time high. So what exactly is on offer and just how difficult is the Dutch language?
It’s early on a Thursday evening and at the Technology, Policy and Management building things are winding down. Yet in a classroom on the first floor, ten international students from countries ranging from Portugal and France to Germany, Russia and Turkey are eagerly listening to their teacher and each other as they talk in Dutch about issues such as health insurance, bicycle theft and Dutch harbors. For the students taking the Dutch for Foreigners Elementary Course Part II, one of many Dutch language courses offered at TU Delft, this is just another Thursday evening class.
Among the students is Reza Akil, an Industrial Design student from Indonesia. “I’m doing a two year MSc here and wanted to learn Dutch so that I can make friends more easily,” he says. “Besides, I like the Dutch language, a lot of elderly people in my home country still speak Dutch and some of the words are identical in Indonesian.” Nicolas Divoux, a Frenchman studying Aerospace Engineering, also decided for similar reasons to take up Dutch lessons after he came here a year ago.
When asked whether they perceive Dutch as a difficult language, the consensus among the students is that it’s not. Divoux says the Dutch vocabulary is rather difficult and he has trouble spelling, especially the double vowels, like ‘oo’ or ‘ee’. Akil however does find Dutch grammar a bit difficult. While Georgios from Greece adds: “There aren’t many rules in Dutch grammar and sometimes there isn’t a logical explanation either, so often you simply have to learn how to say them.”
Georgios goes on to say he doesn’t think Dutch is a difficult language: “But the Dutch do speak very fast, which makes it hard to understand them.” Many of those present agree, except teacher René De Zeeuw. “It’s not that the Dutch are fast talkers,” he says. “It’s just that foreigners are slow listeners.”
Although a little reluctantly at first, the students soon see what he means as he explains how anyone learning a foreign language always thinks native speakers talk too fast, although usually this isn’t true. Still, during the lesson, he never slows down his own speech. Instead, when using a new or difficult word in one sentence, he’ll say the same thing in the next sentence, only with more common and well-known words.
Piet Meijer, coordinator/teacher of the Dutch for Foreigners courses: “What we do is comparable to how mothers teach their children to speak. We want students to learn Dutch in a similar way to how they learned their own native language: by indulging themselves in the language and listening carefully.”
This approach means that students are expected to speak Dutch in class right away, and they’re obliged to take listening tests after each class. Since the courses are aimed at educated people, difficult words aren’t avoided and the focus is on conversation, rather than grammar rules and endless repetition.
Method
The Dutch language courses offered by the university’s Institute of Technology and Communication began in 1979, when within the TU community questions arose as to whether the university was capable of organizing courses to help foreign students and staff learn Dutch. Professor Scarione – as Dutch as can be, despite his exotic surname – and his colleagues devised the now famous ‘Delftse Methode’ (Delft Method), a new approach to learning foreign languages.
Meijer: “This learning method differs from the traditional methods in that it’s very practical. The course focuses on the language’s most frequently used words. All texts are based on a series of those words, which means students rapidly learn the words they’ll most likely to want to use in real life situations, like when speaking Dutch in shops.”
Until six or seven years ago, when nearly all TU degree programs were taught in Dutch, the university only offered intensive full-time language courses. Although these are still offered, the TU now also offers part-time evening courses. With the introduction of the Bachelor.Master structure, more and more foreign MSc students are coming to Delft and demand for part-time language courses is increasing.
“Over the years we’ve seen a slow but steady rise in student numbers for the evening courses,” Meijer says. “We’re currently at an all-time high, with eleven groups of 10 to 15 students each. Meanwhile, interest for the intensive full-time course has decreased.”
Most students take the 7-week Elementary Course Part I, and about 50 percent then proceed to the Elementary Course Part II. After that, they can choose to continue their language studies by taking the Intermediate Course Parts I and II, but only a few actually do. “Whereas the Elementary courses can be taken as electives and are therefore free of charge, students wanting to participate in the Intermediate courses have to pay their own way,” Meijer says.
The ten students in De Zeeuw’s classroom don’t seem too eager to continue their language studies, though mainly because of the costs involved. But then, when it comes to practicing their Dutch outside of course hours, most don’t appear too zealous either. “I only speak Dutch if I have to,” says Philipp, from Germany. Akil sometimes talks Dutch to his fellow Industrial Design students, who generally seem to admire him for trying, and Frenchman Divoux does try to practice his Dutch with his Dutch flat-mates. But more often than not, they end up talking English to each other instead. “That usually is a lot faster,” he says.
(Photo: Hans Stakelbeek/FMAX)
It’s early on a Thursday evening and at the Technology, Policy and Management building things are winding down. Yet in a classroom on the first floor, ten international students from countries ranging from Portugal and France to Germany, Russia and Turkey are eagerly listening to their teacher and each other as they talk in Dutch about issues such as health insurance, bicycle theft and Dutch harbors. For the students taking the Dutch for Foreigners Elementary Course Part II, one of many Dutch language courses offered at TU Delft, this is just another Thursday evening class.
Among the students is Reza Akil, an Industrial Design student from Indonesia. “I’m doing a two year MSc here and wanted to learn Dutch so that I can make friends more easily,” he says. “Besides, I like the Dutch language, a lot of elderly people in my home country still speak Dutch and some of the words are identical in Indonesian.” Nicolas Divoux, a Frenchman studying Aerospace Engineering, also decided for similar reasons to take up Dutch lessons after he came here a year ago.
When asked whether they perceive Dutch as a difficult language, the consensus among the students is that it’s not. Divoux says the Dutch vocabulary is rather difficult and he has trouble spelling, especially the double vowels, like ‘oo’ or ‘ee’. Akil however does find Dutch grammar a bit difficult. While Georgios from Greece adds: “There aren’t many rules in Dutch grammar and sometimes there isn’t a logical explanation either, so often you simply have to learn how to say them.”
Georgios goes on to say he doesn’t think Dutch is a difficult language: “But the Dutch do speak very fast, which makes it hard to understand them.” Many of those present agree, except teacher René De Zeeuw. “It’s not that the Dutch are fast talkers,” he says. “It’s just that foreigners are slow listeners.”
Although a little reluctantly at first, the students soon see what he means as he explains how anyone learning a foreign language always thinks native speakers talk too fast, although usually this isn’t true. Still, during the lesson, he never slows down his own speech. Instead, when using a new or difficult word in one sentence, he’ll say the same thing in the next sentence, only with more common and well-known words.
Piet Meijer, coordinator/teacher of the Dutch for Foreigners courses: “What we do is comparable to how mothers teach their children to speak. We want students to learn Dutch in a similar way to how they learned their own native language: by indulging themselves in the language and listening carefully.”
This approach means that students are expected to speak Dutch in class right away, and they’re obliged to take listening tests after each class. Since the courses are aimed at educated people, difficult words aren’t avoided and the focus is on conversation, rather than grammar rules and endless repetition.
Method
The Dutch language courses offered by the university’s Institute of Technology and Communication began in 1979, when within the TU community questions arose as to whether the university was capable of organizing courses to help foreign students and staff learn Dutch. Professor Scarione – as Dutch as can be, despite his exotic surname – and his colleagues devised the now famous ‘Delftse Methode’ (Delft Method), a new approach to learning foreign languages.
Meijer: “This learning method differs from the traditional methods in that it’s very practical. The course focuses on the language’s most frequently used words. All texts are based on a series of those words, which means students rapidly learn the words they’ll most likely to want to use in real life situations, like when speaking Dutch in shops.”
Until six or seven years ago, when nearly all TU degree programs were taught in Dutch, the university only offered intensive full-time language courses. Although these are still offered, the TU now also offers part-time evening courses. With the introduction of the Bachelor.Master structure, more and more foreign MSc students are coming to Delft and demand for part-time language courses is increasing.
“Over the years we’ve seen a slow but steady rise in student numbers for the evening courses,” Meijer says. “We’re currently at an all-time high, with eleven groups of 10 to 15 students each. Meanwhile, interest for the intensive full-time course has decreased.”
Most students take the 7-week Elementary Course Part I, and about 50 percent then proceed to the Elementary Course Part II. After that, they can choose to continue their language studies by taking the Intermediate Course Parts I and II, but only a few actually do. “Whereas the Elementary courses can be taken as electives and are therefore free of charge, students wanting to participate in the Intermediate courses have to pay their own way,” Meijer says.
The ten students in De Zeeuw’s classroom don’t seem too eager to continue their language studies, though mainly because of the costs involved. But then, when it comes to practicing their Dutch outside of course hours, most don’t appear too zealous either. “I only speak Dutch if I have to,” says Philipp, from Germany. Akil sometimes talks Dutch to his fellow Industrial Design students, who generally seem to admire him for trying, and Frenchman Divoux does try to practice his Dutch with his Dutch flat-mates. But more often than not, they end up talking English to each other instead. “That usually is a lot faster,” he says.
(Photo: Hans Stakelbeek/FMAX)
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