Receptive Dutch course for internationals dealing with the Dutch language

Do you understand a bit of Dutch, but do you feel lost whenever your Dutch peers are discussing topics in depth, speeding up their language or throwing around idioms and sayings? Then this specially designed Dutch course for international members of participatory bodies (U-council, faculty councils, education committees) focusing on enhancing receptive skills might be something for you. The course is also open for other internationals, such as students who are considering participating in a student representative body.

Utrecht University is an international university with many students and employees from abroad. For this reason, the UU is in favor of a multilingual (English/Dutch) language policy, however, Dutch is still used as the language for communication in many domains. Therefore, the research project Meertaligheid & Medezeggenschap (Multilingualism & Participation) is looking for solutions to deal with language diversity. One of the results of the project is that the M&M team created a receptive Dutch course.

Pilot Receptive Dutch Course (B1-C1)

The first pilot took place during this semester and in February another pilot course will start. In this course, you will learn everything about Dutch administrative language, the Dutch meeting culture and how you can use Lingua Receptiva (luistertaal) to have multilingual meetings. This means that special attention will be paid to the development of receptive skills (reading and listening) in Dutch. According to one of the first participants of the course it really helped her to understand the meetings: “I am recognizing words that I learned from the course during professional interactions”.

Course schedule

This 10-week course will start on Tuesday the 8th of February. Classes will take place twice a week. Every Tuesday (11:00- 13:00) and Thursday (13:00 – 15:00) digitally via MS-Teams.

Requirements and signing up

The receptive Dutch course is developed for internationals who already have a basic proficiency in listening and reading in Dutch on B1 level. It does not matter if you are not feeling comfortable with speaking or writing in Dutch, since you are allowed to do that in English. Are you not sure if you meet the requirements? Do not worry, because our Dutch as a second language teacher Kimberley Mulder can conduct an intake with you. Please e-mail k.mulder@uu.nl if you are interested in the course.