Professional Dutch Teacher with 9 Years' Experience Helps You to Learn Dutch Fast

Find out more about Christiaan

• Do you speak this language fluently because of your origins or because a teacher inspired you to learn?

  I speak Dutch because I was born in the Netherlands, specifically: Amsterdam. Although we moved around quite a bit, even outside of the Netherlands, we always spoke Dutch at home without mixing it with other languages.

• Can you name a living, historical or fictional character that you think is the emblematic representative of the language's culture?

  That is a good, but tricky question. To me personally, the late Rutger Hauer is quite emblematic. He was an actor who starred in many famous movies, both nationally (Soldaat van Oranje) and internationally (Blade Runner, Sobibor). Even in old age, he displayed a very Dutch boyishness and calm curiosity about the world.
  Another emblematic individual is the Dutch king, Willem-Alexander. His style represents Dutch society, which is less hierarchical than many other countries. The Dutch monarchy is quite down-to-earth, just like Dutch people. If you ever fly KLM, he might even be your pilot!

• Is there a typical word, phrase, tradition, or behaviour in the language that you particularly like?

  I think we have a lot of foods that other nationalities don't like (for example "haring" or liquorice - I think these are delicious, by the way).
  We also have some nice sayings, like "oost west, thuis best (no place like home)", "doe maar normaal, dan doe je al raar genoeg (just act normal)" and "achter de wolken schijnt de zon (the sun shines behind the clouds)".
  
  Very important for the daily use of Dutch are the four words: "leuk (nice, fun)", "lekker (tasty, nice)", "mooi (pretty, nice)" and "gezellig (socially nice)". Expats in the Netherlands always joke about how they hear these words all the time.

• Why does speaking this language matter to you?

  First of all, it is my maternal language. Secondly, it is more Germanic than English (which has lots of French influences) and more natural than German (which was made very sophisticated). Therefore, it has similarities to languages like Swiss German, German dialects (Platt) and Danish (I think).

• What is the main difficulty in learning this language and what can help the process of learning?

  Dutch has two main challenges: pronunciation and syntax. Naturally, I have become good at teaching both of them. Apart from that, there are many isolated topics which I have created classes for.
  Also, Dutch people are very willing to speak English, so as a Dutch learner, one has to be very persistent when asking native speakers to stick to Dutch. You want to practice the language, after all 😊. I guess it is best to pretend that one doesn't speak English!

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your language learning or your days at school.

  I had a couple years of Latin in high school. We used the method where you just translate, no speaking. Of course, I forgot most of it. Looking back as a teacher, I realize that the most important part of memorizing a language is the student wrestling with and actually applying the language (i.e. speaking and writing). Intuitive contact with the language is more important than the grammar (which is something I struggle with because I love grammar)
  Good news: I took up Latin again, and it is a lot of fun 😊

• How has travel or a specific trip helped you to increase your skill and knowledge of the language?

  For a couple of years, I lived abroad and focused on German, English and Spanish, and I barely spoke any Dutch (even though it is my native language). Coming back to Dutch to do my Psychology bachelor's degree (in Dutch) really gave me a better grasp of the language (both intuitively and grammatically).

• What makes you a Superprof in language?

  I am a Superprof because I have a lot of experience teaching - I can adapt perfectly to the student's needs at that stage in their learning journey combined with what they are capable of on that day.
  If a student is well-rested, you teach one type of class, but if they had a professionally/emotionally draining day, you have to teach a completely different class.
  Also, I have heard most grammar questions before - I have an answer to almost every doubt a student can have.