It has been some time since I last wrote on the blog, work has been somewhat busy as has life in general. Anyway I am due to change career in about a years time and as such I am exploring the possibility of seeking employment in Brussels. To further this aim I have started to take Dutch evening classes.
One can argue that it is probably better to learn French, that being the language most widely spoken in Brussels, but I also wish to hold decent conversations with my family and argue effectively with my wife (only kidding)!
The course which I signed up to back in August was for 1 evening per week from 18.15 - 21.30. The course lasts an entire academic year and ranges in levels from 1 to 8. You can take up to three evenings per week but for me that would be quite unworkable. I would only need to do 1 term to complete level 1 and thus if I had the time it would be quite handy. We were left under no illusion though, homework is a must, so clearly if you can allow the study to dominate your life then you are ok, if not then it has to be at a more reasonable pace.
The course I have enrolled in is subsidised by the Flemish Government and costs only 72 Euros, which is quite outstanding value for money.
The only drawback for me is that I have to commute from work through the hellish rush hour to get to my school in Leuven in good time to begin. Most of the time it has not been a problem but it does not take much to stop the traffic dead. I have had to miss a couple of lessons so far due to work but you are allowed to miss a given percentage and still pass the course. I am quite lucky as I have been studying Dutch for around 7 years and therefore it is relatively straightforward. I must add that I am in level 1, as my grammar and writing is not good enough for level 2. The result of that is I am way ahead of most of the class and I can understand almost everything the tutor is saying (the lesson is delivered in Dutch with occasional English explanations).
My class is quite a mixed bunch in terms of nationality and profession. There are Spanish, British, French, German, Italian, Bosnian, Russian and Ukrainian people. All of them are quite pleasant and cheerful, despite us all being tired after working during the day. Some, like myself, are quite good others struggle a bit. There is a break at around 20.00 for a coffee, chat, toilet and smoke (if that spins your props).
The format of the lessons varies with one to one with classmates, delivery by the tutor, video, written exercises, repetition and questions from the tutor. Having taken the Teaching English as a Foreign Language, it is not quite as varied as that but it is enough. As an example we recently discussed prepositions, there were no practical exercises to demonstrate these. In one lesson I had to explain to my colleague the individual components of a sentence so that he could understand what it was that he had to say as an answer. The question was 'What was the name of your first pet?' I had to explain this without the benefit of English as he did not understand that. The tutor did not feel the need to demonstrate the difference between mine and yours (which I did with the aid of a pen), what a pet (huisdier) was, what first (eerst) meant etc. To be fair he was a complete beginner but then that was level 1! Still it helped me in developing my communications skills and ability to teach too!
The problem with knowing more than what is being taught is that I end up not giving the model answer and also I am sometimes caught out with things that I simply do not know and have not taken the time to learn. I discovered recently that asking how someone is should get a specific reply for example - Hoe gaat het met jouw? Met mij gaat het goed. Most people will respond with just one word goed, prima, slecht etc. So I have learnt how I should reply even if in reality people do not use the rest of the phrase. In fact most just say Hoe gaat het? or Alles kits achter the ritz? My spelling maybe out and that latter question is basically 'how's it hanging?' and is usually just said between men.
Anyway the company that provides the course is Groep T and I would recommend it if you are in the Leuven region.
