Learning Dutch

Living in Amsterdam, one can get by and get everything done without speaking any Dutch. However, learning the language can be quite rewarding since it makes one feel more at home and gives one an opportunity to follow local news and discussions. The ILLC PhD candidates wanting to learning Dutch have the opportunity to follow two courses for free. For those who want to learn online, there is also a free MOOC course for beginners organised by University of Groningen.

Dutch courses

If you want to learn Dutch, the ILLC will pay for two of your courses. The courses have to be from the UvA’s INTT institute, see http://intt.uva.nl/ and ask the ILLC secretary for further information on how to handle the payment. INTT is a Dutch language institute of UvA which organises these courses mostly for master students and staff of the university. The classes take place in the city centre, at Spuistraat.

There is an option of an extensive course once a week. Intensive and semi-intensive courses are very time consuming. It is not recommended to take the former unless you have nothing else to do. The latter requires 12 hours of work per week, including classes and homeworks, and you really need to plan to have 12 hours for that, because they will be strict. However, by taking one of these courses one can get a very quick start and get far in a relatively short time.

Dutch learning library

Thanks to an initiative of the PhD council and the support of the ILLC and several donors we have been able to arrange a plethora of books to aid each of us in learning the Dutch language.

The library contains the following books used at INTT courses:

  • 3x CODE Plus 2014, Deel 1: 0-A1
  • 3x CODE Plus 2014, Deel 2: A1-A2
  • 2x CODE Plus 2014, Deel 3: A2-B1
  • 1x CODE Plus 2014, Deel 4: B1-B2

The library contains the following other books:

  • 4x CODE 1 2011: Absolute Beginners/Beginners)
  • 1x CODE 1 exercise book
  • 2x CODE 2 2011: Intermediate)
  • 2x CODE 3 2011: Advanced
  • 2x Dutch-German dictionary
  • 1x Nederlands in Actie

How can I use the library?

You can find the books in the PhD room (F2.01). Feel free to borrow any book after having completed the loan tracking sheet that sits next to the books.

These books are supposed to come with access to the online platform where more exercises can be done. Unfortunately, the access expires after a year. Since our books are older than that, it is likely that it has already expired. However, this online access can be purchased separately for small price on the website of the publisher.

How long can I borrow a book?
You can borrow a book for up to one semester. Just put your name in the loan tracking sheet and the corresponding book. If nobody needs the book the next semester, you can borrow it again.

Please take good care of the books and do not write on them