Course Overview - Professional Dutch Immersion Course for Children in Singapore (with a Dutch father or mother)

Click on one of the links below for more info about:

Beginners Groups

Private Lessons

Catch-up sessions

MVV Training Sessions

Dutch crash Course

(Private) Dutch Course for Children / Youngsters in Singapore

(with a Dutch or Belgian parent)

From 2003 onwards, we have received more and more requests from Dutch and Belgian parents, residing in Singapore, to provide tailored Dutch language courses for their young children and teenagers, who are usually brought up with the English language as their mother tongue.

The majority of these children are attending International Schools in Singapore. The common age of our young course participants is ranging from 7 to 17 years. From 2003 onwards, we decided to start with professional (private) lessons for children.

We at PDLC solely provide private Dutch tuition for one or two young students (usually siblings). We dont work with groups.

Please note that we are offering special Dutch fun immersion courses with lots of audio-visual teaching aids (professional educational movies for kids) plus the famous (interactive) AmbraSoft Dutch Language Training software and the renowned Zwijsen Veilig Leren Lezen method.

And, of course, lots of flash cards for all ages to practise with. Please click here to read more in Dutch about the proven successful teaching method of Zwijsen

ONE-TO-ONE LESSONS

For practical reasons (logistics) and affordability, it is quite common that young brothers / sisters are together while having lessons with us. However, please be advised that additional siblings cant sit in for free, since the teacher needs to attend to each individual student time and again, in order to ensure good progress. Hence, we are offering a discount of 50% off the normal lesson fees (which is a discount of S$ 42.50 per additional child).

Since children (of other families) with different ages, different proficiency levels, different situations (e.g. short attention span) and with different backgrounds all need a different educational approach, we cant join them all together in one class, but we provide one-to-one or one-to-two lessons instead, exclusively conducted at the private address of the teacher at Serangoon Green (Jalan Teck Kee), or at your own residence. (In the latter case, applicable travel expenses will be added, based on distance, ERP & parking cost plus travel time).

ADHD

We are experienced in working with children with ADHD; we know how to turn their typical sudden change of focus into an unique learning opportunity.

With us, children are very happy, since they do not need to sit still on a chair all the time. We convert their never ending energy into a new learning experience in all kinds of different situations, often characterised by vivid expressions or actions.

Of course our young students are learning new Dutch words at such occasions. In fact, children will pick up new vocabulary faster when they are having loads of fun in the meantime! We would even allow them to dance through our language studio, or sit under the table, if they fancy to do so, as long as they will answer all of our questions and practise with Dutch words. After all, where you are is not as important as what you are learning!

Children learn much faster when they are enjoying a dynamic environment in which they can fully participate, move freely and compete. Especially boys like all kinds of motion while learning. Being allowed to unleash some of their hidden energy makes every child happy during classes.

Our philosophy is that children can learn from ANY situation. You dont need to sit on a chair behind a textbook or computer in order to learn. Children are full of energy, and this can be channeled in many ways. We are effectively using whatever new situation, even if they are running around. we think along with them, and apply their vividness in such way, that they will learn something new every time. Thats how we typically work.

DYSLEXIA AND REMEDIAL TEACHING

Step by step, we teach dyslexic children how to recognise Dutch sounds by applying different colours for diphthongs and other combined vowels, we use changing text sizes, colours and fonts with a solid base (which has been proven effective for those, suffering from dyslexia).

Some parents request for special remedial teaching, to make sure their child will overcome arrears in terms of Dutch grammar, spelling, reading skills, vocabulary and the meaning of proverbs while attending lessons at the HSL (Hollandse School), GESS (German European School), UWC (United World College) or OFS (Overseas Family School) in Singapore. We are using special educational software and other dedicated teaching aids to effectively coach these pupils, and if your aim is to let them perform well during the Cito test, we are here to help with tons of special interactive grammar, spelling and vocabulary exercises on a complete range of cd-roms, such as the famous Muiswerk series and AmbraSoft.

Most of the parents are looking for a professional language course for their children, in such way that their kids will gradually develop great interest in the Dutch language. This is our main focus.

Primarily, learning Dutch must be fun. We will always make sure that this is the case! Starting from there, it is much easier to keep children motivated to focus on learning the Dutch language. It is a phased process of building up trust and fellowship between the teacher and the young student.

To test their progress, we let the children work on the computer from time to time, guided by the teacher. They are having their own student account, provided by us, and our students are able to log in anywhere in the world.

We have hundreds of targeted exercises for all Dutch primary school levels available, inclusive of Cito-tests. We are using a follow-the-student online system, Leerling-Volg-Systeem). Homework can be done online and all results and progress will be saved automatically, which means that students can use their own computers at home any time, or any computer elsewhere to sit for their homework. Parents can look at online reports of progress.

We are using only tried and tested software, developed by seasoned primary education experts in The Netherlands. By practising much, children get soon very familiar with key grammar issues, thus they develop a good insight.

RALFI

We are using the professional RALFI reading method,

developed for those whose reading pace is still too slow:

R=Repeated: the student will read the same text again during different lessons

A=Assisted: the teacher reads the text aloud, the student reads along, while following the words with his finger

L=Level: it has been proven that practising with a slightly more difficult text is beneficial in the long run for those with reading problems, of course with our intensive coaching in the meantime

F=Feedback: positive feedback is important: the teacher will mainly point out what went well (the emphasis is on the positive side), and quickly correct what went wrong as well

I=Interaction: we make sure our students fully understand what they have been reading. The students have to ask questions about the text to the teacher, and vice versa: the teacher will ask questions to the student. In other words: we focus on semantic connections: the text in the context.

A fun-filled interaction between teacher and child.

We always make sure there are plenty of fun-filled moments during the lessons! For instance: we also use the computer to play word-games, specially designed for primary school children.

Furthermore, to increase your childs Dutch vocabulary, we will be focusing on your childs favourite hobbies from time to time, and talk about his or her adventures during the past week.

Based on this interaction between teacher and child, we playfully brainstorm, translate key words, and challenge each other with (for instance) exciting word games, drawings, puzzles, and other lively assignments.

Website building: an exciting way to enhance your childs vocabulary and interest in Dutch.

Website-building is always an exciting process for children: all kids love to create their very own website. After all, it is a truly hip thing to do! They can tell lots of stories about their adventures and favourite hobbies, or other subjects of their interest. The result is something very concrete: their own creation. Best of all: they can show it off: anytime, anywhere, to anyone.

We are using this excitement to make sure they will draft all kinds of texts in (simple) Dutch. (Please click here to view an example).

Famous childrens book writers.

Once your child is ready for it, we will listen to nice short stories, compiled on audio-cds and written by famous writers such as Annie MG Schmidt, Tonke Dragt, Roald Dahl (Dutch version) and many more.

At the moment your child will understand more and more Dutch, we will watch the latest copy of the Dutch Youth Newscast (Jeugdjournaal) every now and then: this is always a very recent recording (downloaded as MP4 from the Dutch NOS Internet Page).

Duration: the attention span of very young children is usually not more than 15-20 minutes. We start with some fun (a game or a chat) and then we start with the lesson. Once their focus starts to drift, we will have a snack, a drink or we do something else for a while. We are channeling their motivation back to focusing on a different activity for another 15 minutes.

Therefore, lessons of 1 hour are most suitable for young children (age 7 & 8). For children aged 9 to 15 we advise lessons with a duration of 90 minutes. Older secondary school children can usually focus for 2 hours.

Rates: we offer this versatile, interactive Dutch language course for children for only S$ 85/- per lesson of 60 minutes, inclusive of all teaching aids. Please note that we only work with rounds of 10 lessons. For every round, an advance payment in full (S$ 850/-) is required.

Please note that the mentioned fees are rates per participant. For every additional participant (usually a brother or sister), we offer a discount. However, please take into consideration that joint lessons are not always workable. It all depends on the willingness of each child to learn and focus.

In general, you could say that if the age difference between siblings (as course participants) is more than 2 years, it is NOT advisable to opt for joint lessons. Instead, it would be better in such case to break up the lesson into two individual (half an hour) parts for each child. That way, one student can perform some tasks (online Dutch language assignments for children / digital vocabulary games or some tests with pen and paper) while the other child enjoys a one-to-one Dutch lesson for kids.

Please be advised that S$ 85/- is the minimum rate p.p. for any of our lessons (in order to keep it feasible for us), but we do offer a special arrangement: depending on how well your child is able to focus, we are willing to extend the lesson with another 30 minutes without additional cost, but this will totally depend on your childs learning capabilities. If it wouldnt work out well, we will stick to a duration of 60 minutes for every lesson.

If you would like to extend the lessons to 120 minutes each, applicable course fees are S$ 110/- per private lesson.

Please contact our Course Coordinator Dais Chan (9684 0356) for further details on this.

Course extension after 10 lessons:

Depending on your wishes and your childs progress, you can always decide to sign up for another round of 10 lessons.

>> Please note that we only work with sequences of 10 lessons each, not with any other arrangement. After each such sequence, you are free to stop, or to continue with another round.

It may be good to know that most parents send their children for multiple rounds of Dutch lessons. If you would have a chat with some of the Dutch parents (which we can arrange for you), you will get to know a bit more about the expected learning curve. Basically, you will need to have lots of patience, if you want your children to master the Dutch language well.

Please contact our Language Course Coordinator

Dais Chan (9684 0356) for any arrangement.

Thank you for your interest in our Dutch language course for children!

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* Payments made are non-refundable and non-transferable.