www.learndutch.sg

Welcome to the Professional Dutch Language Courses for Singaporeans

(and other residents of Singapore).

In the text below, you will come across the term ‘NT2’, which means:

‘Nederlands als Tweede Taal’ (Dutch as Second Language).

NT2 is the official name for professional Dutch language education, developed in The Netherlands. These lessons are conducted by specialised NT2 teachers, catering to foreign adults, who need to master the Dutch language for a specific purpose (such as studying or working in The Netherlands, preparing for the compulsory Integration exam, or for naturalisation).

The reason why you visit this website could be that:

(1) You need to apply for an ‘MVV’ = Machtiging Voorlopig Verblijf (Long Term Visa application) and therefore, you need to sit for your compulsory Civic Integration Exam at the Dutch Embassy here.

You would like to prepare yourself well by signing up for our MVV-course. Since the first onset of the Civic Integration Exam, all of our MVV-course participants have passed the exam with flying colours. Therefore, you might have heard about our MVV-course from staff members at the Dutch Embassy here in Singapore.

(2) You are married to a Dutch or Belgian partner or you are planning to do so.

In either case, it’s nice to be able to communicate with your in-laws (& partner) in Dutch.

(3) Your child is 9 to 15 years old, (s)he has a Dutch or Belgian father or mother, and now you are looking for a professional Dutch language course for children in Singapore, because your child doesn’t speak any Dutch.

(4) You aim to move to Holland or Belgium soon, so that’s why you need to learn Dutch.

(5) You aim to apply for Dutch Citizenship (= naturalisation) and therefore, you need to pass the mandatory Naturalisation test at the Dutch Embassy in Singapore.

(6) You are going to study or work in The Netherlands or Belgium.

It’s a good idea to learn how to speak some Dutch before you travel to Europe because you will enjoy your stay so much more.

(7) You are working for a Dutch or Belgian company located in Singapore, or you are dealing with companies or organisations in The Netherlands and/or Belgium, and you would like to be able to handle Dutch emails & letters and master Dutch conversation.

(8) You would like to maintain or further improve your Dutch language skills and proceed to the next NT2 level.

In all these cases, you have found the right place to learn Dutch in an effective and affordable way!

Course overview:

We provide six types of courses:

1. Evening Classes

2. Dutch Crash Courses

3. MVV Training Sessions

4. Naturalisation Courses

5. Private lessons

6. Dutch Language Courses for children (one parent is Dutch or Belgian)

Details:

-1- Evening Classes:

We have just started with a brand new Beginners Group on Tuesday 3rd of August, 2010

These weekly classes will be conducted on every Tuesday evening.

Time: 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Venue: Dutch Language Training Centre PDLCS, 150 Orchard Road #08-02, Orchard Plaza.

Our Language Training Centre is located very near Somerset MRT station, just opposite Orchard Central & OG Shopping Centre. Orchard Plaza offers convenient parking facilities (CashCard parking at S$ 3.75 per entrance on evenings.

Registration is still open.

Please contact our Language Course Co-ordinator Ms Dais Chan (9684 0356) for any enquiries or enrolment.

Duration of our Beginners Courses:

Our full Beginners Course takes 24 weeks (= 48 hours, 6 months in total) to complete. There are 2 modules: (1) Basic Course (NT2 level A1) (2) Completing the Full Beginners Course (NT2 level A2). Each module takes 3 months (12 classes).

Please note that it is not compulsory to finish the complete Beginners Course (NT2 level A2), since you can take the Basic Dutch Course only (NT2 level A1), which just takes 3 months (=12 classes) to complete.

Study target:

After the basic course (3 months only) you will have reached NT2 level A1, which is the officially required proficiency level nowadays for the Civic Integration Exam at the Dutch Embassy in Singapore (for ‘MVV’).

The basic course is an excellent preparation for your Civic Integration exam. Please note that we provide special (hands-on) MVV Training Courses as well. If your actual target is to sit for the Civic Integration Exam, you will definitely need these special MVV training sessions anyway, since you will have to master about 250 Dutch opposites, and on top of that, you must be able to repeat many Dutch sentences correctly during your MVV exam.

This exam is audio only, which means that you will need to train your listening skills, since there will be no text lines provided during your MVV exam to refer to! Repeating Dutch sentences correctly is the most difficult part of the Civic Integration Exam. (However, 100% of our MVV students have passed the Civic Integration Exam with good results, so we guarantee that you will pass as well if you sign up with us.)

Combining our basic course with private MVV training sessions is the most adequate way to prepare yourself well for your Civic Integration Exam at the Dutch Embassy in Singapore, since the Dutch government has recently increased the required Dutch language proficiency level for the Civic Integration Exam Abroad.

After our Basic Course, you can proceed with the next level (= another 12 classes) in order to complete the full course (24 classes). If you would do so, you will reach NT2 level A2, which is the officially required proficiency level for Dutch ‘Inburgering’ (Integration Exam in The Netherlands for permanent residence) or for Naturalisation (Dutch Citizenship).

You can take your ‘Inburgerings’-Exam in The Netherlands only, but you can sit for your Naturalisation Test at the Dutch Embassy in Singapore. With us, you can fully prepare yourself for both types of exams, since we are using exactly the same NT2 teaching materials and NT2 teaching methods as used at the official Regional Education Centers (ROC’s) in The Netherlands.

Whether you would like to take just the Basic Course (12 classes) or the Full Beginners Course (24 classes), you only need to make an advance payment per round of 12 classes.

Rates for Beginners Courses (group evening classes):

An advance payment of S$600/- per module of 12 classes (24 hours) is required. Please note that payments made are non-refundable and non-transferable. Missed classes will be counted in, but if you would miss three subsequent lessons due to sickness, holidays or job commitments, you are entitled to enjoy a free private (one-to-one) catch-up lesson of 90 minutes.

Summary:

Dutch Beginners Course:

(1) NT2-level A1: Basic Dutch Course, 3 months (12 classes): S$ 600/-; target: Civic Integration Exam (Dutch ‘MVV’) or just a quick Dutch course for (e.g.) exchange students, professional assignments in the Netherlands etc. being a very useful introduction to the Dutch language.

(2) NT2-level A2: Full Beginners Course (6 months, 24 classes): 2 x S$ 600/- (two modules); target: Dutch ‘Inburgeringsexamen’ (Integration Course)

Switching from group lessons to a private arrangement.

You are allowed to switch from group lessons to private lessons at all times — for instance if there would be any change in your job requirements or private circumstances and you expect that you will have to miss too many lessons due to that.

We will allow you to switch to a private arrangement and use the balance of your advance payment for the Beginners Group to partly cover the fees for private lessons. Important: please note that missed lessons are not regarded as part of the balance. Therefore, you must inform us timely if you foresee that your attendance will be challenged, because missed lessons will be void, unless you have missed three (pre-paid) lessons within four weeks. If that happens, you are entitled to enjoy one free private catch-up lesson of 90 minutes.

Payment for the next round of 12 lessons:

Our full Beginners Course consists of 2 modules of 12 lessons (= 24 classes / 48 hours). If you like to continue with the second round of 12 classes, you just make a new advance payment for the next module

(S$ 600/-) at the end of your first round.

-2- Dutch Crash Courses:

these are private (one-to-one) sessions for those who are in a hurry.

Course duration:

10 sessions of 2 hours each (usually on one fixed day per week, so that would be a duration of two and a half months in total, but it is also possible to have sessions on more days per week).

Rates:

S$990/- for the complete private crash course of 20 hours. An advance payment in full is required.

Venue for private lessons:

The teacher’s private address at Serangoon Green, Jalan Teck Kee, or your own private address. If you opt for the latter possibility, additional charges for transportation cost will be applicable).

Time and dates:

Please call us, or send your SMS / e-mail to discuss your preferred days and time.

You will find all telephone numbers and our email address at the end of this info page.

You can also visit www.learndutch.sg to check our available slots and make your own selection.

-3- MVV Training Sessions: (for Long Term Visa Application).

If you need to sit for your Civic Integration Exam (mandatory language test for long-term visa application) at the Dutch Embassy in Singapore, this is the course you need to prepare yourself.

These are eight private lessons, comprising of intensive language training sessions plus practice sessions to achieve basic knowledge of Dutch society. These private lessons are in principle on a one-to-one basis, but in case our available slots for new MVV students would suddenly become very limited, 1 or 2 new students may join you. We reserve the right to do so. This will not influence the effectiveness of your MVV training course, at least not in any negative way. In fact, group lessons are actually more effective, since you can compare notes, and even organise extra training sessions with each other, if you would like to do so in between the lessons.

There is yet another positive aspect: it is our experience that our MVV-group participants usually become good friends, mentally supporting each other even after the Civic Integration Exam. No wonder: you all share the same challenging goal: moving to the Netherlands soon. When you are facing such a drastic change in your life, it’s good to have a new friend who can think along with you, and even help you, if needed.

We will focus on 18 trial exams. The structure and content of all of our exams are very similar to the real Civic Integration Exam at the Dutch Embassy. Therefore, our many trial exams are an excellent tool to determine if you are actually ready to sit for your real exam. (And if not, you can always decide to take a few extra lessons.) We will advise which moment is most suitable for you to call the Dutch Embassy and book your examination date.

So far, 8 training sessions (2 hours each) have been more than sufficient for nearly all of our students; only a few students required some extra training sessions before they were ready to sit for the Civic Integration Exam.

We are glad to announce that all of our MVV course participants (112 in total so far, update 12 August, 2010) have passed the Civic Integration Exam. Time and again, their score was at least twice the required minimum amount of points. We simply guarantee you will pass your exam with such good results as well.

We will be focusing on the following topics:

1. building a basic Dutch vocabulary of 800 most commonly used words;

2. ensuring perfect pronunciation;

3. reciting correct opposites in Dutch;

4. repeating Dutch sentences;

5. answering simple questions in Dutch;

6. replying 100 standard questions about Dutch society (from the book ‘Naar Nederland’).

The Civic Integration Exam comprises of a NT2 language test (proficiency level A1–) plus a basic knowledge test regarding Dutch Society.

Course duration:

8 private sessions of 2 hours each. You can always extend your private course with a few extra lessons — if you wish.

Rates: - only applicable with regard to private (one-to-one) lessons: -

S$880/- for the complete private course of 16 hours (8 lessons).

Conditions: an advance payment in full is required. Payments can be made by cheque (payable to ALLWRITE Text & Media Productions) or in cash. Rates for additional private lessons are S$110/- per extra lesson, to be paid at the beginning of such lesson.

All of our MVV-students have passed the exam immediately, so if you follow our guidelines diligently, you can rest assured you will be successful as well. We simply guarantee that you will pass.

Venue for private lessons:

The teacher’s private address at Serangoon Green, Jalan Teck Kee, or your own private address. If you opt for the latter possibility, additional charges for transportation cost will be applicable).

Time and dates:

Please call us, or send your SMS / e-mail to discuss your preferred days and time.

You will find all telephone numbers and our email address at the end of this info page.

You can also visit www.learndutch.sg to view our availability and make your own selection.

-4- Naturalisation Courses:

In order to successfully apply for naturalisation, you will need to pass the Integration Exam at the Dutch Embassy here.

Important: this comprehensive Integration Exam (required NT2 proficiency level A2) takes a couple of hours to complete (and is therefore very different from the — much simpler — Civic Integration Exam (for MVV): required NT2 proficiency level A1) which MVV exam only takes less than one hour to complete.

The full-fledged Integration Exam comprises of a NT2 language test plus a knowledge test regarding Dutch Society.

During private (one-to-one) sessions, we will intensively focus on both subjects: NT2 language training (targeted private lessons to reach NT2 proficiency level A2) and comprehensive social studies, specially developed by Dutch social science professionals to effectively train foreigners, so that they will achieve adequate knowledge of Dutch society.

(These social studies are the second mandatory part of the Dutch naturalisation test.)

For this specific purpose, we have all necessary & up-to-date official teaching aids plus NT2 State Exams of previous years available here in Singapore.

This means that you can fully prepare yourself with us and take your official Naturalisation Test at the Dutch Embassy here in Singapore.

During this intensive course, we will be focusing on all four elements: reading, writing, listening and conversational skills.

Course duration:

This totally depends on the time you can make available for private lessons and study, plus your individual capabilities and learning pace.

Ideally, you will need at least 6 months to prepare yourself adequately, with intensive one-to-one sessions at least twice per week (2 x 2 = 4 hours per week); but lessons 3 times per week (3 x 2 = 6 hours per week) would actually be better.

Please note that this is a quite exacting study program. It all depends on your individual capabilities and learning pace (in terms of comprehension / memorising information).

You will need to master both the Dutch language (NT2 level A2) in every aspect: reading, writing, listening, speaking, plus a fair bit of knowledge about Dutch society. Therefore, the more time you can make available for your private lessons, the better it will be.

Please keep in mind that the absolute minimum is 4 hours of lessons per week.

Next to these private sessions, you will need to study very hard (at least 3 hours every day) to be successful in the end.

Rates:

(1) S$ 99/- per private lesson of 2 hours: please note that we do not work with separate payments per lesson. Instead, we require an advance payment in full for every booked sequence of 10 lessons (= advance payment of S$ 990/- per sequence). All dates will be fixed in accordance with the availability of the course participant.

(2) A one-time payment for all necessary teaching aids is required at the beginning of the very first sequence. We will advise the type and cost of these teaching aids, since it all depends on your personal wishes and proficiency level which specific teaching aids we will be using together. Therefore, we will first discuss with you, after assessment of your current language skills, before we recommend any teaching aids from our large collection of text books & multimedia cd-roms.

Except for the above mentioned cost, there will be no other charges, and signing up for any sequence does not imply any obligation regarding next sequences, so you are always free to decide whether to stop or to continue after each sequence of 10 lessons.

Planning:

Prior to the course, we will discuss about your preferred planning. Based on that, we will reserve 10 slots for you. In addition, 2 substitute slots will be reserved as well, as free replacement of a maximum of 2 cancellations per sequence. (Please note that we do not allow more than 2 cancellations per sequence of 10 lessons, irrespective of the reason.)

Venue for private lessons:

The teacher’s private address at Serangoon Green, Jalan Teck Kee, or your own private address. If you opt for the latter possibility, additional charges for transportation cost will be applicable).

Time and dates:

Please call us, or send your SMS / e-mail to discuss your preferred days and time.

You will find all telephone numbers and our email address at the end of this info page.

You can also visit www.learndutch.sg to view our availability and make your own selection.

—

-5- Private lessons:

These are individual, custom-made lessons of 2 hours each, specifically catering to your personal needs.

You can also opt for private lessons in case you have signed up for one of our classes and you would like to catch up or practise more.

We work with a large range of professional NT2 teaching aids (NT2 means: Dutch as Second Language), developed in The Netherlands, specifically catering to your personal target.

Depending on your proficiency level, we will select the most suitable teaching aids after assessing your language skills.

Course duration:

This depends on your own wishes.

Some of our private students opt for long-term, weekly private lessons in order to secure consistency, others prefer a short-term, intensive private course (of 2 or 3 lessons per week) to reach their goal the fastest possible way.

You will find all telephone numbers and our email address at the end of this info page.

You can also visit www.learndutch.sg to view our availability and make your own selection.

Rates:

Except for the above mentioned cost, there will be no other charges*, and signing up for any sequence does not imply any obligation regarding next sequences, so you are always free to decide whether to stop or to continue after each sequence of 10 lessons.

Planning:

Venue for private lessons:

The teacher’s private address at Serangoon Green, Jalan Teck Kee, or your own private address. If you opt for the latter possibility, additional charges for transportation cost will be applicable).

Time and dates:

Please call us, or send your SMS / e-mail to discuss your preferred days and time.

You will find all telephone numbers and our email address at the end of this info page.

You can also visit www.learndutch.sg to view our availability and make your own selection.

—

-6– Private Dutch Language Course for Children in Singapore

(with a Dutch or Belgian parent)

plus Remedial Teaching, if needed

From 2003 onwards, we have received more and more requests from Dutch and Belgian parents, residing in Singapore, to provide Dutch language courses for their children.

The majority of these children are attending International Schools in Singapore, such as the United World College, German European School, Hollandse School, Tanglin Trust School and EtonHouse.

The age of our young course participants ranges from 9 to 15 years.

At the end of the year 2003, we have started with Dutch Language Courses, specially designed for foreign children with Dutch roots. These kids are usually brought up with the English language as their mother tongue (and therefore don’t speak any Dutch).

We also conduct specific enrichment lessons for children, who actually do speak a fair bit of Dutch, but without sufficient knowledge of spelling, grammar and the proper meaning of proverbs. These students need additional tuition or remedial teaching* in order to improve on their grammar, spelling and vocabulary.

We provide different, targeted language courses for all of these pupils.

Background.

Meticulous preparations in conjunction with a team of Dutch education professionals preceded the date of commencement of our varied Dutch Language Programme for Children. This is because we wanted to make sure that we would cover all thinkable problem areas.

Therefore, we have organised many discussions with experienced linguists, seasoned Dutch primary school teachers, versatile educational publishers and professional NT2 instructors before we made our next move. The final result is an effective selection of only the very best teaching aids for our young students.

After we had prepared ourselves thoroughly, we started with one-to-one private courses for children, because we found that it is much more effective to work on an individual basis rather than having to work in groups with kids of a different age.

Classes are conducted at our Dutch Language Training Centre PDLCS.

*Remedial teaching.

Some parents request for 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) or UWC (United World College) in Singapore. We are using special educational software and other dedicated teaching aids to effectively coach these pupils.

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.

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.

Exciting and versatile: interactive Dutch learning programme for your child.

Like we said, our teaching programme has been developed in close co-operation with Dutch Primary Education professionals, and this programme is based on three crucial pillars:

· Professional teaching aids, as used in all Dutch primary schools (the renowned ‘Zwijsen Veilig Leren Lezen’ Primary Education System), in combination with the famous ’AmbraSoft Woorden Totaal’ training software. These (both interactive) multimedia teaching aids are used for the majority of primary school children in Holland, so that they will increase their vocabulary and they will get familiar with basic Dutch grammar and spelling while working on the PC;

· A selection of specific NT2* teaching aids, developed by Marjan Timp and Miranda Middag.(These Dutch language professionals are specialised in developing NT2* teaching aids for foreign children)

· Worksheets and interactive grammar exercises, ensuring lots of fun for kids, by using challenging software. These exercises are composed with the help of seasoned Dutch grammar specialists: Jenny van der Toorn-Schutte, Alied Blom, Conny Wesdijk, Yolande Spaans & Henriëtte Houët.

(* NT2 means: ‘Dutch as Second Language’)

Over the years, this combination of three basic elements has turned out to be very effective for foreign children in Singapore, who aim to learn the Dutch language.

To test their progress, we let the children work on the computer from time to time, guided by the teacher. On our laptops, we have hundreds of targeted exercises available.

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.

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 child’s Dutch vocabulary, we will be focusing on your child’s favourite hobbies from time to time, and talk about his or her adventures during the past week, discuss about his or her much-liked reading book, etc. (First in English, to make the pupil feel comfortable enough, and gradually more and more in Dutch, of course…)

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… just by using a pen, colour pencils, a pair of scissors and some paper.

Your child’s own fantasy will do the rest (such as writing bi-lingual short stories… and what about regular updates of his or her very own webpage — which we will not only build together, but also host for free!)

Website building: an exciting way to enhance your child’s 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.)

It comes with all kinds of fun-pics, selected by your child, with the result that he or she can proudly show off his or her on-line publication in Dutch (!) to grandparents, friends, classmates in school… and so on.

Famous children’s book writers.

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

We will also watch some famous songs of ‘Kinderen for Kinderen’, (Karaoke version, so that they can sing along) and we will have fun with Dutch cartoons (such as a Transformers cartoon and all kinds of Walt Disney cartoons, all translated in Dutch).

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).

Rates:

We offer this versatile, interactive Dutch language course for children for only S$ 850/- per sequence of 10 lessons (of 1 hour each)*.

Please note that the mentioned rates are rates per participant, just in case you intend to have more family members attend our private language course at the same time. Additional participants cannot sit in for free, but a discount for extra participants is negotiable.

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

Course extension after ten lessons:

Depending on your wishes and your child’s progress, you can always decide to sign up for another round of 10 lessons. (This is what most parents prefer, once they have noticed how much interest their child has developed after their first round of Dutch 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.

You will need to purchase our multi-media teaching aids: this will be a one-time payment of S$ 170/- regarding all teaching aids we are using, inclusive of one audio-cd, plus one multimedia cd-rom.

As further enrichment, we will be using additional interactive and audio-visual material as well, but we will bring this along and we won’t charge anything for this.

Please contact our Language Course Co-ordinator Ms Dais Chan (9684 0356) to make an appointment for a free assessment of your child plus a discussion with the teacher, prior to your decision to sign up your child.

Planning:

Prior to the course, we will discuss about your preferred planning. Based on that, we will reserve 10 slots for you to start with. In addition, 2 substitute slots will be reserved as well, as free replacement of a maximum of 2 cancellations per sequence.

Venue for private lessons:

The teacher’s private address at Serangoon Green, Jalan Teck Kee, or your own private address.

Time and dates:

Please call us, or send your SMS / e-mail to discuss your preferred days and time.

You will find all telephone numbers and our email address at the end of this info page.

You can also visit www.learndutch.sg to view our availability and make your own selection.

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

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About our professional teaching aids:

We work with a selection of most effective NT2 courses, currently used by Regional Education Centers (ROC) in The Netherlands. ROC’s are the official institutions in Holland, teaching Dutch as Second Language (NT2) to immigrants.

Please note that we do not focus on ‘tourist Dutch’ (simplified Dutch), like other language schools in Singapore do. Instead, we only use professional NT2 methods, approved by the Dutch Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (so called ‘VROM’), which Ministry is responsible for integration of immigrants nowadays.

Integration means that someone who has come to the Netherlands speaks Dutch and is familiar with the culture and Dutch values and norms. Integration is necessary for those who wish to live in The Netherlands.

Making sure that integration takes place is one of the policy areas of the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM), and we follow this policy by only selecting those professional teaching aids, which are developed in Holland by Dutch language professionals and social science teachers and approved by Dutch authorities, responsible for integration of foreigners.

About the teacher:

All Dutch lessons and workshops in Singapore are conducted by Native Dutch Language Teacher Matthieu Quere (BA, CEFR-NT2), born in Holland in 1960. Although his name sounds French, Matthieu is a born and bred Dutchman. He has lived and worked in The Netherlands for almost 40 years and has now eleven years of experience as a tried and tested, professional Dutch language teacher in adult education.

Matthieu settled in Singapore in the year 1999. After just a few months, he became a Singapore Permanent Resident. After living here for so many years, he is not only very familiar with the local tongue, but also with all specific difficulties Singaporeans experience while making efforts to master the Dutch language.

These difficulties are mainly regarding Dutch pronunciation and Dutch sentence building. In constant, close cooperation with ‘NT2’ (Dutch as Second Language) specialists in The Netherlands, Matthieu has found effective ways to help Singaporeans overcome these difficulties.

Before he came to Singapore, Matthieu has been working as a Dutch language teacher for foreigners from Morocco and Turkey, who are living in Holland. Next to this, he has been working for nearly ten years as a freelance journalist and editor for a famous Dutch daily newspaper.

In 2003, Matthieu Quere set up ‘Professional Dutch Language Courses for Singaporeans’ as subsidiary of ALLWRITE Text & Media Productions. ALLWRITE is a Dutch multi-media company, specialised in advertising copywriting, professional translations, video productions and educational support (development of multi-media teaching aids and e-learning facilities).

Recently, ALLWRITE Text & Media Productions has developed a very effective set of multimedia teaching aids to help students from Singapore (and also many students from other countries in South-East Asia, Eastern Europe, The Middle East and South America, who are temporarily residing in Singapore) to pass their Civic Integration Exam at the Dutch Embassy.

This Civic Integration Exam is testing basic knowledge of the Dutch language and society.

Since March 2006 (when the compulsory Civic Integration Exam for foreigners came into effect), every student, who has signed up for our Civic Integration Training Course (aka ‘MVV‘ Training Course), has always passed the exam with great results. Therefore, Native Dutch Language Teacher Matthieu Quere has achieved a good reputation with the Dutch Embassy here in Singapore.

ALLWRITE Text & Media Productions was originally founded in The Netherlands in 1995 and relocated to Singapore in the year 2000.

For more detailed information about our language courses, plus pictures of our activities, availability schedule (etc.) please visit our website www.learndutch.sg

For further enquiries :

Please send your email to info@allwrite.com.sg

or call / SMS :

9684 0356 (Language Course Co-ordinator Ms Dais Chan)

9687 0009 (Native Dutch Language Teacher, Matthieu Quere)

Thank you for your interest in our language courses.

Have a nice day!

Please click here to return to the home page.

Just a piece of good advice:

(1) Why should I actually learn Dutch, since all people in Holland

do speak English very well?

(2) Can I also take an online MVV course,

instead of classes or private lessons?

(1) Holland and Belgium are very enjoyable countries to stay in, be it just for a holiday, for studying, or as a place where you can work for some time, or even get married and settle down.

Apart from the fact that the government in The Netherlands has implemented a set of strict immigration rules (such as a mandatory Dutch language test for foreigners) it would be good anyway if you would understand some Dutch.

Many of our students, who are engaged or married to a Dutch or Belgian partner, really want to be able to converse in Dutch, especially with their in-laws. Usually not because they have to, but they simply enjoy to do so.

Although nearly all Dutch and Belgian people know how to speak English quite well, a huge advantage of learning some Dutch is that you will be able to make sense of what these people around you are actually saying to each other in Dutch.

Because no matter how fluently nearly everyone from Holland and Belgium speaks English, and no matter how hospitable they all are, they will definitely not converse in English all the time... (at least not with each other...)

It will be clear to you that you will enjoy your stay in The Netherlands or in Belgium so much more if you would understand at least some Dutch.

A typical nuisance many Singaporeans experience before they eventually sign up for one of our courses is that they usually get quite annoyed at times whenever they are visiting in-laws or friends in northern Europe: in spite of the fact that Dutch people and Belgians really enjoy to converse in English, it occurs many times that Singaporeans have no idea what their in-laws or friends are talking about. This simply happens whenever the European hosts accidentally forget about their Singaporean guest…

Well, such things just happen, and you can’t blame anyone for it, since it can be quite tiring sometimes to converse in a foreign language day in day out. There are certain moments people actually prefer to switch to their own mother tongue.

You can tackle this problem by taking our Beginners Course (24 lessons) or Crash Course (10 lessons). Just think of it: you will better understand all kinds of jokes you get to hear in Holland and Belgium, so you will finally get to know why people are having such a good laugh, instead of having to guess… You can check if people are actually gossiping about you ;-)

Plus: you can buy anything you like in local shops or restaurants without having to point your finger at things… and best of all: you can talk back to the Dutch and Belgians, which will compel lots of admiration!

Well, these are just some advantages! In other words: being able to speak and understand some Dutch simply ensures your independency!

Most importantly: your in-laws will really appreciate the efforts you make while learning Dutch, and they will definitely further encourage you. This will be great for your family bonding too! It will be a very satisfying experience when you notice the benefits of your hard work.

It’s worth the effort! Sign up for one of our Dutch courses today!

Call Language Course Co-ordinator

Ms Dais Chan @ 9684 0356 to find out more.

(2) What about an online MVV course, instead of private lessons?

‘Do-it-yourself’ online MVV training courses for the Dutch Civic Integration Exam are available on the Internet. It sounds very attractive: you can study at home, at your own time and pace.

However, for several reasons, the benefits of having your lessons together with an experienced native Dutch language teacher sitting next to you for personal coaching (2 hours per lesson, 8 lessons in total) are obvious.

The most important point is this.

When you sit for your Civic Integration Exam, you will be connected to a speech computer, so not to a person. This computer will analyse everything you say in Dutch.

If you do not know how to pronounce Dutch words properly, the computer will regard your answer as ’wrong’, so it is very important to know very well how to pronounce Dutch words correctly.

Do you know that you will need to repeat more than 20 (fast spoken) Dutch sentences during your exam, while you don’t even know the meaning of the words? More than 50% of your score depends on how well you can repeat Dutch sentences. We will teach you how perform this difficult task.

Of course, the only way to master Dutch pronunciation is to have your lessons together with a native Dutch teacher sitting next to you, constantly assessing and correcting you, since you cannot check your own pronunciation while doing self-study.

We have been conducting MVV Training Courses since 2006, (which was the year the Civic Integration Exam came into effect).

Since then, 100% of our students (112 participants so far) have passed the exam with at least double the required score, thanks to lots of self-confidence.

Mind you, it’s not only about the way you speak! You must also train your listening skills well, in order to be able to understand the fast spoken questions, opposites, and most importantly: the sentences you will need to repeat in Dutch.

It is very important to spend much time on adequate training of your listening and pronunciation skills, and we are here to help you.

We have 18 different Civic Integration Trial Exams (full version) readily available for you, and we will go through all of them, together with you. Your real exam is very similar to those mock exams, so in the end, you will be well-prepared.

Call us at 9684 0356; we guarantee you will pass with much confidence and great results, like all of our other students!