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:

A brand new Beginners Group will start on Wednesday 13th of June, 2012 @ 7.30pm.

These weekly classes will be conducted on every Wednesday evening.

Time: 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Venue: Kingsfield Education Centre , 150 Orchard Road #08-09, 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 after 5 pm for the first three hours, and SS 1.07 for subsequent hour.

Registration is now open.

Please contact our Language Course Coordinator 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, but you will also need to attend our hands-on MVV Training Courses in order to do well, because you will need to get familiar with the way you will be tested. The test itself takes an hour to complete, and consists of three elements: KNS (Knowledge of Dutch Society, which is an oral test using pictures), TGN (an oral Dutch Language Proficiency Test), and a written GBL test (Comprehensive Reading)

If your actual target is to sit for the Civic Integration Exam, you will definitely need our special MVV training sessions anyway, since you will have to master about 500 Dutch opposites, and on top of that, you must be able to repeat many Dutch sentences correctly during your MVV exam, even if you don’t know the actual meaning of the sentences you hear. We will teach you how to perform this difficult task.

That is not all: you will also need to read aloud a large series of Dutch words and sentences from text sheets, answer questions about a couple of short texts and complete a range of sentences as well, selecting the correct ending (multiple choice) in order to test your comprehension of the Dutch language.

This means that not only your pronunciation, but also your knowledge of Dutch vocabulary must be good enough. You need to score no less than 75% correct answers for this so called GBL test (Geletterdheid en Begrijpend Lezen: Comprehensive Reading Skills). That is a really tough job, but you will be able to score that high with our professional help, like all of our other students did!

—> Be pre-warned: it is not possible to compensate any of these three tests in case you would score low for any of them; you simply need to pass all three tests. Any form of compensation is out of the question.

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 KNS & TGN sessions! 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 (94% of all students have done so with a score between 35 to 64 (!) points out of 80 thanks to lots of self-confidence), 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:

12 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$ 1,200/- for the complete private crash course of 24 hours. An advance payment in full is required.

Venue for private lessons:

Only at our Language Training Studio at Serangoon Green, Jalan Teck Kee.

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 in order to get a Provisional Residence Permit at the Dutch Embassy in Singapore, this is the course you need to prepare yourself.

These are 14 lessons of 2 hours each, comprising of intensive language training sessions plus practice sessions to achieve basic knowledge of Dutch society plus perfecting your ‘read aloud’ skills.

These private lessons are in principle conducted 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 ‘real-time’ 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.

We are glad to announce that all of our MVV course participants (167 in total so far, updated on the 1st of May, 2012) 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 1,200 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), a comprehensive reading test plus a basic knowledge test regarding Dutch Society.

Course duration:

14 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$1,380/- for the complete private course of 28 hours (14 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:

Exclusively at our MVV Language Training Studio at Serangoon Green, Jalan Teck Kee. Here, we have installed special computer equipment, programmed to measure your personal wave-form (the same way your voice will be measured during your Civic Integration Exam).

At the same time, we will practise together with all kinds of computer-aided MVV training programs, presented on a big screen. Because of the special equipment we are using, we can’t provide MVV training sessions elsewhere.

(We are using many interactive tools, such as:

· fully automated KNS training. You can simply sit back and practise.

· 30 (!) real-time KNS / TGN / GBL trial exams with score records.

· efficient vocabulary builders, up to 1,200 most commonly used Dutch words.

· 350 Dutch opposites with English translations.

· large databank with loads of short questions about all kinds of common topics,

· effective pronunciation training with useful consonant, vowel and diphthong diagrams.

· crystal clear sentence building system (useful diagram + HTML tool to move integrated parts of any Dutch sentence into the correct following order.

You will be fully prepared for your exam, once your MVV course has been completed.

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$ 100/- 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 12 lessons (= advance payment of S$ 1,200/- 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 12 lessons.

Terms & Conditions Private Naturalisation Courses:

Prior to your private course, we will discuss about your preferred planning.

· Participants are required to pay the full amount for the complete private course in advance at the beginning of the very first session (S$ 1,200/- for 12 Private Lessons)

· Each private lesson takes 2 hours.

· Based on our availability, we will reserve 12 slots, plus 1 extra slot in case of (a maximum of) 2 cancellations* out of your 12 reserved slots.

· We will send you our planning proposal for confirmation.

· Please note that as soon as you have confirmed our planning, the dates will be set and cannot be changed afterwards.

· * In case of cancellations, irrespective of the reason, we will provide 1 complementary catch-up lesson (120 minutes) in return for 2 cancelled lessons out of your 12 reserved slots. In case you cancel only 1 out of 12 lessons, we will refund S$ 50/-. However, please note that in case of subsequent cancellations, no refund and no more catch-up facilities will be provided.

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

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.

Please note that the classrooms at Kingsfield Education Centre at Orchard Plaza are only used for group lessons, not for private lessons.

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 12 lessons.

Terms & Conditions Private Courses:

Prior to your private course, we will discuss about your preferred planning.

· Participants are required to pay the full amount for the complete private course in advance at the beginning of the very first session (S$ 1,200/- for 12 Private Lessons)

· Each private lesson takes 2 hours.

· Based on our availability, we will reserve 12 slots, plus 1 extra slot in case of (a maximum of) 2 cancellations* out of your 12 reserved slots.

· We will send you our planning proposal for confirmation.

· Please note that as soon as you have confirmed our planning, the dates will be set and cannot be changed afterwards.

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

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.

Please note that the classrooms at Kingsfield Education Centre at Orchard Plaza are only used for group lessons, not for private lessons.

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.

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.

Rates:

We offer this versatile, interactive Dutch language course for children for only S$ 850/- per sequence of 12 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 12 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 12 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 Coordinator 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.

Terms & Conditions Private Dutch Language Courses for Children:

Prior to your private course, we will discuss about your preferred planning.

· Participants are required to pay the full amount for the complete private course in advance at the beginning of the very first session (S$ 850/- for 12 Private Lessons of 1 hour each)

· Each private lesson takes 2 hours.

· Based on our availability, we will reserve 12 slots, plus 1 extra slot in case of (a maximum of) 2 cancellations* out of your 12 reserved slots.

· We will send you our planning proposal for confirmation.

· Please note that as soon as you have confirmed our planning, the dates will be set and cannot be changed afterwards.

· * In case of cancellations, irrespective of the reason, we will provide 1 complementary catch-up lesson (60 minutes) in return for 2 cancelled lessons out of your 12 reserved slots. In case you cancel only 1 out of 12 lessons, we will refund S$ 42/-. However, please note that in case of subsequent cancellations, no refund and no more catch-up facilities will be provided.

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

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.

Please note that the classrooms at Kingsfield Education Centre at Orchard Plaza are only used for group lessons, not for private lessons.

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!

—

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 Coordinator Dais Chan)

‘9687 0009’ (Native Dutch Language Teacher, Matthieu Quere)

Thank you for your interest in our language courses.

Have a nice day!

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