Dutch Language Courses

In addition to 23 million people speaking Dutch as a first language, there are an additional 5 million that speak it as their second one. It is a West Germanic language that is often said to be somewhere between German and English and is most closely related to those languages. It is also a dialect of Dutch in South Africa that eventually involved into the mutually intelligible Afrikaans language spoken by over 16 million people.

Dutch is also spoken in:

• Aruba
• Belgium
• France
• Germany
• Indonesia
• Netherlands Antilles
• Suriname
• South Africa

Many professionals in companies across the UK, as well as private individuals, have benefited from a Dutch Language Course with SIMON & SIMON. We have a terrific team of qualified native-speaker Dutch teachers, and with an average of 15 years’ experience they will ensure you benefit from a course designed specifically around your needs, whether you are a complete beginner or an advanced learner with more specialised requirements.

We consistently receive excellent feedback on our Dutch tutors from our clients, and we send our students a profile on their Dutch tutor prior to their Dutch lessons commencing, with information on the tutor’s background and experience.

If you have only studied languages before at school you will find that teaching approaches to modern language training have changed enormously in recent years – it’s now a lot more fun and a far more rewarding experience!

Your teacher will conduct your Dutch lesson almost entirely in Dutch – a method known as the Communicative Approach – and you will find yourself making progress from the very first lesson and soon growing in the confidence to communicate in Dutch in a variety of social and business situations.

Our Dutch language courses are available on both a 1:1 and group basis, but the majority of our clients offer 1:1 Dutch training to their employees. However, with careful planning, group training can offer great value for money, provided there is a real commitment from the participants to get together at the same time every week. We strongly recommend you keep group numbers to 6 or less for these types of courses to be successful.

Those learning Dutch on a 1:1 basis will naturally make much faster progress, as the course will be designed around their individual needs and focus on their particular strengths and weaknesses.

Course Management

Every SIMON & SIMON language course is overseen by one of our highly experienced Account Managers, all of whom are multi-lingual.

At the start of your Dutch language course we will send you a profile on your trainer along with all your relevant course materials. You will also receive a Progress Report after every 40 hours of training.

SIMON & SIMON has arranged Dutch language courses for clients in numerous locations, and with our global network of language trainers we can organise a Dutch language course for you wherever you are – in almost any major city in the UK in Manchester, Europe and beyond.

The vast majority of our Dutch lessons take place at our clients’ offices, removing the need for you to travel, but Dutch lessons can take place in your home if that is more convenient.

We can also arrange Dutch language courses at our offices or online via Skype if necessary.

Dutch Course Schedules

Our Dutch language courses run throughout the year. The majority of our students attend at least one 90-minute session per week and many students will try to do more than one session depending on work commitments.

Our Dutch teachers are available Monday – Friday from 8am – 6pm, and Weekend Courses can also be arranged on request.

Our intensive Dutch language courses run for 30 hours per week, (6 hours per day Monday – Friday), and take place on our clients’ premises or at our offices here in the UK or online.

The content of your Dutch language course will reflect your level and your particular objectives. We will assess your Dutch language level before your course, and discuss with you in detail the subject areas you wish to focus on.

You may be a complete beginner looking for day-to-day Dutch survival language skills, or a more proficient Dutch speaker needing to improve your fluency when discussing areas such as law, banking, finance, insurance, sales, travel, marketing, and administration.

You may want to focus on improving your Dutch for meetings, discussions and negotiations, or to concentrate on improving your listening comprehension, pronunciation and telephone skills.

Whatever your needs, working with one of our highly experienced Dutch language trainers you can be confident that the content of your Dutch language course will be tailored just for you and that you will soon be meeting your objectives.

Dutch Language Examination Courses

We can also help prepare you for Dutch examinations of a business or general nature. We are proud to say our students have a 95% pass rate in language examinations, and their success further underlines the value we place on working with Dutch teachers with above average experience.

As part of our service, SIMON & SIMON will also organise the registration and administration of Dutch examinations and the issuing of result certificates.

The table below is based on recognised language levels used by various academic institutions across the European Union. A highly motivated student attending weekly sessions with their Dutch language trainer can expect to move from one level to another after 50 hours providing they also commit to a similar number of hours of self-study.

Of course, some people find learning languages easier than others, and some students will have more opportunities to practise Dutch in the course of their work and leisure, so these factors also need to be considered when trying to assess how long it will take to move from one level to another.