Learn Dutch online — free lessons from A1 to C2
Bite-sized Dutch lessons with grammar notes, pronunciation, interactive exercises and spaced-repetition review.
A1 · Beginner
First words
Greetings & politeness
A1 · Say hello, goodbye, please and thank you.
Introducing yourself
A1 · Your name, where you’re from and where you live.
Numbers & time
Numbers
A1 · Count from zero to a hundred.
Days & telling time
A1 · Days of the week and what time it is.
People & things
Food & drink
Getting around
Daily life
Daily routine
A1 · Your day, from getting up to going to bed.
Weather & seasons
A1 · Talk about the weather — a national hobby.
Shopping
In the shop
A1 · Buy things, ask for prices and point at what you want.
Clothes & colours
A1 · Describe what people wear and try things on.
Me and my day
Months & dates
A1 · Say the date, your birthday and when you were born.
Jobs
A1 · Say what you do for a living and ask others about their work.
Feelings
A1 · Say how you feel: tired, happy, hungry, cold or in a hurry.
Learning & describing
In class
A1 · Ask the teacher to repeat, explain or slow down — politely.
Animals
A1 · Pets, farm animals and how to make their plurals.
Opposites
A1 · Describe things with common adjective pairs — and say when something is too much.
Asking questions
A1 · Ask who, what, where, when, why and how — and simple yes/no questions.
Everyday words
Countries & languages
A1 · Say where you're from, what nationality you are and which languages you speak.
Furniture & things at home
A1 · Name the furniture in your home and say where things are.
Everyday verbs
A1 · Twelve verbs you'll use every day — and how to conjugate them.
Fruit & vegetables
A1 · Name common fruit and vegetables, make plurals and say what you like to eat.
Home, tech & days out
Household chores
A1 · Talk about cleaning, tidying and who does what at home.
Phones & computers
A1 · Talk about laptops, wifi, passwords and apps — and say when something doesn't work.
Shapes, sizes & materials
A1 · Describe what things look like and what they're made of — and compare sizes.
A day out
A1 · Suggest a trip to the park, the zoo or a theme park, and find your way in and out.
Getting by
Asking for help
A1 · Ask a stranger for help, say you're lost and ask them to say it again.
Likes & dislikes
A1 · Say what you love, what you think is great — and what you can't stand.
Birthdays
A1 · Celebrate a Dutch birthday: candles, presents and congratulating everyone in the circle.
Pets
A1 · Talk about your pets, how you look after them and what they do.
Eating at home
Breakfast, lunch & dinner
A1 · Say what you eat at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and when.
Drinks
A1 · Offer and order drinks, ask for another one — or say you've had enough.
Kitchen things
A1 · Name the things in the kitchen and help set the table.
At the bakery
A1 · Buy bread, rolls and cake — a whole loaf, half a pie, sliced or not.
Getting ready
The bathroom
A1 · Talk about washing, showering and the things in the bathroom.
Head & face
A1 · Name the parts of your face and head — and make their plurals.
Getting dressed
A1 · Put on and take off your clothes — and say hem, het or ze for them.
Colours & trying on
A1 · More colours, the changing room, and saying something fits or suits you.
Family & visitors
Uncles, aunts & cousins
A1 · Talk about your wider family and say whose is whose.
Children & toys
A1 · Talk about toys and games — and make words small with -je.
School things & subjects
A1 · Name school subjects and what's in your school bag.
Having visitors
A1 · Welcome guests at the door, ask them in and say goodbye.
Out and about
At the market
A1 · Buy fruit and veg by the kilo, pay with coins and notes, and get your change.
Numbers 13 to 1000
A1 · Count past twelve: teens, tens, twenty-one, hundreds and a thousand.
In the town centre
A1 · Name the sights in the centre and say where things are.
Short messages
A1 · Write and read quick texts: on my way, almost ready, see you later.
Fun & free time
Run, jump, climb
A1 · Verbs for moving — and saying what you can and can't do.
At the beach
A1 · Sand, sea and sun cream — and saying what you're going to do.
On the farm
A1 · Visit a farm: the animals, the farmer and saying what there is.
TV, radio & the paper
A1 · Talk about what you watch, listen to and read — and agree or disagree.
A2 · Elementary
The past
What did you do? (perfect)
A2 · The tense Dutch speakers use most for the past.
Telling a story (simple past)
A2 · Describe how things were.
Health
The body
A2 · Body parts and saying what hurts.
At the doctor's
A2 · Make an appointment and describe symptoms.
Work & opinions
Work
A2 · Jobs, colleagues — and why: sentences with omdat.
Opinions & comparing
A2 · Say what you think and compare things.
Home & plans
Home
A2 · Rooms, renting and moving house.
Plans & the future
A2 · Holidays, plans and what you’re going to do.
Free time
Hobbies
A2 · Say what you like doing — and what you like best.
Invitations & plans
A2 · Invite friends, accept, decline and agree on a time.
Travel
Travelling
A2 · Trains, planes, tickets and delays.
At the hotel
A2 · Book a room, check in and ask for things politely.
Getting things done
Groceries
A2 · Buy the right amount at the market, the cheese shop or the supermarket.
Cooking
A2 · Follow a recipe and tell someone what to do in the kitchen.
On the phone
A2 · Answer the phone, ask for someone and leave a message.
People
Describing people
A2 · Say what someone looks like and who they take after.
Personality
A2 · Describe what people are like — and say how much.
De or het?
Het-word patterns
A2 · Groups of nouns that are het by rule.
De-word patterns
A2 · Groups of nouns that are de by rule.
Common het-words (1)
A2 · Everyday het-words that follow no rule — and tricks to remember them.
Common het-words (2)
A2 · More frequent het-words — and how compound nouns get their article.
Life admin
At the town hall
A2 · Register at the gemeente, fill in forms and understand the instructions.
At the bank
A2 · Manage your account, pay, transfer money and talk about amounts.
Parcels & post
A2 · Send letters, track parcels and understand delivery messages.
Emergencies
A2 · Call for help, report an accident or a theft, and understand urgent instructions.
Going out
At the restaurant
A2 · Order a full meal, mention allergies and ask for something with or without.
Sport
A2 · Talk about the sports you do, matches and injuries.
Film & culture
A2 · Films, theatre and exhibitions — and saying what you thought of them.
Last weekend
A2 · Tell someone what you did at the weekend.
Living in the Netherlands
Public transport
A2 · Travel by bus, tram and train: check in, change and deal with delays.
Shopping online
A2 · Order online, track a delivery and send things back.
Repairs at home
A2 · Report what's broken and get it fixed — by yourself or by someone else.
School
A2 · Talk about your children's school, grades and parents' evenings.
Nature & relationships
Nature
A2 · Describe the landscape and say where you go for a walk.
Camping
A2 · Go camping, put up a tent and make suggestions.
Relationships
A2 · Talk about partners, love, marriage and your in-laws.
Life events
A2 · Talk about births, graduations, weddings and funerals — and say the right thing.
Health & wellbeing
At the pharmacy
A2 · Buy medicine, understand dosage instructions and ask about side effects.
At the dentist
A2 · Make a dentist appointment, explain what hurts and understand the treatment.
Stress & wellbeing
A2 · Talk about stress, worries and relaxing — and say when something is too much.
Healthy eating
A2 · Talk about what's in your food and how to eat more healthily.
Working life
Office life
A2 · Describe your working day, your team and your office routines.
Calling in sick
A2 · Call or email your manager to say you're ill — and to say you're back.
Time off
A2 · Ask for a day off, request leave and talk about dates and how long you'll be away.
Small talk with colleagues
A2 · Chat at the coffee machine, catch up after the weekend and join in at the borrel.
Around town
Neighbours
A2 · Meet the neighbours, borrow and lend things, and complain about noise politely.
Cycling
A2 · Get around by bike: directions, traffic rules and fixing a flat tyre.
At the library
A2 · Join the library, return and renew books — and avoid a fine.
At the hairdresser
A2 · Book a haircut and explain exactly how you want it.
Media & online
Social media
A2 · Post, share, like and follow — and talk about it in Dutch.
Staying safe online
A2 · Recognise scams and give clear warnings about links, codes and fake messages.
Music
A2 · Talk about songs, bands, instruments and gigs.
Books & reading
A2 · Talk about what you're reading and what you thought of it.
Home & garden
Moving house
A2 · Pack your boxes, organise the move and sort out the paperwork.
Furnishing a flat
A2 · Furnish your new place, assemble flat-pack furniture and say where things go.
In the garden
A2 · Talk about gardening: sowing, weeding, mowing and watering.
Cleaning & maintenance
A2 · Give the house a thorough clean: stains, windows, drains and bin bags.
On the road & in the air
The car & driving
A2 · Talk about driving, parking, filling up and traffic jams.
At the garage
A2 · Get your car serviced and repaired, and understand what the mechanic says.
At the airport
A2 · Check in, go through security and find your gate.
The weather forecast
A2 · Understand the weather forecast and talk about tomorrow's weather.
Out & about
Opening hours & queues
A2 · Ask politely when places open, wait your turn and take a number.
A museum visit
A2 · Visit a museum: tickets, tours, the cloakroom and the house rules.
Festivals & events
A2 · Talk about festivals, parades and fairs, and say what you think and hope.
A city trip
A2 · Plan a city break: sights, towers, squares and the best views.
Health & care
Sports injuries
A2 · Say what happened when you got hurt, and talk about treatment and recovery.
At the gym
A2 · Sign up at the gym, join a class and talk about fitness and sore muscles.
Test results & referrals
A2 · Follow up on a doctor's visit: results, referrals, specialists and waiting lists.
Babysitting
A2 · Look after children: bedtime, nappies, toys and friendly instructions.
Money & community
Money & saving
A2 · Talk about saving, spending, budgets and making ends meet.
Insurance basics
A2 · Understand the basic words for insurance and what you must or needn't have.
Volunteering
A2 · Talk about volunteer work and explain why you do it.
Learning Dutch
A2 · Talk about learning a language: lessons, mistakes, pronunciation and practice.
B1 · Intermediate
Grammar in context
The word “er”
B1 · One little word, four big jobs.
Relative clauses
B1 · Join sentences with die, dat, wat and waar.
The passive
B1 · Focus on what happens, not who does it.
Expressing yourself
Te + infinitive
B1 · Try to, forget to, in order to — and what you're busy doing.
Reflexive verbs
B1 · Verbs with zich: feeling, remembering, getting dressed.
If I were… (zou)
B1 · Hypotheses, wishes and polite advice.
Society & culture
Holidays & traditions
B1 · Koningsdag, Sinterklaas, Oud en Nieuw — and saying when things happen.
The environment
B1 · Climate, waste and energy — with the more…, the more… and both… and….
Job interview
B1 · Vacancies, CVs and interviews — and reporting what people say and ask.
The past perfect
B1 · Say what had already happened before something else in the past.
Communicating well
Little words: maar, even, toch, hoor
B1 · The small words that make Dutch sound friendly, natural and less blunt.
Linking words
B1 · Link sentences with daarom, bovendien, echter, kortom — and get the word order right.
Formal emails
B1 · Write to an employer, landlord or the council in the right register.
Meetings & discussions
B1 · Make proposals, give your view and agree or disagree politely.
News & society
The news
B1 · Read headlines and news reports — and say who said what with volgens.
Politics
B1 · Talk about elections, parties and government — and give your opinion formally.
Numbers & trends
B1 · Describe rising and falling numbers, percentages and fractions.
Education
B1 · Talk about studies, exams and internships — with the right prepositions.
Grammar workshop
Although & despite
B1 · Say “although”, “despite” and “even so” — and build a balanced argument.
Building words
B1 · Make new words with -heid, -ing, -baar, -loos, on-, -lijk, -er/-ster and -achtig.
If I had known…
B1 · Talk about what would have happened — and about regrets.
Verbs with fixed prepositions
B1 · Twelve more verbs that always come with the same preposition.
Speaking & writing well
Discussing & debating
B1 · Defend a point of view, admit a point and draw a conclusion.
Making a complaint
B1 · Complain about a faulty product or bad service — politely but firmly.
Negotiating
B1 · Make offers, set conditions and meet each other halfway.
Telling a story
B1 · Tell what happened to you — with suspense, a twist and an ending.
Grammar workshop 2
Verbs at the end
B1 · Put two or three verbs in the right order at the end of a sentence.
Someone, nothing, everything
B1 · Talk about someone, no one, everyone, somewhere and everywhere.
Iets moois: adjectives as nouns
B1 · Say “something nice”, “nothing new” and “the good thing is…”.
I had to / I could have
B1 · Say what you had to do, couldn't do — and should have done.
Grammar workshop 3
Participles as adjectives
B1 · Say “the stolen bike”, “a boiled egg” and “a laughing child”.
Where does niet go?
B1 · Put niet in the right place — at the end, or before the part it negates.
Nouns with fixed prepositions
B1 · Learn nouns that always come with their own preposition.
Formal vs informal Dutch
B1 · Recognise and use the formal words of letters, forms and official emails.
Housing & community
Buying a house
B1 · Talk about viewings, asking prices and mortgages, and give careful advice.
Problems with your rental
B1 · Report leaks and mould, talk about rent increases and know your rights as a tenant.
Neighbourhood & community
B1 · Talk about your neighbourhood, local initiatives and getting involved.
The municipality & local politics
B1 · Understand how your municipality works: the mayor, permits, objections and local plans.
Health, sport & food
The healthcare system
B1 · Understand Dutch health insurance, referrals and the eigen risico, and ask the right questions.
Mental health
B1 · Talk about how you feel, mental health problems and getting help.
Sports clubs & volunteering
B1 · Join a club, pay your membership fee and help out as a volunteer.
Food culture & diets
B1 · Talk about eating habits, vegetarian and vegan food, and intolerances.
Travel & culture
Travel stories
B1 · Tell others about a trip: where you went, what you saw and what went wrong.
Travel problems
B1 · Deal with cancelled flights, lost luggage and claims, and explain what happened.
Art & museums
B1 · Describe paintings and sculptures, and say what a work of art makes you think of.
Films & series
B1 · Review films and series: the story, the actors and whether it's worth watching.
Career & learning
Career development
B1 · Talk about your ambitions, skills and the next step in your career.
The performance review
B1 · Get through your annual review: feedback, points for improvement and asking for a raise.
Starting a business
B1 · Talk about going freelance: clients, invoices, VAT and the risks of working for yourself.
Learning as an adult
B1 · Talk about courses, retraining and learning Dutch, and say how you learn.
Modern life
Parenting & generations
B1 · Talk about raising children, childcare and how things were different in the past.
Technology & privacy
B1 · Talk about apps, personal data and protecting your privacy online.
Saving energy at home
B1 · Talk about your energy bill, insulation and simple ways to use less gas and electricity.
Giving a presentation
B1 · Structure a short presentation, guide your audience and handle questions.
B2 · Upper intermediate
Advanced grammar (B2)
Participle phrases
B2 · Read and write compact formal phrases like gezien de situatie and thuisgekomen.
Advanced passive
B2 · Use the passive with modals and in every tense, master the krijgen-passive, and know when to avoid it.
Conditions & purpose
B2 · Express conditions, purpose and proportion with tenzij, mits, zodat, opdat, naarmate and more.
Er in complex sentences
B2 · Combine several functions of er in one sentence and split er/daar/waar + preposition across long sentences.
Work, society & media (B2)
The economy
B2 · Talk about inflation, growth and unemployment, and explain causes and effects.
Science & technology
B2 · Discuss research, AI and innovation, and switch between verbal and nominal style.
Diplomatic language at work
B2 · Soften criticism, make suggestions and give feedback tactfully.
Media & misinformation
B2 · Judge sources, spot misleading news and report what others claim without taking sides.
Housing & society (B2)
The housing market
B2 · Discuss house prices, renting and the housing shortage, and say what can or can't be done with zijn + te.
Urban planning
B2 · Talk about new neighbourhoods, building plans and public consultation, and describe what is planned or expected.
Migration & integration
B2 · Talk factually about migration, asylum and civic integration, using advanced relative clauses.
An ageing population
B2 · Discuss life expectancy, pensions and care for the elderly, and express degree and consequence with zo … dat and te … om te.
Working life (B2)
The labour market
B2 · Discuss staff shortages, contracts and retraining, and link ideas with door, zonder and in plaats van + te.
Writing a motivation letter
B2 · Write a convincing motivation letter with formal phrases and varied word order.
Negotiating your salary
B2 · Discuss pay and employment conditions, and set conditions with mocht, stel dat and in ruil voor.
Resolving conflicts
B2 · Talk through disagreements at work or at home, and report what others said with reported speech.
Money, energy & water (B2)
Banking & personal finance
B2 · Talk about loans, savings and debt, and place separable verbs correctly in long verb clusters.
Consumer rights
B2 · Understand your basic rights as a consumer and talk about obligations with dienen te, hoeven and verplicht zijn.
The energy transition
B2 · Discuss emissions, renewable energy and the power grid, and talk about targets with the future perfect.
Living with water
B2 · Talk about dikes, polders and climate adaptation in the Netherlands, and read formal phrases like de te nemen maatregelen.
Technology, health & justice (B2)
AI in the workplace
B2 · Discuss automation, chatbots and the future of work, and express how likely something is with modal verbs.
Public health
B2 · Discuss prevention, vaccination and health insurance, and understand instructions and advice in public texts.
Social media & democracy
B2 · Discuss polarisation, fake profiles and free speech online, and link events in time with nu, zodra and totdat.
The justice system
B2 · Understand the basics of Dutch courts and criminal cases, and say who had something done with laten.
Culture, sport & communication (B2)
Tourism & its effects
B2 · Discuss mass tourism, holiday rentals and liveability, and describe trends with steeds and hoe … hoe.
Sport & society
B2 · Discuss elite and grassroots sport, sponsorship and fan behaviour, using adjectives with fixed prepositions.
Reviewing films & art
B2 · Write and discuss reviews of films, books and exhibitions with precise degree words.
Formal phone calls
B2 · Make and take formal phone calls: introduce yourself, get put through, leave a message and sound polite.
Education & innovation (B2)
Choosing a secondary school
B2 · Talk about school advice, the move to secondary school and fair chances in education, using complex relative clauses.
Student life
B2 · Talk about student grants, credits, resits and finding a room, using verbs with fixed prepositions together with er and waar.
Research & innovation
B2 · Talk about research funding, PhDs, patents and new discoveries, using the passive with modal verbs.
Start-ups & entrepreneurship
B2 · Talk about founding and growing a company, investors and failure, and discuss scenarios with mocht, stel dat and zou … hebben.
Work & business today (B2)
Marketing & branding
B2 · Talk about brands, campaigns and target groups, and write compact business Dutch with nominalisation.
The gig economy
B2 · Discuss platform work, freelancers and job security, and weigh up pros and cons with connectors of contrast.
Workplace wellbeing & burnout
B2 · Talk about pressure at work, sick leave and returning to work, and place several adverbials in the right order.
Remote & hybrid work
B2 · Talk about working from home, office days and staying connected, and handle verb clusters with modals and laten.
Mobility & nature (B2)
Transport & mobility policy
B2 · Discuss traffic, road pricing, shared cars and cycle highways, and compare policy options precisely.
Aviation & sustainable travel
B2 · Talk about flying, night trains and your travel footprint, and give advice or look back with zou moeten and had moeten.
Food waste
B2 · Talk about leftovers, best-before dates and wasted food, and use er in its different roles.
Biodiversity & nature conservation
B2 · Talk about endangered species, habitats and nature management, and read compact participle phrases before nouns.
Society, news & history (B2)
Extreme weather
B2 · Talk about heatwaves, cloudbursts and storm damage, and explain causes and consequences precisely.
Local news & journalism
B2 · Talk about local reporters, sources and press freedom, and report what people said, asked and allegedly did.
European Union institutions
B2 · Understand how the EU makes laws — Commission, Parliament and Council — and use the fixed prepositions of institutional language.
Dutch history in context
B2 · Talk about key moments in Dutch history — from the Revolt to the post-war reconstruction — and narrate the past with the right tenses and time conjunctions.
Media, stage & service (B2)
Podcasts & new media
B2 · Talk about podcasts, content creators, subscribers and paywalls, and link ideas with om, zonder, door and in plaats van + te.
Theatre & performing arts
B2 · Talk about plays, premières, cabaret and touring companies, and react with adjectives that take fixed prepositions.
Customer service (company side)
B2 · Handle customer questions and complaints professionally: apologise, report what has been done and offer compensation.
Writing a formal request
B2 · Write a formal request to an organisation — for a deferral, an exemption or an authorisation — with the right formal prepositional phrases.
C1 · Advanced
Style & register (C1)
Formal written Dutch
C1 · Write like an official letter or policy document: nominal style, formal connectors and an impersonal tone.
Collocations
C1 · Use the verb that Dutch actually combines with a noun: een beslissing treffen, rekening houden met.
Spoken vs written Dutch
C1 · Recognise colloquial Dutch — effe, ie, ik had zoiets van — and know when to switch to written forms.
Figurative language in the news
C1 · Understand the metaphors journalists and politicians use every day: aan de bel trekken, de knoop doorhakken…
Argument & nuance (C1)
Advanced connectors
C1 · Link ideas like an educated writer: desalniettemin, ofschoon, immers, althans, hetzij … hetzij.
Hedging & nuance
C1 · Soften and qualify your claims: wellicht, vermoedelijk, naar verluidt, in zekere zin.
Rebuttal & persuasion
C1 · Concede a point gracefully, then counter it: weliswaar…, maar…; dat neemt niet weg dat…
Academic Dutch
C1 · Write and read research texts: hypotheses, findings, sources — and the impersonal style that goes with them.
Meetings & leadership (C1)
Chairing a meeting
C1 · Open, steer and close a formal meeting: het woord geven, ter stemming brengen, de rondvraag.
Minutes & reports
C1 · Write and read Dutch notulen: the present-tense report, neutral reporting verbs and the action list.
Managing a team
C1 · Lead people in Dutch: delegate, steer, build support and hold people to account.
Giving & receiving criticism
C1 · Deliver a hard message clearly — and respond to criticism without getting defensive.
Writing with purpose (C1)
Writing an opinion piece
C1 · Write a punchy opinion piece: a clear stance, emphatic sentence patterns and a call to action.
Writing a policy memo
C1 · Set out options, weigh them and make a recommendation in the style of a beleidsnotitie.
Writing an abstract
C1 · Summarise research in 200 words — aim, method, results, conclusion — with the right tenses and hier-words.
Referencing & paraphrasing
C1 · Report other authors fairly: choose the right reporting verb, paraphrase and acknowledge your sources.
Speaking in public (C1)
Persuasive speeches
C1 · Move an audience: address them formally, use rhetorical patterns and end with a call to action.
Interviews & the media
C1 · Handle a journalist's questions: deflect, refuse to speculate and stay on message.
Academic presentations
C1 · Guide an audience through a talk: announce, move on, refer to slides and handle questions.
Toasts, tributes & condolences
C1 · Find the right words for a toast, a farewell speech or a letter of condolence.
Ideas & society (C1)
Debating ethical questions
C1 · Discuss moral dilemmas even-handedly: weigh values, present several sides and ask how far something is acceptable.
Philosophy basics
C1 · Talk about thinking itself — reason, consciousness, free will — and build abstract nouns.
Reviewing art & literature
C1 · Write and read reviews: judge a novel, film or exhibition with nuanced praise and criticism.
Euphemism & political language
C1 · See through spin: euphemisms, agentless passives, vague promises and framing.
Negotiating & agreements (C1)
Negotiation tactics
C1 · Negotiate strategically: open high, trade concessions, break a deadlock and guard your bottom line.
Intercultural communication
C1 · Discuss differences in directness, hierarchy and etiquette — without falling into stereotypes.
Escalating a complaint
C1 · When a complaint gets nowhere: set a deadline, announce next steps and turn to an ombudsman or disputes committee.
Contracts & agreements
C1 · Read the language of contracts and terms and conditions: parties, clauses, duration and notice.
Strategy & projects (C1)
Strategy & long-term planning
C1 · Talk about vision, priorities and long-term goals — and announce whole clauses with er + preposition.
Change management
C1 · Lead people through reorganisations and new ways of working — and master verbs whose prefix may or may not split off.
Project management
C1 · Plan phases, milestones and deliverables, report delays — and look back from a deadline with the future perfect.
Risk & uncertainty
C1 · Assess risks, plan for the worst and talk about what might go wrong — with mocht, ingeval and voor het geval dat.
Numbers, evidence & funding (C1)
Arguing with data
C1 · Back up an argument with figures: rises and falls, percentages and percentage points, comparisons and approximations.
Reading research critically
C1 · Question a study: correlation or cause, sample, bias and margin of error — and choose verbs that claim exactly as much as the data allow.
Financial news
C1 · Follow the markets in the news: share prices, investors, profit warnings and takeovers — with the right auxiliary for verbs of rising and falling.
Writing a funding proposal
C1 · Write a convincing grant application: aims, intended outcomes, feasibility and added value — with formal ways of expressing purpose.
Policy debates (C1)
Education policy
C1 · Discuss teacher shortages, equal opportunities and early selection — and balance arguments with paired conjunctions.
Climate policy & trade-offs
C1 · Weigh up carbon pricing, fairness and who pays — and concede a point with hoe … ook, al … nog zo and ook al.
Technology ethics & AI regulation
C1 · Debate how to regulate algorithms and AI: explainability, liability and supervision — and say what can or can't be done with -baar and zijn + te.
Media bias & framing
C1 · Analyse how word choice frames a story: loaded labels, distancing words like zogenaamd and scare quotes.
Culture & criticism (C1)
Cultural heritage & museums
C1 · Talk about collections, restoration, loans and looted art — and pack information before the noun in formal descriptions.
Architecture criticism
C1 · Judge buildings and urban spaces: facades, style, repurposing and how a building fits its surroundings — with evaluative adjective suffixes.
Music criticism
C1 · Review a concert or album precisely: performance, sound, interplay and audience — and grade adjectives with -end adverbs.
Literature & the canon
C1 · Discuss classics, reading lists and forgotten writers — and classify works with gelden als, beschouwen als, rekenen tot and uitgroeien tot.
Tact & formality (C1)
Crisis communication
C1 · Speak for an organisation when things go wrong: acknowledge, apologise, take responsibility and keep people informed.
Diplomatic refusals
C1 · Say no without burning bridges: decline invitations, offers and requests with regret, nuance and an alternative.
Writing a reference letter
C1 · Recommend a student or colleague convincingly: specific qualities, graded praise and the right formal phrases.
Formal prepositional expressions
C1 · Write compact, formal Dutch with fixed prepositional groups such as in het licht van, ten gevolge van and op grond van.
C2 · Mastery
Mastery (C2)
Subjunctive & archaic forms
C2 · Recognise and use the fossilised subjunctive and genitive forms that still live in modern Dutch.
Near-synonyms
C2 · Choose precisely between words that look interchangeable but aren't.
Wordplay & ambiguity
C2 · Spot double meanings, puns and ambiguous sentences — and see how context decides.
Legal & administrative Dutch
C2 · Read official letters and decisions: the prepositions, formulas and key terms.
Language & culture (C2)
Literary style
C2 · Read literary Dutch: elevated vocabulary, stylistic word order and long sentences.
Proverbs in real use
C2 · Understand proverbs the way native speakers actually use them: cut short, alluded to and twisted.
Regional variation
C2 · Go beyond accents: Belgian vocabulary, gij/ge, verb order, dialects and regional languages.
Humour, irony & understatement
C2 · Decode Dutch understatement, litotes and irony — and know when praise is really praise.
Literature & rhetoric (C2)
Poetry & rhythm
C2 · Talk about Dutch poetry like a reader: metre, rhyme, rhyme schemes, the sonnet and poetic licence.
Classics of Dutch literature
C2 · Know the canon from Reynaert to Reve and discuss novels, plays and authors in precise literary Dutch.
Rhetorical devices
C2 · Name and use the stylistic devices of speeches, columns and literature — from metaphor to the drieslag.
Eulogies & speeches
C2 · Give a speech at a funeral, jubilee or wedding: fixed openings, tactful euphemisms, signposting and the toast.
Translation & borrowing (C2)
Translation pitfalls NL ↔ EN
C2 · Avoid the tense, aspect and particle traps that even advanced translators fall into.
False friends, advanced
C2 · Master the Latin and French-looking words whose Dutch meaning has drifted away from the English one.
Loanwords: French, German, English
C2 · See how Dutch absorbs foreign words — and how it conjugates, spells and genders them.
Bargoens & Yiddish loans
C2 · Recognise the old cant and Yiddish words that live on in informal Dutch, especially in Amsterdam.
Spelling, media & street language (C2)
Spelling debates
C2 · Get the famously tricky spellings right: the tussen-n, hyphens and trema, English compounds and dt.
Headline Dutch
C2 · Decode compressed newspaper headlines: dropped articles, the headline present, bare participles and quote colons.
The language of advertising
C2 · See through ad copy: je-address, small print, weasel words, and slogans that became proverbs.
Youth language & street slang
C2 · Understand straattaal and chat abbreviations — and know why you probably shouldn't use them yourself.
Idiom & heritage (C2)
Idioms from the sea
C2 · Speak like a seafaring nation: idioms of rudders, sails, quays and cliffs — with the right auxiliary.
Idioms from the Bible & history
C2 · Use the biblical and historical idioms that run through Dutch — and avoid their English false friends.
Proverbs & anti-proverbs
C2 · Learn the old-fashioned grammar of proverbs — and how columnists, Loesje and comedians twist them.
“Untranslatable” Dutch words
C2 · Use the Dutch words English lacks — uitwaaien, gunnen, gedogen, natafelen — and the prefixes behind them.
Between the lines (C2)
Stacked particles
C2 · Master combinations like maar even, eens even, toch maar and nou eenmaal — the fine-tuning of native speech.
Sarcasm & cynicism
C2 · Recognise and produce biting Dutch sarcasm: dismissive replies, mock surprise and the stand-alone alsof-clause.
Implicit meaning & politeness
C2 · Read between the lines of “direct” Dutch: soft refusals, polite past tense, and what “we nemen het mee” really means.
Dutch through the ages & Afrikaans
C2 · Trace Dutch from Old Dutch to the Taalunie, and see how its daughter language Afrikaans developed.
Essays, columns & satire (C2)
The essay
C2 · Write like an essayist: fronted subject clauses, generic wie-clauses, anticipated objections and controlled digressions.
The column & causerie
C2 · Master the columnist's toolkit: verb-first anecdotes, the historic present, mock formality and the final twist.
Satire & parody
C2 · See how satire works in Dutch: register clash, mock admiration, scare quotes and the verbs of mockery.
Weather & nature writing
C2 · Describe Dutch skies and landscapes with precision: grades of rain, light, mist and frost, and the texture of present participles.
Translating, mediating & precision (C2)
Subtitling & compression
C2 · Learn how subtitlers condense speech: what to drop, which short forms to choose, and how not to lose the tone.
Interpreting
C2 · Know the modes of interpreting and the conventions interpreters follow, from the booth to the courtroom.
Diplomatic language
C2 · Read between the lines of communiqués: what “openhartig” really means, and how protest escalates in diplomatic Dutch.
Ambiguity in contracts & law
C2 · Spot and avoid ambiguity in legal Dutch: exhaustive lists, and/or, modifier scope, and how Dutch courts interpret contracts.
Art, music & taste (C2)
Golden Age painting
C2 · Talk about seventeenth-century Dutch painting like a museum guide: genres, techniques and the careful language of attribution.
Music & performance
C2 · Talk about concerts like an insider: scores, keys and tuning, and the subtle differences between spelen, bespelen, uitvoeren and optreden.
Food writing
C2 · Read menus and write about food like a critic: cooking participles, texture words and the infinitive style of recipes.
Wine & beer tasting
C2 · Describe what's in the glass with precision: nose, palate and finish, -ig adjectives and the small words for small amounts.
Parliament, sport & society (C2)
The Tweede Kamer
C2 · Follow a debate in the Tweede Kamer: addressing via the chair, the third person, motions, amendments and the minister's promises.
Sports commentary
C2 · Follow and imitate live football commentary: verbless bursts, the present tense, scores as nouns and the geography of the pitch.
Gender in language
C2 · Understand the Dutch debate on gender and language: pronouns for de-words, feminine job titles, neutral address and non-binary pronouns.
Names & naming customs
C2 · Get Dutch names right: capitalising van and de, call names versus official names, naming after grandparents and the history of surnames.
Dutch worldwide & new words (C2)
Suriname & Surinamese Dutch
C2 · Understand the place of Dutch in multilingual Suriname, Surinamese Dutch as a variety in its own right, and the words it gave the Netherlands.
Dutch in the Caribbean
C2 · Know how the Kingdom fits together, where Papiamento and English dominate, and how to talk about the islands and their inhabitants correctly.
Sound words & sound symbolism
C2 · Hear the sounds in Dutch words: imitative verbs, frequentatives in -elen and -eren, and the sound symbolism of vowels and consonant clusters.
Neologisms & new coinages
C2 · See how Dutch makes new words: endless compounds, productive prefixes, Dutch-conjugated English verbs, and which coinages survive.
Grammar guides
Asking questions in Dutch: word order, question words and more
Learn how to ask questions in Dutch, with yes/no questions, all the question words, waar...vandaan, tag questions like toch and hè, and indirect questions.
Capital letters in Dutch, when to use them and when not
Dutch capital letters explained. Names, van and de in surnames, countries and languages, days and months, holidays, IJ, 's avonds and u.
Colours in Dutch: names, adjective endings and idioms
Learn the colours in Dutch, when they take -e (rood, rode), light and dark shades, colour nouns with het, and colourful idioms like een blauwtje lopen.
Days of the week and months in Dutch (plus dates and seasons)
Dutch days of the week, months and seasons, parts of the day, the right prepositions, how to say dates, and everyday expressions like overmorgen.
De or het? How to choose the right Dutch article
De or het? Learn the reliable rules, useful patterns and honest exceptions for choosing the right Dutch article, plus how it affects die/dat and deze/dit.
Deze, die, dit, dat: Dutch demonstratives explained
Learn when to use deze, die, dit and dat in Dutch, how they work as pronouns, why Dutch says 'Dit zijn mijn kinderen', plus zo'n and zulke.