Study plan

C1 · Advanced Dutch study plan

All 48 C1 lessons in order, with reading texts and grammar exercises after each unit.

Unit 1 · Style & register (C1)

Formal written Dutch — Write like an official letter or policy document: nominal style, formal connectors and an impersonal tone.
Collocations — Use the verb that Dutch actually combines with a noun: een beslissing treffen, rekening houden met.
Spoken vs written Dutch — Recognise colloquial Dutch — effe, ie, ik had zoiets van — and know when to switch to written forms.
Figurative language in the news — Understand the metaphors journalists and politicians use every day: aan de bel trekken, de knoop doorhakken…

Advanced connectors — Link ideas like an educated writer: desalniettemin, ofschoon, immers, althans, hetzij … hetzij.
Hedging & nuance — Soften and qualify your claims: wellicht, vermoedelijk, naar verluidt, in zekere zin.
Rebuttal & persuasion — Concede a point gracefully, then counter it: weliswaar…, maar…; dat neemt niet weg dat…
Academic Dutch — Write and read research texts: hypotheses, findings, sources — and the impersonal style that goes with them.

Chairing a meeting — Open, steer and close a formal meeting: het woord geven, ter stemming brengen, de rondvraag.
Minutes & reports — Write and read Dutch notulen: the present-tense report, neutral reporting verbs and the action list.
Managing a team — Lead people in Dutch: delegate, steer, build support and hold people to account.
Giving & receiving criticism — Deliver a hard message clearly — and respond to criticism without getting defensive.

Writing an opinion piece — Write a punchy opinion piece: a clear stance, emphatic sentence patterns and a call to action.
Writing a policy memo — Set out options, weigh them and make a recommendation in the style of a beleidsnotitie.
Writing an abstract — Summarise research in 200 words — aim, method, results, conclusion — with the right tenses and hier-words.
Referencing & paraphrasing — Report other authors fairly: choose the right reporting verb, paraphrase and acknowledge your sources.

Persuasive speeches — Move an audience: address them formally, use rhetorical patterns and end with a call to action.
Interviews & the media — Handle a journalist's questions: deflect, refuse to speculate and stay on message.
Academic presentations — Guide an audience through a talk: announce, move on, refer to slides and handle questions.
Toasts, tributes & condolences — Find the right words for a toast, a farewell speech or a letter of condolence.

Debating ethical questions — Discuss moral dilemmas even-handedly: weigh values, present several sides and ask how far something is acceptable.
Philosophy basics — Talk about thinking itself — reason, consciousness, free will — and build abstract nouns.
Reviewing art & literature — Write and read reviews: judge a novel, film or exhibition with nuanced praise and criticism.
Euphemism & political language — See through spin: euphemisms, agentless passives, vague promises and framing.

Negotiation tactics — Negotiate strategically: open high, trade concessions, break a deadlock and guard your bottom line.
Intercultural communication — Discuss differences in directness, hierarchy and etiquette — without falling into stereotypes.
Escalating a complaint — When a complaint gets nowhere: set a deadline, announce next steps and turn to an ombudsman or disputes committee.
Contracts & agreements — Read the language of contracts and terms and conditions: parties, clauses, duration and notice.

Strategy & long-term planning — Talk about vision, priorities and long-term goals — and announce whole clauses with er + preposition.
Change management — Lead people through reorganisations and new ways of working — and master verbs whose prefix may or may not split off.
Project management — Plan phases, milestones and deliverables, report delays — and look back from a deadline with the future perfect.
Risk & uncertainty — Assess risks, plan for the worst and talk about what might go wrong — with mocht, ingeval and voor het geval dat.

Arguing with data — Back up an argument with figures: rises and falls, percentages and percentage points, comparisons and approximations.
Reading research critically — 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 — 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 — Write a convincing grant application: aims, intended outcomes, feasibility and added value — with formal ways of expressing purpose.

Education policy — Discuss teacher shortages, equal opportunities and early selection — and balance arguments with paired conjunctions.
Climate policy & trade-offs — 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 — 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 — Analyse how word choice frames a story: loaded labels, distancing words like zogenaamd and scare quotes.

Cultural heritage & museums — Talk about collections, restoration, loans and looted art — and pack information before the noun in formal descriptions.
Architecture criticism — Judge buildings and urban spaces: facades, style, repurposing and how a building fits its surroundings — with evaluative adjective suffixes.
Music criticism — Review a concert or album precisely: performance, sound, interplay and audience — and grade adjectives with -end adverbs.
Literature & the canon — Discuss classics, reading lists and forgotten writers — and classify works with gelden als, beschouwen als, rekenen tot and uitgroeien tot.

Crisis communication — Speak for an organisation when things go wrong: acknowledge, apologise, take responsibility and keep people informed.
Diplomatic refusals — Say no without burning bridges: decline invitations, offers and requests with regret, nuance and an alternative.
Writing a reference letter — Recommend a student or colleague convincingly: specific qualities, graded praise and the right formal phrases.
Formal prepositional expressions — Write compact, formal Dutch with fixed prepositional groups such as in het licht van, ten gevolge van and op grond van.