Hitting the Wall

So, it would seem that language-wise, I've hit a wall.  I've been hideously busy lately.  I swear, May is busier than the Christmas season!  So, with all of the public holidays, the school holidays and weekends away, my Dutch has stopped improving.

Last week was my first week back at school after about three weeks break, and my original class seems to have disappeared!  They are all either Geslaagd or have changed their schedules, or perhaps have just stopped turning up!  My class has also merged with another, so my nice cosy class with 10 people has jumped to 24!  I really enjoyed the intimacy of my old group - there was lots of one on one with the teacher and each other.  Now we are struggling to fit everyone in the room.  Don't get me wrong, the new group is also lovely - most of the students are people that were in my introductory classes way back at the beginning of this process, so I know them all.  I just miss my small group.



Because I've hit a wall and need to get over it, the obvious solution is practice practice practice!  It's just difficult to find the time and motivation right now.  Next week I'm back into the full swing of the classes, but that's only until we go on summer holidays in July.  I'm really hoping that I can keep the motivation going through the summer, but I feel the year slipping between my fingers in between preparing for the impending wedding, visiting abroad, having visitors from abroad, planning a wedding celebration here later in the year, going to concerts and festivals, and seemingly endless family parties and commitments!  Not to mention International Almere events that are potentially every week.  At least the upside is that I have no time to be lonely or miss living in Australia!

I did have a nice 'Up Yours' moment a couple of weeks ago at a family party.  I was managing ok talking in Dutch to a couple of elderly relatives (struggling a bit, but getting my point across) when Maarten piped up and mentioned that we rarely speak Dutch at home.  Cue the usual finger wagging and "You must talk Dutch" from one of the ladies.  Instead of staring gobsmacked with my mouth hanging open as I would usually do, I said politely that I work 40 hours and go to school two nights per week, so I and I do not want to have to work at home too, and Dutch is hard work for me.  Shut her right up.  I think the finger wagging seems to stem partly from ignorance.  I get the impression that for a lot of Dutch people, learning another language is just as easy as taking up a new hobby and if someone who is trying to learn their language but struggling is not doing enough or making a reasonable effort (I don't get this impression from everyone, of course!  I have a LOT of support from family and friends and I'm extraordinarily grateful).


How have you coped when you hit the proverbial language wall?  How do you manage to find the motivation again?  Or are you just always keeping it together and practicing everywhere you go?  Do you ever experience the finger wagging, or is it just me?

In the near future I have loads to discuss, more on the Exemption Test (congratulations to Connie for passing with flying colours!!), plus more bits on the course books and how my portfolio is going (in the sense of not at all).  I just have to find the time to fit it all in!!

Nieuwe Buren - the Language Course

I thought it would be useful to give a bit of an overview of the course books I'm using in the Inburgering Curses. That way, you will at least know what course books will be studied and what level they are at. Each week we have two separate course book, Nieuwe Buren and Welkom in Nederland. Today I'll talk a bit about my Nieuwe Buren (NB).

Now, first of all, I must note that the NB book that I'm using is aimed at A2 level learning, so is book 1.2. I cannot comment on any of the other books and the different levels, but I'm guessing that the same course with different levels are used from beginners through to NT2 and possibly beyond.

Depending on when you join the class it is all very random as to where you are in the course work. I was very lucky in that I wasn't alone starting my classes, so my teacher started the book from the beginning. This means that some of the older class members are now repeating sections of the course, which does not seem to be particularly beneficial for them. It also means that latecomers will start the course half way through the book. I don't believe that the language is any more advanced the further you go through the book, only the vocabulary is extended. Meaning, you can start at chapter 9, complete the book and start again without it being too challenging or simple. If I were in charge (this is one of my great fantasies), I would set the courses up more like a traditional school with separate intakes so the students are all at one level, but alas I'm just a student and have no influence on such things.

We are just completing the first chapter of the of the book, called Naar de Bank. The chapter covers topics like making a telephone appointment to have a household item repaired, reading the Gouden Gids (yellow pages), reacting to an invitation, offering help to a friend or colleague, making an appointment with the bank, using the ATM, writing a greeting card, and filling in an official form.

Each of the above sub topics is covered in one lesson, but sometimes there are more than one topics covered. As a rule, the teacher will dictate the key words from the topic and we will check our spelling, then we will take turns reading out loud and answering questions as a group. There is also some writing, where we will have to fill a correct word in a sentence. For example, Ik ______ je veel plezier, becomes Ik wens je veel plezier. We also have to choose a situation where a particular sentence may be used. For example: Van harte gefeliciteerd can be used to wish someone happy birthday, but not if they are sick, or as a condolence. One type situation that I found most strange was that it is appropriate to use Tot ziens as a form of condolence (when writing a card or offering your condolences in person). I discussed this with Maarten who was horrified and strongly disagrees that one should ever use that term in such a situation. Strange indeed.

We don't always stick 100 percent to the course book either. For example, last week we were learning how to write greeting cards, and were given four examples to complete - a get well soon card, a happy new year card, a condolence card, and a new baby card. We had to use appropriate language and tone as well as create a sentence with the correct grammar. Writing is by far my biggest challenge. Not the spelling, I have a good grasp on the spelling rules there, but the verbs are a bit difficult, and my vocabulary level is still very low (in comparison to others in the class). My verb creation is getting much better very quickly I must say, I just have to work on the vocabulary. What I'm also finding is that my English grammar is becoming worse. For such a stickler to the rules, I found myself making not one but TWO there/their/they're mistakes in the last week! It's one of my pet hates, and I didn't notice it until after I'd hit submit.

As I go further through the course book I'll post regular updates. So far the course has been great for my language level, although the tone of it does tend to lean towards the "You must have lived in a cave before coming here" end of the spectrum. it seems to assume that common sense is non-existent in the students following the course. Having said that, it's no where near as preachy as the Welkom in Nederland book, which I'll get to in coming days.

What course are you following? Are you finding it beneficial? Would love to hear your thoughts on the coursework we have to follow to become integrated into Dutch society.

The First Hurdle is the Highest - Portfolio Underway!

My homework for this last week was to go to job agency and get at least one of my portfolio forms completed. It was something that I was really tempted to put off until this very morning when Maarten asked me to call into Tempo-Team on my way to work and drop off his keys (he used to work there and still hadn’t handed back his keys – let’s hope they changed the alarm code by now).

So, there was no way out of it. To not get the form signed would be the height of laziness and just plain ridiculous.

So off I went. It was really nice walking into Tempo Team actually. Maarten finished working there about a month ago, and I used to visit him regularly and quite like his colleagues. Today it was almost like I was popping in to visit my own friends. I dropped off the key, made some small talk, then dropped the bombshell – can someone help me with my inburgering?? No problem. I sat down with Eloi (Maarten’s main partner in crime) and I actually surprised myself with my ability to communicate! Eloi printed out a job that he has with ABN Amro and we discussed the hours per week, the salary, who I would be working with (if it wasn’t a purely hypothetical situation) etc. It was really very simple and I was comfortable. We talked about my current job and how I have just received a new permanent contract (yay for me!). Eloi was very happy, because he was the consultant who initially placed me with my company.

I walked out of the office with a spring in my step and feeling really good about myself. I went straight around the corner to pick up a bottle of contact lens solution and had no hesitation speaking with the woman behind the counter (although, I did only ask for the bottle of solution!) and have been in a great mood all day. Since then I’ve managed to complete four other portions of the portfolio, so am effectively already a quarter of the way through it.

The first hurdle most definitely is the highest. Although, I’ll have to keep you posted on how things go when I have to report my bike as being stolen to the police..!