Short bio

I try to stay curious in everything I do, and I always aim to learn something. How can you look at something from various perspectives? Something that might be strange in one context could be normal in a different situation. And how do you get people to connect despite their differences? All these aspects come together nicely in my professional life. In addition to my role as director of the Het Begint met Taal Foundation, I also work as a language coaching adviser and I teach Dutch to second language learners.

My story

When I think about my first learning experiences, I think about the stories I heard as a child – stories told by people I found interesting, like my family. I also learned a lot at school, of course, but in conversations you get to actively look for valuable lessons yourself. And because those lessons are informed by so much more lived experience, they tend to stick.

Everyone is on their own learning journey

People’s learning goals will vary depending on where they are on their learning journey. But everyone needs to feel good. If you want to learn, you need to feel safe and be in the right headspace. All these things go hand in hand. We may be a little more mindful of this with children, but it’s exactly the same for adults. People tend to focus on the ‘big’ end result, but it’s often the small steps that matter.

The Het Begint met Taal Foundation aims to promote language coaching in the Netherlands, and to make it more effective. We get volunteers and newcomers to meet and interact with each other. Traditional language lessons are also important, but language coaching offers something different. It’s about contact between equals, where both parties learn something. The people who receive coaching often end up improving their language skills while also learning more about Dutch society, which helps them feel more confident. If you ask volunteers what they get out of it, they’ll often tell you it gives them a sense of fulfilment. And it offers them the opportunity to hone their coaching skills.

All our language coaching programmes are tailor-made. For every individual and group programme, we discuss what our approach will be, without setting anything in stone. By properly identifying the learning goals beforehand, you can use them to evaluate the programme along the way. Different people can have very different learning goals. For some, it’s being able to have a conversation independently. Others might want to learn conversational skills that will help them at work. Our volunteers have more than enough experience to meet the various needs newcomers might have.

You can support volunteer language coaches by offering all kinds of tools, courses, webinars and learning materials. But in the end, it’s up to them to find out what someone wants to learn, and to find an approach that fits their specific goals. It’s also important to keep things simple and accessible.

If you want to participate in Dutch society, you need to speak Dutch. Formal education can be a powerful tool for language learners, but you also need a social network. Language coaching can serve as a kind of bridge that provides access to a network. It’s not the only way, but it’s a first step. Ultimately, we’re all social creatures, and we enjoy interacting with others.

Language coaching is a really great way to help people connect, whether it’s people who have just arrived here or people who have been here for some time.

It’s my hope that everyone who’s interested in getting language coaching can get access to it – especially newcomers. Or that they can benefit from some other form of contact. It would be amazing if we could make that happen.

At Het Begint met Taal, we connect and implement all the available knowledge about language coaching at the national level. But why not do the same thing at the European level? That’s why I’m an ambassador for EPALE.

Stay true to yourself

When it comes to language instruction and coaching, it’s important to keep in mind the people you learned the most from in life. Let them be your biggest sources of inspiration as a teacher.

You can also look at language instruction and coaching from an academic perspective, but remember to stay true to yourself. Who were your most inspiring teachers?

I myself learned the most from people I was close to. In the end, it all comes down to human contact, and the people whose encouragement gave you the confidence you needed – who said things like “you can do it” or “keep at it, you’re almost there”. Learning about yourself is often more important than any specific skill you acquire.

Who inspired you? Think about what made them so inspiring and put that at the centre of your own teaching if you want to motivate and encourage others. That’s how you yourself can become a source of inspiration.