Today Marco and I went to Paagman bookstore in The Hague to pick up the material for my class next week. Eight days from now!
There actually ended up being three books to pick up — the tekstboek and woordenlijst (textbook and word list) came together. Those are the yellow books. I didn’t expected a word list book. The white book is the workbook that you pay for separately.
Since I am in the A2 level course, the class won’t be focusing on the first set of chapters. I don’t remember where the A2 class starts – maybe chapter 5 or so.
The books are printed on a thicker paper with a lot of color splashed throughout. The page above is a shopping scenario where one person is asking another what their size is. On the bottom of the page, you have various sales flyers.
So my plan for the next week is to do the work for the first set of chapters to make sure I am caught up to where the A2 class will begin. Should be interesting!
Life in the Hague 
Looks cool.. have fun doing the first few chapters..
But I don’t have a train to study on! 😉
True.. I guess a couch will have to do? *smile*
How much did the language classes cost ? Just curious as I plan to move there later this year….. I have began working with Rosetta Stone. Really enjoy your blog 🙂
This A2 class cost about 300 euros, or roughly 350-360 with the books. There is another A2 class that is about 20 euros more expensive due to a smaller class size (maximum 15 versus maximum 20 in mine), but I didn’t want a morning class.
The class I am taking is at Volksuniversiteit in the Hague. http://www5.volksuniversiteit.nl/denhaag/detail_page.phtml?&publish=&text10=dutch_courses&username=vua_guest&password=9999&groups=VUDENHAAG
The link above takes you to the beginners level, A1. Note that the page in English tends to have the wrong class dates/times listed, but it is correct in the Dutch version.
Another option is Direct Dutch in the Hague (http://www.directdutch.com/) but the timing of the courses didn’t work out for me. I would have to wait until mid March for what I wanted to take. They also tend to be slightly more expensive (for example 6 weeks for 20 hours, versus 14 weeks for 45ish hours at the Volksuniversiteit), but they do win in class size. Their max class size is closer to 8 or so.
So it really depends on what you specifically need. I hope this helps a bit. 🙂
Hi! Do you remember where did the classes started at in A2? What was supposedly already covered? i am doing an oral language test Wednesday and since A1 is booked full, I hope to get into A2. I think it’s better for me anyway, even though I still make silly mistakes and such. But living here for 2 years already and having a course already (even though I forgot most of it) i don’t want to waste time or money. Thanks in advance in case you can answer. No worries if you can’t!
Well every school seems to be different. I had A2 by Volksuniversiteit and now I have B1 by ROC Mondriaan. A lot of what I see in my B1 course was already covered in A2. But that textbook (Contact, chapters 7-12) is harder than the current textbook (Taaltalent).
With that said here are some things covered in my A2 class:
Reflexive verbs / pronouns
Possessive nouns
Separable verbs (opbellen -> ik bel je op)
Advice giving (ik zou naar de dokter gaan)
Er + indefinite subject (Er is een meisje)
Perfectum (ik heb een brief geschreven…)
Imperfectum (ik schreef een brief)
Liggen, staan, zitten
Verbs with a fixed preposition… i.e. Kijken naar, etc
I wouldn’t sweat the oral exam. I took one and tested into A2, skipping A1. The main reason I did not get into B1 was needing to learn word order structure (hoofdzin, bijzin met omdat/toen/nadat/terwijl/sinds/etc). So don’t worry about needing to speak perfectly!
Hope this helps you.
Just realized I covered what was in A2. Here is some stuff from A1, but keep in mind the textbook was a bit harder.
Word order in basic sentences and questions
Alphabet, numbers
Articles (de, het, een – don’t sweat it too much)
Inversion of subject and verb when sentence begins with a time word:
Morgen ga ik naar de dokter.
Auxiliary verbs: moeten, mogen, willen, kunnen, zullen and gaan
Niet/geen (never say hij heeft NIET EEN les… ‘Niet een’ always changes to geen)
Comparative and superlatives – good better best etc
Basic conjunctions that don’t affect word order – en, maar, dus, want, of
Separable verbs
Diminutives – hondje (altijd het)
Review subject form, objects form, possessive forms. ik, mij, mijn.
That will get you pretty far. Don’t worry too much though!
Thank you! I do think I have that covered, except the inversion and that I do make mistakes with “de” and “het” (but I guess… who doesn’t?) The only chapter I had access to of the Contact book made me go nuts with what it included, because I really have forgotten basic stuff like “doing the dishes” or “going to the shower” because at home I speak English. So I guess I was overly nervous just because it seemed so basic and yet I don’t remember it. Thank ypu again! I’ll let you know how it goes 😉
Good luck, though I doubt you’ll need it. I am sure you will do just fine. 🙂 Let me know how it goes, definitely!
They said I can choose between going to A2 class or B1 (Nederlands 2 or Nederlands 3), that probably my level is somewhere in the middle there. They only can still take me in Nederlands 2, or in intensive Nederlands 3. I wanted an intensive programme since I have a lot of free time now, but not anymore after February. So I’m going to try Nederlands 3 on Monday, but I seriously doubt I’ll be able to follow up. I’m still thinking about it! I don’t want to waste my time with neither something too easy nor with something too hard. After all, the teacher said my vocabulary would allow me Nederlands 3, while my grammar is still a bit behind and maybe more into Nederlands 2 level. What do you think?
Depends on how much you love learning grammar! I do. I would aim for Nederlands 3. At worst it does not work out and you can switch after a week to Nederlands 2 (at ROC Mondriaan we always have new people coming in after few weeks it seems). I am willing to bet there will be at least a few people in your class who are also around your level and not quite B1 yet. Also the fact that it is intensive works out better if you are busy after February.
I improved my grammar by 1) having a husband who loved to correct me every chance he got – in a nice way 2) taking a volunteer job at a neighborhood library 3) signing up for SamenSpraak, which meets the first Wednesday of every month at the Bibliotheek Centraal in The Hague. There’s also a ‘taalmaatje’ component where you can meet with someone every week or every two weeks and improve your spoken Dutch. I meet with mine every Tuesday.
But – go for B1. You’ll only regret it if you don’t try. Better to be challenged than bored, I say.