Monthly Archives: February 2013

As I have previously mentioned, in my A2 class at the Volksuniversiteit I am using the Contact 1 textbook. If my memory is correct, the A1 class finished chapters 1 through 4. My current plan is to get through the first four chapters before next week’s class on Tuesday night, but we’ll see how that goes.

Each chapter is split into three sections – A, B, C. I am currently at 2C after about six total hours of studying (it never ends!). So far it seems like the “A” section of each chapter is pretty easy, and then the “B” section has medium difficulty, and finally the “C” section tends to take forever to finish due to its emphasis more on speaking and listening.

So far the topics that have been covered:

Chapter 1: Waar komt u vandaan? = Where do you come from? which covers names, nationalities and the country you came from. It also covers your address, town, age, birthday, the alphabet, counting, and talking with someone (formally and informally).

Chapter 2: Zullen we iets afspreken? = Shall we make an appointment? (i.e. shall we do something?), which covers how someone is feeling, the days of the week, times, opening times for businesses, and filling out forms. The last section is set in a restaurant: reading a menu, ordering, saying there’s something you don’t understand, and etc.

Of course, 95% of it is review for the next class, but every once in a while something slips by that I didn’t know (or remember). A funny example I came across is how to say how you are doing. Het gaat wel does not, unfortunately, translate into “It goes well” as an English speaker might expect. Wel is not well. It’s closer to “okay”, so if you tell someone “Het gaat wel” it is a slightly negative response.

Hoe gaat het met jou?

Uitstekend! (=outstanding)