Ik spreek een beetje Nederlands…

Where has the time gone?! I have been composing this entry in my head since Tuesday at lunchtime when I emerged from my first Dutch class inspired and exhilarated. Class is held once a week at de KAM, the civic center of Wezembeek-oppem. The building itself is very inviting, with whitewashed brick walls and steeply pitched roof arranged around a central courtyard. Vladi thinks it has the look of a monastery, but to me it has the feel of a European farm courtyard.

I arrived on foot just before 9:00 am when class starts, and had to stop in at the downstairs office to pay my tuition. I had enrolled myself the previous Friday, but didn’t have the 60 euros for the year-long course. The staff in the KAM office is kind, and speaks Nederlands (Dutch), but also speak French fluently. The class meets on the second floor, which has a timbered, open-beam ceiling, thus my feeling of being in a cozy barn loft. I must admit that I was slightly nervous, knowing that I was joining the course two weeks late, and wondering what the teacher and students would be like. I had imagined my classmates as immigrant workers, or their spouses, struggling to learn Dutch so that they could apply for work, or just do the shopping in their Dutch-speaking neighborhoods. Would I be the only one doing this for fun?

I walked in and took a seat next to a friendly-looking young woman. I introduced myself in French, and she told me that her name is Mahboubeh, and she is originally from Iran, but has been living in Belgium for some years. She kindly let me copy her notes from the previous lessons, and patiently explained the grammar covered. She also offered to let me share her book, since I still need to purchase one from the teacher. A number of other students arrived, of various ages, male and female, and decidedly not appearing to be struggling immigrants. When the teacher arrived, everyone greeted her with “Goedmorgen! (Good morning!) and Dag! (which means both hello, and goodbye – those ever practical Dutch!) Her name is Nadia, and she is probably about my age, with glasses and hair falling down over her shoulders. She wore a wide smile, and appeared animated and enthusiastic. The class was held for two hours and forty minutes, with a ten-minute break in the middle. Nadia speaks to us in Dutch, and then translates into English and French. Because I can understand the second two languages, I get to go over the material twice, which I hope will help to reinforce my understanding.

One of the highlights of my first class was getting to meet my classmates, about twenty in all, representing sixteen different nationalities! We went around the class, telling where we are from in Dutch: Uit welk land kom jij? Ik kom uit de Verenigde Staten. Those last three words are “the United States.” My classmates come from Belgium, the Congo, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Irak, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Luxemburg, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, and Russia. Apparently a man from Egypt is also enrolled but was not present. We also learned how to indicate what language(s) we speak, so I learned the words for Engels, Frans, Duits, Ests, Arabisch, Perzisch, Japans, Luxemburgs, Urdu, Filippijns, Pools, and Russisch.

I have a looong way to go to be able to communicate in Dutch, but it was a great beginning, and I am already looking forward to my next class. Meanwhile, I have recopied all my notes, and practiced a bit, as well as listened to Dutch-speaking radio here in Belgium (which plays mostly English-speaking music.) Dag!