THE	AMSTERDAM	SUMMER UNIVERSITY

	MAASTRICHT

Last updated on Saturday, June 28, 2008

Intensive Dutch Language Course at 6 Levels
Monday, August 4 - Friday, August 22, 2008

In conjunction with the University of Amsterdam, Institute for Dutch as a Second Language (INTT).

This Intensive Dutch language Course is offered in 5 different levels; from absolute beginner to advanced. The course involves classes as well as homework and students have access to the language laboratory of the University of Amsterdam.

— Level 1 (Absolute Beginners): For those with no knowledge of Dutch whatsoever;

— Level 2 (Beginners): For those who do understand some Dutch but are (almost) incapable of making themselves understood in Dutch;

— Level 3 (Pre-Intermediate): For those who have a global understanding of simple, everyday Dutch, and who are capable of making themselves understood in simple, everyday Dutch with many mistakes;

— Level 4 (Intermediate): For those who have a reasonable understanding of everyday Dutch and of Dutch used in the media, and who are capable of making themselves understood in simple, everyday Dutch with quite a few mistakes;

— Level 5 (Pre-Advanced): For those who have a good understanding of everyday Dutch and of Dutch used in the media, and who are capable of making themselves understood in everyday Dutch with occassional mistakes;

— Level 6 (Advanced): For those who have a thorough understanding of simple, everyday Dutch and a good understanding of authentic Dutch at an academic level. They can express themselves in spoken and written Dutch in most everyday and professional situations but still make systematic mistakes. (The objective of this course-level is to teach students how to express themselves in formally correct spoken and written Dutch.)

If you would like to be kept up to date about this course subject, please send us an email.

Applicant Profile

This course is primarily aimed at individuals who need to be able to speak and (depending on the level) write in Dutch for their work. Previous courses were followed by expats, managers, diplomats, researchers and people from many others professions.

Those who have no problems understanding Dutch at an academic level are too advanced for these courses. This programme is NOT meant for foreigners intending to do a regular 4 year-study at the University of Amsterdam.

Application

Applicants should submit their completed application form as soon as possible, via fax or regular mail. Confirmation of participation will be forwarded after receiving the payment of the course fee. Emailed applications can not be accepted as a signature on the application form is required.
Applicants will be awarded a place on a first-come-first-served basis, following receipt of the course fee payment. As soon as AMSU administration has received payment, applicants will be sent a letter confirming the completion of the registration procedure.

AMSU Course Name: LANG-1.

Application form

Details

Date: Monday, August 4 - Friday, August 22, 2008 (all levels).

Capacity: Participants will be divided in groups of 14-18 persons according to the result of an assessment on the first day (please read below).

Language of Instruction: In the courses for (absolute) beginners the language of instruction is English and Dutch. In the other courses, the language being used in the classroom is mainly or exclusively Dutch.

Certificate: On completion of the course.

Location: All lectures are given in buildings of the University of Amsterdam, located in the historic centre of Amsterdam.

Fee: € 935 (including all study material during the course — except for the textbooks mentioned below — and a pass for the language laboratory).

Initiators: Universiteit van Amsterdam; Institute for Dutch as a Second Language (INTT) & The Amsterdam-Maastricht Summer University (AMSU).

Coordination: The Amsterdam-Maastricht Summer University (AMSU)

Registration: Confirmed participants are expected to register between 3.00 PM and 5.00 PM on Tuesday, August 5, 2007 at the building Felix Meritis, located at Keizersgracht 324 in Amsterdam.

Use of the Language Laboratory

Participants in our language courses may use the facilities of the modern language laboratory.

The language laboratory may be used for the following purposes:
— to do part of the homework;
— to work on the pronunciation of Dutch;
— to improve listening skills by working with video fragments and CDs;
— doing computer exercises.

Work Load

The course lasts for three weeks. It involves 4 hours of teaching daily. The lessons are scheduled daily between 9:00 AM and 01:00 PM, apart from Wednesdays in the 2nd and 3rd week. On those Wednesdays, participants who wish to do so, can make appointments with their teachers. Participants are expected to do 2 or 3 hours of homework a day.

Description of Levels

On the first day of the course each participant's level of command of the Dutch language will be assessed to make sure everyone is placed in the appropriate group. If there are two or more groups on the same level, the groups will be formed as homogeneous as possible. In order to get familiar with the building and the language laboratory a guided tour will be part of the first day. If necessary, groups will be reshuffled after one or two weeks.

1.) Level 1 (Absolute Beginners)
For those with no knowledge of Dutch whatsoever.

The aim of the course is:
— to help participants acquire a basic vocabulary of Dutch;
— to enable them to globally understand simple, authentic spoken and written Dutch;
— to begin teaching them how to make themselves understood in elementary spoken and written Dutch;

Textbook:
— Boers, T.J. e.a.; Code 1, Basisleergang Nederlands voor Anderstaligen, Takenboek (including CD-ROM); Thieme Meulenhoff; Utrecht/Zutphen; 2004; Chapters 1 - 7; Price aproximately € 90,-;

Classroom activities:
— watching video fragments;
— listening to audio fragments in the language laboratory;
— preparatory exercises for communicative tasks;
— communicative exercises.