Every year, hundreds of international students move to Nijmegen for their studies. For most of them, these will be taught exclusively in English. But even though Dutch is not needed for studying at Radboud, learning the language can have a huge impact on international students’ experience in Nijmegen: ‘In a way, you will always be an outsider when you cannot speak Dutch.’

‘When I moved, I knew right away that I wanted to learn Dutch. I find it inconceivable to live in a country without learning its language,’ says Austin William Howard, a British-American master’s student who moved to Nijmegen five years ago to study linguistics. ‘Learning languages is a bit of a hobby of mine. I watched YouTube videos, tried to speak with the Dutch people I knew, listened to music, read Dutch poetry and much more.’ For Howard, the key to learning a new language is to enjoy doing it: ‘If you normally like puns – then learn Dutch puns and try them out next time you go to a pub.’

‘The question we should be asking is: why would someone not learn Dutch?’

But for the linguistics student, learning Dutch was not always a piece of cake: ‘Dutch people tend to switch to English when they discover that you are a non-native speaker. When trying to learn a new language, this is very unhelpful.’ For Howard, speaking Dutch plays an important role when establishing close ties with Dutch natives: ‘The Netherlands is not an English-speaking country: you can’t make super close Dutch friends if you don’t speak the language.’

Howard has been fluent in Dutch for several years and, looking back on his language experience in Nijmegen, he is convinced that speaking and understanding the language has enrichened his life: ‘It is through the language that the culture expresses itself. The question we should be asking is: why would someone not learn Dutch?’

International bubble

But learning a new language after moving countries is not always self-explanatory, as Hannah Stoever from Germany who moved to Nijmegen one and a half years ago for her bachelor’s, knows: ‘In the beginning, I wanted to learn the language. I tried different language platforms and to speak Dutch with other people.’ However, after a while, she gave up on her efforts: ‘I often felt uncomfortable because Dutch people switched to English when they sensed that I was not a native. This was probably one of the reasons that made me quit learning the language.’

But also the international environment of a study can lead to people staying within their own language bubble. Stoever: ‘Even though I know a few Dutch people, I don’t have any Dutch friends. I think that if I were in a more Dutch environment, I would be more motivated to learn the language.’ In her daily life, Stoever says, she can get by with English alone. ‘But in a way, you will always be an outsider when you cannot speak Dutch.’ As of now, the psychology student doesn’t speak any Dutch – a situation unlikely to change in the future: ‘I feel like it’s too late for me to learn Dutch at this point, since I know that I will probably not stay in the Netherlands after my study.’

Teaching Dutch

‘Learning Dutch or any other language is hard work, and you need to be motivated’, says Sjoerd van der Goot from Radboud in’to Languages. But for the teacher, another aspect is essential: ‘I have encountered many students who are perfectionists. But when learning a language, you need to make mistakes to learn.’

Van der Goot, who has been teaching Social Dutch since last October, says the best indication of a language class going well is a noisy classroom: ‘It shows that the students are engaged – and they should be, because language-learning is fun.’ According to the teacher, the more steps someone takes in learning a language, the easier the rest of the way will become: ‘Once you start learning, you will realize that more doors open. And others will embrace your efforts and open their heart to you.’

‘If international students keep speaking English, they will stay outsiders’

According to Van der Goot, international students will encounter Dutch no matter what: if not at university, then in the city center: ‘If international students keep speaking English, they will stay outsiders.’ But for the language teacher there is a clear solution to the problem: ‘You don’t need to be fluent, just a few sentences can get you very far! For instance, learn to say that you are trying to learn Dutch, and then try to speak. You will probably be surprised about how many people want to help.’