The  Find-Your-Voice (Schrijfplezier!) Writing Workshop at Rubio Dutch Amsterdam is aimed to help you with fluency, self-confidence and finding your personal style and voice in writing Dutch - whether for work, a blog, personal use, professional writing, emails or letters.

 

You are free to choose the exact focus of each assignment. For example, if the assignment is to write a letter and you need to practice business Dutch, you can decide to write a work-related email. If you are looking for a job, you might prefer to write a motivation letter. And if you are setting up your own blog, you might prefer a more personal style letter.

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In this course, your teacher will give feedback and offer alternative options for style, word choice and grammar. This is not a grammar course though! Grammar will only be discussed in relation to your work or for the purpose of a specific style of writing. We guide you to find your unique way of expressing yourself in Dutch, taking into account the cultural use of words and language.

 

Furthermore, we teach you the tools to self-correct your texts, so you can continue to learn after the course has finished. There will be a combination of shorter and longer writing assignments, frequent online feedback by the teacher and fellow students, and four 1,5-hour online group sessions.

Examples of assignments (you decide on the topic and content, in coherence with your learning goals)

- describe what you like to achieve in this course and where you see yourself ideally concerning the language

- write a longer letter to an acquaintance with personal observations and descriptions;
- write a formal email: to discuss an issue, make a complaint, make a (work-related) proposal;

- analyse a longer text (relevant to your learning goals) and make a summary;

- add information to a short text, to make it more complete, or more detailed;

- style exercises;

- write an instructive text (for example for a friend, family member, baby-sitter, builder or plumber, or coworker);

- express and argument your opinion in a letter to the newspaper;

- write a mini-essay

Also: give personalized written feedback on texts others wrote, help each other with tips and ideas.

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Goal

The main goal of this course is to improve your Dutch repertoire and your vocabulary, so you can express yourself more easily. You choose the specific topic of your assignment, e.g. to practice work-related writing skills, writing for pleasure or to express your creative ideas. It's up to you! Finding joy in using Dutch is also an important goal of the course. Find the words that fit your personality! The more you enjoy using a language, the less effort it takes.

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Course content
 

• 4 group sessions of 1,5 hours each (once each month, maximum 8 participants)

• 5 longer writing assignments and many short writing exercises in class and online

• Online written feedback from your teacher and other participants after each assignment

• 2 private sessions (phone or Zoom, 30 minutes each) with the teacher for personal feedback and questions

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What you need for this course

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• 2-5 hours of your time each week to write the assignments and give feedback on other participant's work. This is a quite intensive course!

• Level B1+/B2- Dutch (equivalent of having finished the Intermediate II or Upper-Intermediate I course at Rubio Dutch; if in doubt about your level, please contact us at info@rubiodutch.nl for a short level test)

• A reliable dictionary such as Van Dale, Prisma or NT2 woordenboek, and access to an online dictionary such as mijnwoordenboek.nl or deepl.com.

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Price

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This course is €395 per person, including course materials, 4 online group sessions, two 30-minute online or phone private sessions with the teacher, and the written feedback from your teacher. Our courses are exempt from btw (VAT).

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