Pre-course A1 level

Dear student,

Welcome! Congratulations on enrolling at Dutch Academy Eindhoven!

Here are a few things you need to do before your first lesson. Please read the following information carefully.

Your Dutch course consists of 2 parts; Dutch lessons at school and homework on our website. We want to keep our fees low. Our course fees are based on Dutch lessons of our teachers. It means that you will have to find your way through our website by yourself. All information you need is already provided on our website. You just need to read it and follow it. We will also give you a short explanation about our website during the first lesson. You can always ask your fellow students to help you when you get stuck.

If you can not find your way on our website by yourself, you can always book a personal website support appointment with us (35 euro). We will be glad to help you with your inquiry.

PS: You can not access all materials of this pre-course without a student account. Your student account will be activated as soon as we receive your Copyright Student Agreement. You need to sign your personal Copyright Student Agreement and send it to us by email before starting this pre-course. Please see #2 below.

Teacher Philippe
 

Please finish this list before the start of your course:

  1. Important! Add our e-mail address info@dutchacademyeindhoven.nl to your email contacts and send a test email. Otherwise, you may not receive your certificate! Read how to add our e-mail address to your contact list >
  2. Add Teacher Philippe as a friend Facebook.com/DocentPhilippe if you like. Do you have any questions? Please visit our online Student Help Desk >
  3. We post a new Dutch Word on Facebook, Twitter en Linkedin every day. Please learn it. Therefore you need to like or follow our Facebook page Facebook, Twitter.com/_LearnDutch and/or Linkedin.
  4. Subscribe to our Youtube channel >
  5. Like or follow our Facebook page > (for updates and events)
  6. Join our Facebook Groups > (for homework, updates, events)
  7. Download your course planner > (Which group am I in? Please see your order)
  8. Install Google Translate on your Android smartphone or iPhone
  9. Plan your route to your first lesson >. You will find our address in your course planner >
  10. Do you have any questions? Please visit our online Student Help Desk >

By registering for your course, you have agreed to our terms and conditions and our privacy policy. There it is clearly indicated that no recording, taking pictures or copying of our course materials, lessons, book Simpel Nederlands, and the website of Dutch Academy Eindhoven are allowed. It will also be explained in the first lesson. All materials we provide are allowed to be used for your personal use only (at your home or in our Dutch courses at Dutch Academy Eindhoven).

Our Copyright = Our Course Materials + Book + Website + Lessons

All materials of our courses, including our book Simpel Nederlands, content, text, images, software, audio and video files, and documentation remain at all times the sole property of Dutch Academy Eindhoven. Such materials are protected under international copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. You may NOT download, print, take pictures, take screenshots, use, post, share, translate, and reproduce in any way any such materials without the prior written consent of Dutch Academy Eindhoven or use them at other places other than your home or Dutch Academy Eindhoven. This includes all terminology and content of our Book Simpel Nederlands.

Online Book Simpel Nederlands
You are NOT allowed to download, print, take pictures, take screenshots, and reproduce in any way or share our Online Book Simpel Nederlands.

Hardcopy Book Simpel Nederlands
Our book Simpel Nederlands is the intellectual property of Dutch Academy Eindhoven and it is not available for purchase in any bookshop. You are not allowed to make any copies of/from your book or sell your book after finishing your course without the Dutch Academy Eindhoven’s prior written consent.

Individual Copyright Student Agreement
We have recently found out that one of our students was illegally making recordings of our lessons (students and teachers included) and photos of course materials on our website. We take the privacy of our students, copyright, and Dutch law seriously. Our lawyer may hold him liable for infringement of our copyright and our privacy policy and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This student may be charged with damages. After an investigation, we may also have to report a privacy data leak to the Dutch Data Protection Authority and report this student to the Dutch Police.

We want to make sure you know and understand the copyright and privacy rules and the consequences of breaking them. That is why every student of the Dutch Academy Eindhoven has to sign the Individual Copyright Student Agreement (automatically sent to you by e-mail 2 hours after your booking). This agreement is a part of Terms and Conditions and the Privacy policy of Dutch Academy Eindhoven. You need to sign your Individual Copyright Student Agreement and send it to us. You can download it here.

You will not be permitted to your lessons if we will not receive your Personal Copyright Student Agreement.

Legal & Illegal Downloads/Prints
Some of our copyrighted material is available for download (like some wordlists and assignments) via Student Dashboard. For this material, you will find a download link or a download button beneath them. You are allowed to download and print them for your personal use only. Besides, you are not allowed to copy them or share them with others. This is a legal download for your personal use on your personal computer only. If you print or try to download our digital material, which is not provided for download (there is any download option), we call an illegal print or illegal download. It is not allowed!

Consequences of Breaking Dutch Privacy and Copyright Laws
When you are not compliant with these Terms and Conditions, you may be prosecuted and then be held liable for breaking the Dutch law. It will cost you somewhere between 25.000 – 100.000 euros in Privacy & Copyright penalties and damages. We advise you to take this warning seriously.

Dutch course in Eindhoven

  • You need to buy our book Simpel Nederlands. Please bring 50 euro for your book to your first lesson (cash only).

Online Dutch course

  • You do not have to buy your book. You will use our online book (please visit your Student Dashboard > Book Simpel Nederlands). You are NOT allowed to download, print, take pictures, take screenshots, reproduce in any way or share our Online Book Simpel Nederlands. Please read 2. Your Individual Copyright Student Agreement. You can also order a hard copy >

Install required apps for your Dutch course

Your Student Dashboard will be activated as soon as we receive your Copyright Student Agreement. You will not be permitted to your lessons if we will not receive your Personal Copyright Student Agreement. Have you already sent your Copyright Student Agreement and we have approved it?

  • Log in to your Student Dashboard >. Please use your email address to log in. This must be the same email address you have used for your booking of your course.
  • Lost your password/You don’t know your password? Please go to this page >
  • Problems logging in? Please visit our online Student Help Desk >

You need to create a new account on our Dutchbook. You will use it for your homework.

How to register on Dutchbook (Homework)

  1. Log in to your Student Dashboard >
  2. Go to Dutchbook Help > How do I join Dutchbook?
  3. Please Upload your profile picture so we can see who you are and check your homework.
  4. Join your homework groups (#4)

Please introduce yourself on Dutchbook:

  • Are you our A1 student? Please post your introduction in English or Dutch in our A1 group >

If you can not post on Dutchbook:

  • Did you create an account on Dutchbook?
  • Did you join your homework groups?

Please read:

2. How do I join Dutchbook?

4. How do I join my homework groups?

6. How do I post my answers for review?

We will post course updates (changes, appointments, announcements etc) in your Homework group (Google space). You will not receive this important information when you will not install a Google Chat app on your phone and become a member of your homework group (Google space)!  

How do you join your Homework Google Chat (space)?

You will receive an email with instructions before the start of your course.

You will have some speaking assignments in our course. You do not have to wait until the start of your Dutch lessons. If you already speak a little bit of Dutch, you can start doing your speaking assignments with our Dutch Friends. Our Dutch Friends are volunteers who would love to have a little chat with you. No worries about your Dutch! They speak English and will help you if you will get stuck:)

How does it work?

  1. Download and print the speaking assignments of your level (A1 level)
  2. Prepare your questions.
  3. Check the agenda of our Dutch Friends. Pick any Dutch friend and reserve your spot (video)
  4. Join him/her when he/she will be online.
  5. Ask your questions. Write down the answers.

This step is optional. You can skip it for now if you do not speak Dutch yet.

Preparation for your first lesson

Read:

  1. Read Survival Dutch Guide >.
  2. Print Dutch Phone Alphabet and bring it to your first lesson.
  3. Watch Dutch Articles videos 1+2 >
  4. Read our book Learn Dutch Fast. Take our Learning strategy test.
  5. Read/Listen to our Text book.
  6. Read/Listen to Dutch Essentials. Saying Hello, Basic Expressions, Numbers.

Please watch Dutch videos before your first lesson:

  1. Dutch Alphabet >
  2. Dutch Phone Alphabet >
  3. Print Dutch Phone Alphabet and bring it to your first lesson.
  4. Can you spell your first name? Please post your first name in the comments below >
  5. Dutch numbers >
  6. Ik, jij, u, zij, hij, wij, jullie, zij >
  7. Hebben & zijn >
  8. Register on Oefenen.nl Lees en Schrijf! Het leesplankje. Opdracht 2: a – e – o – u – i
  9. Learn 15 Dutch verbs every day >
  10. Learn 5 Dutch Adjectives every day >
  11. Learn 5 Dutch Contradictions every day >

Vocabulary:

Please learn Dutch Essentials:

  1. Dutch Essentials >

Pronunciation:

  1. Pronunciation Dashboard
  2. Uitsprekend Android or Online

Speaking assignments (optional):

  1. Please do Speaking assignment 1 (spreekopdracht 1)  with our Dutch Friends >.

You can find study materials (video, audio, books) and homework of all missed lessons on Student Dashboard. Lost your password? Please go to this page >

We are expecting you to catch up on your missed lessons by self-study. You can find study materials (video, audio, books) and homework of all missed lessons on Your Student Dashboard. You can also book one Private lesson (€95). Please take note, we do not provide any notes of missed lessons. You can ask your fellow students to share their notes with you. You can contact your fellow students via Dutchbook.

Your homework is on Student Dashboard:

  1. Huiswerk A1 Step 1
  2. Huiswerk A1 Step 2
  3. Huiswerk A1 Step 3

1. Your commitment
You commit to the course for its duration.

2. Latecomers. Are you late for your class?
We expect you to be present at least 5 minutes before the start of the lessons. Our lessons are designed according to a very strict schedule. If you arrive late, you will disturb the lesson and other students, and may miss important information about the course or the Dutch language.

5 to 15 min late
If you are between 5 and 15 minutes late for the class, you cannot participate in it. You can ask your teacher for permission to participate. Please do not walk in and have a seat without asking for permission. If you arrive late once, your teacher may allow you to participate, but next time, please do not enter the class. You will have to learn your lesson via our website at home or book a private lesson.

More than 15 min late
If you are more than 15 minutes late, you cannot participate in the lesson. Please do not enter the classroom. You have to catch up on the missed lesson or book a private lesson. You can ask your fellow students to share their notes with you.

We don’t want students to be structurally late. If you foresee that you will be late several times due to your job, discuss this with your teacher or send us an e-mail beforehand. We may make an exception for you.

3. Need to leave the class before it ended?
We expect you to let us know beforehand if you have to leave before your class is over. You can send us an email or tell your teacher just before the start of your class that you have to leave the class earlier today. If you leave unannounced in the middle of class more than once, we will assume that you are no longer interested in taking our classes. Your Student Dashboard will be automatically deactivated until you contact us and explain your situation.

4. Missed Lessons
Suppose that you are our student and cannot attend the lesson. You must notify the Academy 24 hours before the start of the lesson by e-mail (we accept notifications only by e-mail).

We are expecting you to catch up on your missed lessons by self-study. You can find study materials (video, audio, books) and homework of all missed lessons on Your Student Dashboard. You can also book one Private lesson (€95). You will find everything you need on your Student Dashboard.

Please take note, we do not provide any notes of missed lessons. You can ask your fellow students to share their notes with you. You can contact your fellow students via Dutchbook.

When you miss lessons, your fellow students may have trouble doing exercises with you. This can be frustrating for them and slow down their progress.

Are you going to miss 3 or more lessons in a row?
If you miss 3 or more lessons in a row without notifying us by e-mail, we assume that you quit the course. Your student account will be deactivated and no refund will be payable to you. If you want to rejoin the course, you need to ask our permission. We may or may not allow you to rejoin the course depending on your reason, attendance record, motivation, and achievement.

5. No-Homework-Brexit rule
Our Intensive Dutch Course consists of 3 parts:

  1. Online Dutch Lessons with our Dutch teacher
  2. Speaking Practice with Native Dutch speakers
  3. Online Learning (Homework)

Learning Dutch takes a lot of effort. We expect you to do your homework so that your fellow students can do exercises with you in our classes. When you do not prepare for lessons, your fellow students will have trouble doing speaking exercises with you. This can be frustrating for them and slow down their progress. We only accept committed students. If you don’t do your homework 3 times in a row without any further notice (contacting us and explaining your reason), we assume that you are not further interested in taking our classes. You are expected to quit our course. Your student account will be deactivated. Your course fee will not be refunded.

6. Your responsibility to keep the information confidential
You agree to keep confidential any information related to our students, teachers, and Dutch lessons in your Dutch Course. You agree not to permit any third-party access to our courses and websites or to disclose the above-mentioned confidential information.

7. Charging devices in our classroom
If you want to charge a computer, phone or tablet in the classroom, you must ask the teacher if and where this is possible. Why? Your device’s cable may be in the way. The students and the teacher must be able to move freely in the classroom. We have had incidents where devices fell (and broke) only by accident because the charging cables were hanging or lying in the way. If this does happen, please note that the damage is at your own expense and risk. We strongly recommend that you charge your devices before entering the classroom.

  1. Do you have any questions? Please visit our online Virtual Student Help Desk >
 

Pre-course test A1 level

Please take this test before your first lesson! Please note that if you will not complete your pre-course and pass your pre-course test with 100%, you will not be permitted to our lessons.