Lingo Amsterdam
is run by Joos Jonges
Language shapes who you are and how you see the world. Learning Dutch is not about mastering grammar (and getting angry about the strange verbs and where you place them in sentences); learning another language is an opportunity to broaden your worldview and give it more color and depth. If you cannot express yourself in the language of the country where you live, you are missing something essential in your connection with the culture and the people around you.
Hoi, ik ben Joos. I studied General Linguistics at the University of Amsterdam and completed my Master's in Leiden. I graduated cum laude in Language, Culture and Cognition, specializing in second language acquisition and the didactics of Dutch.
I find teaching fantastic. I enjoy the contact with my students and helping them find their way in the Netherlands, through the language. I try to challenge myself and my students by always looking for new and creative ways to practice a specific skill. Also, my joy in sharing music, poetry and performance result in classes that are never dull - ask my students.
It is not explaining theory that fascinates me so much, but the moment someone comes back after a lesson and says that they finally dared to apply for a job in Dutch, are now able to conduct conversations at work in Dutch, or care less about the mistakes they make and can now truly connect with their Dutch friends. In fact, that is the moment when the lessons are no longer necessary.
In addition to being a teacher, I am a poet and performer. So I know very well how important it is to know the right words, but also what happens to your body and mind when you are in the spotlight and can't remember your lines.
You don't learn a language by speaking it perfectly. You learn by using the language.
Language learning is not about knowing all the grammar, but about connecting to people in a way that's new.
Uncomfortable at first, but nothing beats the realisation that you're implicitly applying a rule perfectly. And that's the feeling we're going for at Lingo.
At Lingo Amsterdam we are genuinely interested in language and teaching - now add some humor to make the process more fun.
Lingo Amsterdam is based in the capital of the Netherlands, in which many people experienced the joy of learning this interesting language called Dutch.
Not Deutsch - that's German. And to keep on tumbling into the confusion of a new language: wie in Dutch means who in German, and who in English sounds like hoe in Dutch, which means how.
When you're curious to untangle this, you might enjoy a Dutch class.