After you made your reservation, we sent an e-mail with the course confirmation (in the attached pdf).

We kindly ask you to check all the information, to make sure there are no misunderstandings about the course, the level and the dates.

If you have agreed with the course management about a change in your reservation, you should have received a new confirmation.

Are you aware that you booked a course:
– for higher educated learners
– with a high pace and high intensity
– for people who know English (instruction language of the videos)
– with 3-4 hours of self study per lesson additional to the hours in class*

Important

Our niche is intensive Dutch courses. Our students want results. Sometimes, we get the feedback after the course that people prefer shorter lessons, less homework, one time per week (instead of twice). Then, this is probably not the right programme to book. There are plenty of language schools that offer one class per week of 2/2.5 hours per lesson and not too much homework. That is not our niche. We don’t believe in a low intensity, because it might take ages before you reach a higher level. We believe that you need to make learning Dutch a priority if you want results. There is no magic in language learning: you will need to work hard for it! And if you have a busy life, you can only do this course if you reserve the necessary time for it.

Did you come to the conclusion that this is not the right course for you?

Let us know as soon as possible:
– within 2 weeks after reservation: you can cancel the course free of charge
– more than 2 weeks after reservation: the earlier you cancel, the lower the cancellation costs
– cancelling after the start of the course: no refund

* Good to know:
The homework is specified in advance. You can work ahead. Tip: if you have class on Monday and Wednesday: use the weekend before to do the homework for both lessons. Then you’re not dependent on the Tuesday evening.

It is very important to check your level. ASAP!

Don’t wait till the week prior to the course!… Why?

Reason 1: it’s an obligation for STAP and it’s one of the requirements to do our course.

Reason 2: Switching to a different level on the same course date is not always possible:
– we don’t offer every level on every course date
– other levels can be fully booked
The earlier you check your level, the better chance there is that we can offer a solution.
Please note: switching levels is usually only possible if you pay yourself. If you use the STAP-budget, it’s usually not possible to switch levels.

Reason 3: Sometimes, we have more than 1 group on a specific level/date. If everyone does the level test (and completes the intake form) in time, that will allow us to create better, more homogenous groups. We make the groups 2-3 weeks prior to the start of the course.

What to do?

1. Read the level descriptions very well!
2. Check the e-mail with the subject “Your Dutch course: level test + intake form”. There is a link to the level test and an intake form. Do the test and complete the questionnaire / intake form. 
3. You have done the level test? We’ll contact you if we think an additional oral intake is necessary. If you don’t hear from us, everything is fine.
4. If you’re sure you applied for the wrong level – then please contact us asap by e-mail! If you doubt, contact us as well.

Some remarks:

• Some people are too ambitious and apply for a higher group than their current level. Some people are very cautious and apply for a lower level. Our advise: please apply for the level that really is your level (not higher and not lower). Please think about other group members who want to be in a group with people of the same level. 
• Do you plan to study a lot prior to the course and did you apply for 1 level higher than your current level? Please check to what extent your plans are possible to realise! We quite often get messages from students 2-3 days before the course that they didn’t have the time to prepare and request a level lower. But switching so shortly prior to the course is not possible! Please make the right estimate and take into account that you really need a lot of hours of preparation if you want to enrol 1 level higher. For example – if you are a beginner and want to do level 2 (by completing #dutchgrammar-1 and 1000 most common words in Dutch) it will cost you 60-80 hours of self study.
• Have you participated before? And you registered for the next level? Make sure you reviewed your previous level very well! This really is required prior knowledge. If it’s 1 year ago you participated and you didn’t do anything afterwards, then you’re not ready for the next level.
• It is important to realise that this is a group course. We have identified different sublevels – within each sublevel there is a certain range. So, there will be weaker and stronger students within a group. Not everyone will have exactly the same level as you. And also, people can have the same level, but be totally different in their skills… one is better in writing and grammar, while someone else is better at speaking and listening. In a group everybody is different and the other people in the group are not ‘clones’ of each other. Nevertheless, we really think it’s important to aim at the best possible groups, because then the learning process is most efficient. Therefore, we thank you in advance for the above mentioned efforts to check you applied for the right level.
• Having the right minimum entrance level is one of the student requirements. It’s the responsibility of the student to sign up for the right level. And we help with that: we provide all the help we can to determine the right level of a student: by offering level tests, asking to complete an intake form to describe the background, and offering an oral intake upon request. We contact the students where we have doubts based on their input. We’ve sent reminders. We’ve provided access to materials that allow the students to get the right prior knowledge. Neverthless, not all students complete the form and do the level test. Sometimes they wait till the last moment (and then it’s too late to offer a solution). If a student has the right level, that is not a problem. But in the situation where the student didn’t, and didn’t do the level test upon registration, or did the level test but subscribed to a higher level than the test indicated: if the other students in the group experience a negative impact from this (slowing the lessons down, asking questions related to the lower level, not being able to do the conversation exercises), then the teacher has the right to provide ‘passive’ access to the lessons; the student may be in class without interaction in order not to slow down the other students.

We sent you an e-mail with the subject “Your Dutch course: level test + intake form”. In this e-mail you can find a link to the intake form.

We kindly ask you to complete the form as soon as possible after you got this e-mail.

We’ll send the books once a week, on the first Monday after payment (except during Summer.

The book is necessary to follow the lessons. No need to panic if the book will arrive in time or not. We’ll have an online solution in case the book doesn’t arrive in time.

How long does it takes for the book to arrive?
Within the Netherlands – 2-3 days after the Monday of shipment.
Within Europe – average 2-4 weeks after the Monday of shipment.*
Outside Europe – average 4-10 weeks after the Monday of shipment.*

* the shipment time is very dependent on lockdowns, country-specific delays

We have a specific logistics scheme worked out with POSTNL and only ship our books through them. If you want to use a different provider, we can send it to the Dutch address of a friend of you who can send it to you with DHL, UPS, etc. And we’ll refund shipments costs (as we send our books for free to any address in the Netherlands).

Books per level:
Level 1, 2: ‘Het Lesboek – deel 1’
Level 3, 4: ‘Het Lesboek – deel 2’
Level 5, 6: ‘Het Lesboek – deel 3’ 

Remark: in the Summer of 2019 we started working with a new version of ‘Het Lesboek’. One book for the levels 1 and 2, and another book for the levels 3 and 4. In 2022 we introduced ‘Het Lesboek -3’ for levels 5 and 6.

If you studied with us before:
– for level 1 and 2 you will still be able to follow the lessons if you have the old version. Please note that some information is updated, extra exercises are added, page numbers are different. But you’ll manage with the old version.
– level 3 is totally re-written in 2019 (improved!) and the previous version of the book cannot be used

E-learning

Important: check whether your access works as soon as possible.

During the course, participants have access to the e-learning package with the courses #dutchgrammar-1, #dutchgrammar-2, #dutchgrammar-3 & extra materials to ‘Het Lesboek’.

When:
– from 4 weeks before the start of the course to 4 weeks after the end of the course

How to login?

• Go to www.learndutch.org
• Click login in the upper right corner
• If you don’t have an account or if you lost your password:
  – Click ‘lost password’
  – Enter your e-mail (the one you used when registering for this course)
  – Reset the password
• Login and go the ‘student profile’ – you will see a list of courses
• Check if #dutchgrammar, #dutchgrammar-2, #dutchgrammar-3, ‘Het Lesboek’ are listed – if not: send an e-mail with a printscreen of your student profile

Access duration:
Access to #dutchgrammar is included during the course (and 4 weeks before and after). So you can use the materials to prepare and to review. Do you want to use it longer? You can purchase a year license on learndutch.org.

We send mails automatically from the website. Therefore, your e-mail provider might label it as spam, promotion. If that happens: please make sure you whitelist the e-mail address study@bartdepau.com.

When did we sent an e-mail:
– directly when you subscribed – it contains the confirmation and a link to your data, the level test and an extra form
– you didn’t complete the form? didn’t do the test? – then we might have sent reminders
– an e-mail with the zoomlink (1-2 days prior to the introduction lesson)

Contact us if you haven’t received any mails since you subscribed.

Please use study@bartdepau.com for all questions related to your course administration and a fast answer (and not bart@learndutch.org).

Cancellations / early termination:
We kindly remind you of the terms and conditions as indicated on the website. If you can’t do the course, let us know as soon as possible. The earlier you cancel the higher the refund.

Changing dates:
What if you came to the conclusion that you are not yet ready for the level or there is another reason to change dates? Let us know as soon as possible!
– Switching to a different level on the same course date is free. But please note: this is only possible if the other level is given on that date and location, and if the other level is not fully booked.
– Switching to a different course date in the same season: the same conditions apply as the cancellation terms in the general conditions: a change of the course is the same as cancelling one course and booking a new course, however:
a. we will waive cancellation costs if you change dates more than 3 weeks prior to the start of the course
b. we will waive cancellation costs if your course is fully booked AND we have people on the waiting list willing to take your spot on the original date

Please note:
Our organisation makes costs and commitments upfront. We hire our teachers and say ‘no’ to potential customers when a group is full, and we’re committed to deliver the course in case the mimimum amount of participants is met. If you can’t participate, our organisation will still have the same costs (unless we’re fully booked and someone takes your spot). In every group, there are usually one or more people who need to cancel last minute or who can’t continue the course for very legitimate reasons, that are beyond our control. Unfortunately, we cannot cover the individual risks. Our cancellation / early termination policy is in line with the conditions of the Dutch Council for Training and Education (NRTO), agreed with the consumer’s association.

Wrong level?
Applying for the right level is the responsibility of the student. We help with it: we offer a general level test, we offer an extra level test (for level 3 and higher), we ask you to complete an intake form, and ask if you are 100% sure about your level, we contact students who indicate to be unsure about their levels and/or whose test results are not in line with what should be expected, we ask you to call us for an oral intake if you doubt, all to accommodate switches not later than 3-4 weeks prior to the course. Last-minute switches or switching after the start of the course is usually not possible.

– You indicated in the form that you are ‘sure’ about your level?
– You didn’t do the level test?
– You waited with completing the intake form / level test until the last week prior to the course?
– You booked a level against the advise of the level test?
– You planned to study a lot prior to the course, but you didn’t manage to do so?
– You didn’t attend the introduction lesson?
And you came to the conclusion that you’re on the wrong level after the start of your course? Sorry, if you haven’t used the tools we provided then that’s your own responsibility. We can’t guarantee a solution.