Dear [NAME], will you join the fun online Dutch lessons tomorrow?

I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones well.

This period has been a time to reflect and adapt my business in order to keep doing the work that I love so much. Before I encountered the word Corona, I never thought the online medium Zoom might be useful for me. Now I must say that the lessons via Zoom have been more fun and give much better results than I had anticipated!

I've improved my Zoom-skills in the previous months and even brought a Zoom-group living near London to my favorite greengrocer here in Bussum with Zoom on my laptop to teach them how to buy groceries in Dutch for a recipe that they could make together after the online lesson 😉. Plus, my husband Bart made me a “sta-bureau” today, because I couldn’t sit anymore… it just hurt too much… And it works great! I’m still learning and trying out new things.

Because the measures against the spreading of the virus give us a bit more freedom than before, I am excited to inform you that I came up with a better concept, so I can help more people online AND teach the face-to-face lessons with my famous Walk & Talk together with dog Mister, horse Morpheus and/or extra help if allowed.

From now on, you’ll have the chance to (continue) learning Dutch every Monday while walking in nature and enjoying the outdoors. For now, I will only charge the group-rate, and you can join alone or with a friend. I have one of my newly designed bags for those who will book an available Monday in June.

Don’t worry, the tailored online lessons via Zoom will continue for a while longer every Tuesday and Friday. You can join them alone, or in a group of 2, 3 or 4 persons.

New are the theme based online group lessons on Thursday afternoons (13:00-17:15 Dutch time). Two hours for beginners and two hours for more advanced. Make sure you join my Whatsapp list for the latest news on the available lessons. (See details at the end of this mail, there you will also find information about how the lessons work, please read before you register)

Available slots for tomorrow (Thursday May 28^th):

13:00-14:00: level A0-A1 – Dutch radio play from the book “Accelerated Learning Dutch” to hear a story in Dutch and work on your pronunciation, and to see whether you like the material so you can buy it for self- study. The whole text is translated into English, so you can dive right in from the start.

14:00-15:00: level A0-A1 - The alphabet, open and closed sounds (e.g. the difference between kokken en koken)

15:15 – 16:15 level A2 and up - hammer the grammar: what do you need to work on? A quick review of the most important grammar rules

16:15-17:15: level A2 and up- read a text and improve your pronunciation.

Do you still want to continue studying on your own, at home? I know how difficult it can be and this is why I have created a self-study Facebook group where I can answer all your questions and help you with tips and advice.

Years ago, I attended a French meeting and I was sitting at a table, singing in French and chatting happily with my basic knowledge of French until one of the participants said something I didn’t understand, I told him that, and he replied "yes, you do understand" and repeated the same over and over, only louder each time. He turned out to be a French school teacher, and that threw me back to my memories of my bad experience in school. I felt so sorry for his pupils…. (If you recognize that embarrassed feeling and want to learn French in a fun way, go to my friend and mentor Sylvain Lelarge from Talenvoortalent.nl, he teaches online French as well for now).

Right there and then, I decided that I never wanted to become that type of teacher, so no question that you might have is ever too stupid or embarrassing and I’ll try to answer as well as I can. You can post your questions in a public post instead in a private chat, as this might help other students as well, since they may have the same questions as you do.

For those of you who don't like to follow Zoom lessons or want more & continued reading till this point, your reward is a fun puzzle. You always win if you mail me the correct answer! Hint: haan - an = ha + (bel - be =) l + l + (os - s =) o: hallo

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(LOTS OF) INFO ABOUT HOW THE LESSONS WORK:

Tailored Zoom lessons (Tuesday & Friday):

You can register for a fixed time (1 hour per week only + as many theme based Zoom lessons as you like), or make a new appointment at the end of your lesson or wait for the weekly WhatsApp message to see which last minute time slots are left.
If I have last minute slots available, you can sign up for as many as you like, even if you have already booked another tailored private hour as well.
1 person: €35 per hour/ €150 for 5 hours. (For those who trusted me enough and started their lessons before May: you will keep your old rates for now 😉 )
2 persons: €56 per hour together
3 persons: €80 per hour together
4 persons: €100 per hour together
You’ll need Zoom on your computer
You’ll receive an invitation link a few hrs before your course starts.
I need your mail address & mobile number to send files or in case something goes wrong in Zoom.
If you paid for 5 lessons in advance and you have some credit left, you can use it for any course I offer.

Theme based Zoom lessons, open for everyone (Thursday Afternoon):

€12,50 per person (unless specified otherwise)
1 hour each, around 15 participants max
In case there are less than 4 participants: lesson wil only be 45 minutes.
You’ll need Zoom on your computer
You’ll receive an invitation link a few hours before the course starts
You pay before the course, so you’ll have to register two hours before the course starts if you can pay with a “Tikkie”, otherwise at least two days ahead.
No cancellation fees
There is a possibility that the lesson will be recorded for later (online) use
You must have your camera on
You’ll have to participate and keep smiling 😉
In case you join late, I might not notice it and won’t let you in.
Let me know if you don’t want me to ask you to answer a question, so I will ask others.
I need your mail address & mobile number to send files/invoices or in case something goes wrong in Zoom.
Please let me know if you are familiar with Zoom, so I could ask you to share your screen when I split the group in break out rooms.
If we don’t know each other yet: Please send me a mail before joining with a bit about yourself, your reason to learn Dutch and your level of Dutch.
You might need some copies or items for those lessons, I will notify you when I send out the invitation links.

Private Walk & Talks (Mondays):

€200 per day for 1 person (11-4)
All levels
For the first 5 people who join: a beautiful bag for free
Bring your own food & drinks, if the restaurants are open again, we can go there, but you pay for your own lunch.
If the weather is bad, the course will be in my house, I’ll have coffee & tea 😉
You can bring 1 friend who is at the same level of Dutch: €300 together.
Mondays can not be used for Zoom-lessons.

Self-Study:

https://www.facebook.com/DistanceDutch/ you can post all the questions that you come across while doing some self-study. Post it in the public chat, I will answer as well as I can, and everyone can benefit. I will also post a new activity now and then.

Distance Learning:

https://www.learndutchfast.nl/courses.php#dl To improve your writing skills. I will check about 1 letter pp per week.