News & tips

An Italian in the Netherlands How did I manage my first year living in the Netherlands? So far so good, but here are some reflections and tips  that may help my fellow Italians in the Netherlands. Driving and road signs Though I have no problems driving, my orienteering skills are practically non-existent. You may say […]

Why learn Hindi? Even though Hindi might not give you exciting career possibilities, and you probably won’t be able to speak it every day, it is a great language to learn, for several reasons. You can hear it spoken more and more frequently even in Europe…

Learning Dutch, 7 great words Do you sometimes feel limited when you are expressing your feelings in Dutch? Life is amazingly great, and all you have in your repertoire is ‘heel goed!’ What spectrum and degrees of comparison do the Dut

16 Tips on how to expand your Dutch vocabulary What is more important when learning a language; knowledge of grammar or acquisition of vocabulary? Well, you do need words to form your very first sentences. Putting them in the right for

HOW THE DUTCH SHOULD NOT SPEAK ENGLISH This is an article for native Dutch speakers, who were used to speak Dutch at work, but because of international colleagues, need to speak English, at least at all team meetings. Although most of

Why and how should you learn Polish?” WHY LEARN POLISH? Come on, the reason to learn ANY language is to broaden our horizons, challenge our brains and talk to people representing different cultures. So let’s rephrase the questions thus: if

SOME OF MY STRATEGIES AND JOYS OF LEARNING MULTIPLE LANGUAGES’ LEARNING VOCABULARY “How can you remember so many words in so many languages?” Remembering individual words is hard, especially in your fourth, sixth,

JE MAINTIENDRAI! ‘Heb je je bagage? Ik neem de paraplu wel. Even mijn portemonnee pakken. De chauffeur wacht op ons!’ This is just an ordinary conversation in Dutch between two people travelling. Or isn’t it ? Taking a closer look

LEARNING THROUGH THE CORONA RETREAT Dear language learners. This post is about fun in learning, for all of you out there studying a foreign language. Think about the long-term and stay strong in these difficult times of the Covid-19.

DUTCH SLANG FOR TEENS Every linguistic community has its own slang. Funnily enough the Dutch mainly use slang from other languages. In Highschool they flourish like nowhere else. Here are a couple of teenage slang words for your youngster

BITING THE BULLET My student Gabor, from Hungary, is just starting to get familiarized with Dutch expressions. He’s been living in Amsterdam for ten years and has taken several Dutch courses. He is at an Intermediate level but has forgotten quite

MAGIC AND THE FLOWENTLY METHOD I wish Flowently was around when I was learning Dutch. Their method focuses precisely on the aspects of the language that caused me trauma when I came to this country. Take the nightmare called

My vocabulary was like the Hulk’s Niala Maharaj discovers foreign language anxiety ‘What’s wrong with you?’ a friend asked as we came out of a bakery. ‘What?’ ‘You became another person in there, a shy, timid woman talking very softly so

Representing Flowently at Expat Family Market, tutors and international families shared their experiences. The visitors are all expat-families looking for reinforcement to feel more comfortable and confident with the Dutch language in social interactions

A CALL WITH ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS Many years ago I was living in Amsterdam and was about to end a long telephone conversation with one of my best friends who I hadn’t seen in 6 months. We had talked for at least 45 minutes and I had

FEELING AT HOME, EVEN WHEN YOU ARE IN BETWEEN HOUSES As a language institute, Flowently offers the opportunity to connect people, to feel at home in the Netherlands through language proficiency, even when they are not yet installed

WHY HIRING FOR CULTURAL FIT DOESN’T HAVE TO UNDERMINE DIVERSITY Although most managers would agree that it is important to hire people who fit in, the idea of hiring for culture fit has become controversial (1). Our work suggests

WHY EXPAT PARENTS SHOULD LEARN DUTCH Let’s assume you’ve arrived in the Netherlands with your family. Now everyone feels happy and overwhelmed by all new impressions! Living in a new house, town, a new language and culture