The Cactus Course Outlines provide a learning framework for the Cactus Foreign Language Evening Courses. They are designed to provide you with a good idea of what you might cover over a 10-week period, and include typical themes, grammar and vocabulary fields. They are flexible rather than prescriptive, in that our teachers may decide to adapt their learning plans to the specific level, aims and interests of their classes. Use the tabs below to view the relevant Dutch course outline for your level.
Dutch Beginner 1
Topics & Vocabulary:
- Introductions- incl. greetings, nationalities, names of different European countries, reasons for studying Dutch
- Dutch alphabet
- Asking ‘how are you’? (Formal and informal addressing)
- Introducing somebody else
- Counting
- Getting familiar with telephone conversations
- Personal details (address, postcode, telephone number, date of birth)
- Describing people (character, appearance)
- Giving an opinion (likes & dislikes)
- Talking about family and friends
- Time (clock), days
Grammar:
- Personal pronouns
- Possessive pronouns
- Demonstrative pronouns
- Present tense (regular and irregular verbs)
- Negations
- Some prepositions
- Some interrogative pronouns
- Word order in main and question sentences
- Definite and indefinite articles
- Using the adjectives
- Adverbs
- Plural nouns
- Use of ‘er’
Cultural Content:
- Geography
- Formal and informal language
- Cycling
Skills Work:
- Lots of speaking/(inter) active practice
- Spelling
- Lots of listening (dialogues)
- Pronunciation
- Exercises and Language-Learning activities, such as role-plays
Dutch Beginner 2
Topics & Vocabulary:
- Daily life
- Home activities
- Describing daily routine and weekend activities
- Common feelings; having an argument
- Talking about your daily routine in the past; biography
- Professions; job advertisements, talking about work
- Making compliments
Grammar:
- Review & practice Beginners 1 grammar
- Separable verbs
- Reflexive verbs
- Modal verbs
- Reflexive pronouns
- Adverbs (frequency)
- Use of ‘er’
- Perfect tense, participial
- professions gender (male/female form)
- Irregular verbs
Cultural Content:
- Food Culture
- Famous Dutch artists
- Dutch landscapes
Skills Work:
- Lots of speaking/(inter) active practice
- Spelling
- Lots of listening (Dutch/Flemish pop music, dialogues)
- Pronunciation
- Exercises and Language-Learning activities, such as role-plays
Dutch Beginner 3
Topics & Vocabulary:
- Eating & Drinking
- Making suggestions
- Ordering and paying in a café or restaurant
- Orientation; giving directions, asking the way
- Leisure Time
Grammar:
- Review & practice Beginners 2 grammar
- Diminutives
- Prepositions
- Adverbs (direction)
- Indirect questions
- The imperative
- The ordinal
- Conjunction, combining sentences (word order)
Cultural Content:
- Money
- Dutch versus Flemish food culture
- Tourism in the Netherlands
- Sport
Skills Work:
- Lots of speaking/(inter) active practice- dialogues, presentations
- Spelling
- Lots of listening (Dutch/Flemish pop music, dialogues)
- Pronunciation
- Exercises and Language-Learning activities, such as role-plays
Dutch Elementary 1
Topics & Vocabulary:
- Home; weekend activities, interior
- Making an appointment
- Describing something (making comparisons)
- Talking about future events
- Talking about past events
- The weather, months, seasons
- Expressing a general agreement
- Talking about holidays
Grammar:
- Revisiting the previous levels’ grammar
- Future tense
- The imperfect (simple past) (regular and irregular)
- The comparative
- Use of ‘er’
Cultural Content:
- The way of living in the Netherlands
- Ice skating
- National feasts: Queen’s day and Sinterklaas
Skills Work:
- Lots of speaking/(inter) active practice- dialogues, presentations
- Writing practice- personal stories
- Lots of listening (Dutch/Flemish pop music, dialogues)
- Pronunciation
- Exercises and Language-Learning activities, such as role-plays
Dutch Elementary 2
Topics & Vocabulary:
- Eating & Drinking
- Dutch recipes
- Buying goods and clothing
- The body
- Asking for the price
- Expressing personal likes and dislikes
- Asking and giving information
Grammar:
- Review & practice Elementary 1
- Relative pronouns
- Superlatives
- Some/any
- Ordinal numbers
- Word order direct object and indirect object
- Diminutives –etje and –pje
Cultural content:
- Food culture
- Dutch mentality
- Grocery shopping in the Netherlands
Skills Work:
- Lots of speaking/(inter) active practice- dialogues, presentations
- Writing practice- personal stories, reviews, etc.
- Lots of listening (Dutch/Flemish pop music, dialogues)
- Pronunciation
- Exercises and Language-Learning activities, such as role-plays
Dutch Elementary 3
Topics & Vocabulary:
- Holidays
- Newspapers & Magazines
- Health/illness
- Asking for information on the phone (holiday bookings)
- Nationalities
- Telling a story
- Expressing personal likes & dislikes
Grammar:
- Review & practice Elementary 2
- The conditional
- The passive voice
- Conjunctions omdat and want
Cultural Content:
- Geography
- Medical care
- Ethnic minorities in the Netherlands
Skills Work:
- Lots of speaking/(inter) active practice- dialogues, presentations
- Writing practice- personal stories, reviews, etc.
- Lots of listening (Dutch/Flemish pop music, dialogues)
- Pronunciation
- Exercises and Language-Learning activities, such as role-plays
Dutch Advanced
Topics & Vocabulary:
Primarily topics of students’ choice
Grammar:
- Choice of grammar topics according to students’ needs
Cultural Content:
- Literature and film – extracts
- Personal experiences
Skills Work:
- Focus on speaking
- Writing practice – e.g. short stories, reviews and comments, advertisements
- Plenty of listening activities – authentic sources, e.g. Radio, TV, films and CDs
- Analyzing and evaluating newspapers articles
- Summarizing interviews, biographies
Dutch Proficiency
Topics & Vocabulary:
Primarily topics of students’ choice
Grammar:
- Choice of grammar topics according to students’ needs
Cultural Content:
- Literature and film – extracts
- Personal experiences
Skills Work:
- Focus on speaking
- Writing practice – e.g. essays on an Academic level, reviews and comments, advertisements
- Plenty of listening activities – authentic sources, e.g. Radio, TV, films and CDs
- Analyzing and evaluating newspapers articles
- Summarizing interviews, biographies
