Are you specifically a language teacher?
I am a language teacher and started at BSB with French and Spanish. Later, I added German, but now I mainly teach Dutch. Last year we launched the primary school lessons, and I became the coordinator of the Dutch department in both the primary and secondary schools.

Are you a native Dutch speaker?
es, I was born and raised in Antwerp. But my father is a German speaker, so I was raised bilingual Dutch-German.

Secondary students can take Dutch classes at BSB if they want. Why did you make Dutch lessons for primary school students compulsory?
French was, and still is, compulsory, and we thought they should also have the opportunity to learn Dutch. We are in Tervuren, a Dutch-speaking city. We thought it was very important to teach them the local language and to make them interested in the local community. That’s our goal, to be integrated into the community and not function as an international island. We take them to the local market, for example, and we do projects with local Flemish schools. Language is a very important bridge to integration.

Is Dutch compulsory for secondary school students?
No, but because they now have it in primary school, they will be more inclined to continue it later in secondary school.

How does teaching the younger kids compare with teaching the older kids?
It’s a big difference! In primary school, I use a lot of songs, rhymes and games. We do some drama. It’s much livelier. They love the subject. It is based on communication, so the grammar is not important at this point. But we also have a section for native or near-native speakers of Dutch. If the language is spoken at home by one or both parents, but the children have never been in the Flemish school system, they are not familiar with reading or writing the language. So they get extra lessons, and we teach them grammar.

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