Brussels Huis van het Nederlands turns 10
The Huis van het Nederlands (House of Dutch) in Brussels celebrates a decade of promoting Dutch courses in the capital
Night of Ambition aims to motivate Brussels residents to learn Dutch
In the decade since its launch, the services of Huis van het Nederlands have greatly increased. Last year, a record number 19,890 people followed a Dutch course via the centre. Over the 10 years, it has referred about 85,000 people to a Dutch course in the capital.
According to director Gunther Van Neste, about two-thirds of the students seek to learn Dutch to make them more employable. He also notices a rising interest among expats.
A remarkable recent trend is the growing enthusiasm among inhabitants of the canal zone in Brussels. About one in five students currently comes from the district of Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, while five years ago, the number was one in 10. Van Neste thinks the reason is rapid word of mouth in the close communities of Molenbeek.
When compared to students at branches across Flanders, those in the Brussels Huis are more often highly educated: 36% versus 18%. The number of – mostly Francophone – Belgians that consult the Huis keeps on rising, up to 35% of all students in 2012. The Moroccan community is the second largest group, with 10%.
Huis van het Nederlands has also focused on campaigns to promote Dutch in the capital. Bijt in Brussel (Bite in Brussels), for example, invites non-Dutch speakers to leisure activities, and Duidelijke Taal (Clear Language) teaches organisations how to improve their interaction with non-Dutch speakers.
