Language buddies wanted!

Buddy projects are successful. New Dutch people are linked to 'old' Dutch people, elderly people with dementia to volunteers, young people with a disability to young people without a disability. All to ensure positive action. also to learn Italian you can make good use of language buddies!

Maximum input

'If you want to learn Italian, you just have to go to Italy,' I sometimes hear as a teacher. Of course it helps if you immerse yourself in the language. Thanks to all the possibilities of the internet, it is also possible to immerse yourself in Italian in the Netherlands. Social media, apps, newspapers, TV, everything can be reached via the computer. You need to maximize your input of Italian. As much as possible to come into contact with.

Help each other

A personal contact also has added value, that's for sure. That is why, as a teacher, I started a Facebook group where Dutch and Italians can get to know each other and then make appointments outside the group. A buddy project for Dutch and Italians. Then they can skype, email, chat, WhatsApp or meet in person. The idea is that you help an Italian with his Dutch, and the Italian helps you with your Italian!

Need a language buddy?

At the moment there are already quite a few Italians, especially migrants in the Netherlands, who have registered with the group. Probably because the group has an Italian name, Italians found the group easily. But I'm still looking for some Dutch people who are learning Italian for the buddy project. You can respond in the group to a message posted by an Italian, if you find it an interesting message. You can also post a message yourself and wait for the reactions you get before meeting someone.

Own experience

I myself had a language buddy for a while. I wanted to learn to better the subjunctive to use. That's how she corrected me when we were skyping. Our subjects were just everyday and personal things. We were basically just chatting about our activities, we did that at pre-arranged times. In addition, we exchanged our telephone numbers and if I had a question, I could quickly text it. She did.

Experiences of two participants

Stefano: 'I find this project very interesting and enjoyable. The goal is to improve by talking and listening. I met a nice person: we share experiences with each other and talk about things we both like, such as music, sports and our free time. Although improving speaking and listening depends on different abilities, I think this initiative is a useful idea. My suggestion to people who want to perfect the language is: join in!'

Monique van de Blom – Tetteroo: 'I am very pleased with the project. In addition to improving mutual oral language skills, you also learn about each other's culture. Music and sports, as well as politics and television programs are regular topics of discussion. The current means of communication make it possible to have contact with each other easily and in an informal way.'

Are you participating?

The group is called Tandem linguistico – Dutch / Italiano, where the two of you are on the same bike with the same goal: better learning a language.

You can also learn Italian through one of the many free Italian courses that you can find online.