‘We talk about everything’

When international employees at UU start learning Dutch, few expect one of their main challenges to be a shortage of people to practice the language with. After all, they are in the Netherlands. Yet, that is exactly what happens. 

The Netherlands consistently ranks as the country with the highest English proficiency as a second language globally: nearly 95 percent of the population speaks English well. As a result, many Dutch people switch to English when they notice that someone has an accent or struggles to express themselves. 

Enter the Language Buddy programme, which matches 35 pairs of buddies on average each year. The idea is simple: UU introduces you to another employee, and then you meet your buddy regularly for coffee, a walk, lunch, etc. 

The matches are made according to participants’ preferences, explains the programme’s coordinator, Barbra Nagelhout, HR at the Faculty of Geosciences. “We take into account whether someone works at Science Park or the city centre, for example.”

The format is flexible, so participants are not tied to a specific frequency or duration. It is up to the buddies to decide when and how to meet. 

“We clicked right away”

The language buddies Jasmin (left) and Ruth (right)

Jasmin Logg-Scarvell and Ruth Cramer have been language buddies for 2.5 years. They meet each other every Monday morning at Minnaert Café for a one-hour chat. 

“It’s a happy way to start the week,” says Jasmin, who comes from Australia and is pursuing a PhD at the Faculty of Geosciences. Ruth is a department manager in Pedagogy at the Faculty of Social Sciences. 

“I wanted to learn Dutch because it sounds beautiful and because language is such an essential part of a culture. Maybe I’ll stay here after my PhD, and if I don’t speak the language well, I won’t get anywhere,” explains Jasmin. 

As for Ruth, she decided to become a language buddy after meeting colleagues from other countries who wanted to learn Dutch, but no one spoke Dutch back to them. “Everyone thinks: ‘Oh, you can’t do it anyway’ or ‘Let’s just switch to English, it’s easier.’” 

The first time
Jasmin was a bit shy during their first meeting. “I was excited, but lacked the vocabulary to express everything.”

Ruth didn’t mind that, though. “It’s a beautiful thing to watch someone’s progress, especially when they’re motivated like Jasmin.” Despite the gaps in Jasmin’s vocabulary, they both say that the click was there from the beginning. 

Things have gotten much easier since then. “I used to pay a lot of attention to what I said, making sure not to use too complicated words or sentence structures, but I don’t do that as much now,” says Ruth.

They are also getting into more complex subjects, such as politics (both Australia and the Netherlands had elections this year) and climate change policy. 

A different perspective
Ruth likes how Jasmin makes her view her own language differently. “I started thinking about expressions that don’t make sense upon closer inspection.”

“Sometimes we end up focusing on a specific word. Or a type of word. I really like it when that happens,” Jasmin adds. Ruth: “We talk a lot about nuances. For example, there’s a difference between happy and glad. When are you gelukkig and when are you blij? And how can you express mixed feelings?”

As a result, not only has Jasmin’s Dutch improved, but Ruth’s English has become more nuanced, too. She is also learning a lot about Australian English and culture. They had a good laugh about how many words Australians have for bathing suits. “You can say togs, bathers, cossies, boardies… We also have budgie smugglers, which means speedos,” Jasmin explains. 

Funny situations
Misunderstandings happen, of course, but they are often funny. The Dutch word vriend, which means both "friend" and "significant other", can lead to confusion. If you say mijn vriend, that means “my boyfriend”, not “my friend.” Friends are only referred to as een vriend (a friend). “I must say I still have a hard time with that one,” says Jasmin. “It’s hard not to say ‘my friend’ when you’re telling a story.”

Jasmin and Ruth also spent some time scrutinising the word echtgenoot (spouse). Echt means “real” and the verb genieten, whose past participle is genoten, means “to enjoy”. But the genoot in echtgenoot actually comes from the noun genoot, which means someone who is taking part in something. Jasmin asked: “So, your spouse is someone you really enjoy?” 

“That’s when I realised how weird this word is. And then you also have bondgenoten (allies), soortgenoten (peers), studiegenoten (fellow students)…” Ruth says with a laugh.

Friends
“Ruth is more than a language buddy now. She’s a friend,” says Jasmin. “I feel comfortable sharing things about my life. I feel more at ease talking about my feelings in Dutch than I do in English. People in Australia don’t talk that much about their feelings. Ruth and I talk about everything, and she gives me advice.”

“The feeling is mutual,” says Ruth. “How nice is it to bump into each other this way, almost by chance, and then just click? That’s a gift, isn’t it?”

“It’s a win-win situation”

The language buddies Laia (left) and Mandy (right).

Mandy Aardenne and Laia Anguix have been blessed with the same gift. They hug each other and exchange gifts as they meet at Minnaert café. Mandy has brought Laia a bag from Mexico, where she recently went on vacation, and Laia has brought Mandy a box of shortbread from Scotland, where she attended a conference. It looks like the two women have known each other for a long time, but they actually met a few months ago, before the summer. 

Laia is a postdoctoral researcher in Art History, specialising in Museum Studies. She comes from Spain and has been living in the Netherlands for three years. Mandy Aardenne is an HR advisor at the Faculty of Geosciences. She has lived in Mexico for four years and now takes Spanish classes, so she had a preference for a buddy who also speaks Spanish. 

Laia and Mandy speak Dutch most of the time, but Laia sometimes helps Mandy out with her homework. “It’s a win-win situation,” says Mandy.

Laia lives in Eindhoven, so they don’t always meet in person. Their first meeting was online, but even so, they felt an instant click. “I’m usually shy, but Mandy always has a good question. She knows how to get me to speak,” says Laia. 

“I don’t know what she’s talking about!” Mandy laughs. And then ponders: “I guess I’m just interested in people. As an HR advisor, I’m also distant from research, so I’m curious about her work as a postdoc. Again, it’s win-win. I get to learn about something interesting, and she gets to talk about something she knows well.”

Comfortable
Laia appreciates how Mandy makes her feel because she’s had a bad experience with a Dutch teacher in the past. “The teacher said, in front of the entire classroom: ‘Did any of you understand what Laia said? She pronounced it so badly that I didn’t understand a thing.’” She got so embarrassed that she left the course.

“I know what it’s like to live somewhere where you don’t speak the language,” says Mandy. “The most important thing is for Laia to feel comfortable when she speaks.” For this reason, she avoids correcting her all the time. “Our conversations are not focused on grammar. If she’s struggling with anything, I try to support her, but usually we just talk about our lives and the things we’re interested in.” 

Laia has since regained her confidence and joined another Dutch course. “I’m less embarrassed to make mistakes now.” 

Crazy
One of Mandy’s reasons for joining the programme is how “crazy” it is for her that Dutch learners in the Netherlands don’t get many opportunities to practice. “They can’t even do so while doing groceries anymore. Supermarkets are all self-scan now, and the waiters speak English at restaurants." 

"From an Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) point of view, being inclusive also means providing our international colleagues with opportunities to practice Dutch,” argues Mandy, who says she always encourages other Dutch employees to join the Language Buddy programme.

Laia does the same with her international peers. “Many of them think: ‘I’m only going to be here for a short time, why bother learning Dutch?’ But you never know what’s going to happen. Language always opens doors. It makes your world bigger and increases your opportunities in ways that you might not expect.”

Minnaert Café is about to close. The two buddies order a final round of coffee as they show each other pictures of their dogs. In Dutch, of course.