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Cours Intensif De Néerlandais

We have developed a Dutch course to prepare students who wish to study intensively for a year in a Dutch or Flemish faculty and which mutatis mutandis could be adapted to other European languages. While this course is relevant to students of all faculties, it is particularly important for arts students, since the arts faculties in Portugal teach a very limited range of languages that do not in any way correspond to the reality of a united Europe. We have ascertained that, thanks to the preparatory courses, the students profit more from their sojourn abroad and learn far more of the language of the country in which they study. We also believe that this will help Portugal catch up as regards EU languages, which are (virtually) not taught at all in Portugal, as in the case of Dutch. The rudiments of the Dutch language are taught intensively (four hours a day) for three weeks. The focus is on providing a good grammatical base and ensuring practical mastery of the language so as to address typical situations (such as shopping, asking one's way, visiting the doctor, etc.) without necessarily falling back on English. Since the European Union is not the United States of Europe and since, therefore, each language corresponds to a different culture, it is important to prepare students for the cultural shock they will have to face. For this reason the courses should be given by teachers who are familiar with both cultures. The cultural dimension of the course is different from that of other foreign language courses, which either omit culture altogether or reduce it to a pageant of historical figures or traditions which exist exclusively or chiefly to satisfy tourists. We consider it more interesting to draw attention to sociocultural aspects.