Direct Dutch Institute - The Hague

Mário Ernest

I did courses from A1 to B2 with Direct Dutch. Highly recommend to everyone who is serious about their Dutch. Personal approach, great methodology and neverending Petra's enthusiasm were an amazing experience throughout my times at Direct Dutch :-).

Jiali Zhu

I have taken the A1 & A2 intensive course here taught by Ruud, Petra and Fiona. It was such a wonderful experience! I would recommend anyone who is interested in learning the Dutch language to start here.

Marijke de Kort

Had the best experience in the A1 & A2 intensive beginners course. Ruud, Fiona and Petra were all amazing and made the process smooth and gave me so much confidence. Would recommend their Dutch courses to anyone. Great mix of grammatical rules, history and conversational Dutch. Will be back for the next level 😀

Judit Varga

A wonderful course, it was a pleasure to be part of it. All the credit goes to the talented teachers who did their absolute best to deliver the lessons with clear directions using different tools in order to support the learning process. I found the lessons highly interactive and fun, and I heartily recommend them to anyone wishing to improve their Dutch language skills.

Santa Upeniece

An awesome school if you really want to learn Dutch fast. Went to another place first and they said it will take me about 1 year to get to level B2 (from 0). Then I went to Direct Dutch and took the intensive courses, got from 0 - B2 in 4 months, was able to find a job (Dutch speaking) while still in B1. Short story - it worked for me. You have to love Petra (super funny and dramatic:) and Ruud (super intelligent) - they really have a great balance.

Pritha M (Pritha M)

Direct Dutch is the best thing that happened to me in regards to learning Dutch! I've gone through long self-study and a couple of private classes but nothing had helped me to be able to 'hear' Dutch conversations clearly. When you can't hear, you can't speak. That's what happened to me. I enrolled myself in their 2-week Intensive Program. By the time I finished the course, I could 'hear' Dutch conversation crystal clear and I am now able to speak with confidence. It definitely clicked something in my head! I even had a dream in Dutch after I attended my first-day course! My subconscious is finally absorbing everything into my system.

I love Ruud, Petra and Fiona who were so professional, funny, smart, supportive, sweet and friendly. They all made me feel like, YES, I CAN! Every word and every sentence that we were able to speak in the class was always a big celebration. When a student feels a sense of success, it will push them further. That's how I felt the entire time!

Last but not least, I think Yolande, their Office Coordinator, plays a HUGE role in terms of whether or not I was gonna go with Direct Dutch. For someone who is being put at the frontier and corresponding with every potential student her way of communicating is excellent! You can 'hear' friendliness and clarity through every sentence she has written. I have decided to go with Direct Dutch right away after being in touch with Yolande.

If you're looking for a boost in your Dutch language, no matter what your level is, Direct Dutch is the only place to be! You will be guided by the professionals and you'll be taken care of even after you finished the course. They sincerely care about students' ability and success in speaking Dutch and they are encouraging you to keep on practicing so that you won't lose it. They also have amazing monthly events at Den Haag public library where you could come and join for free, such as; workshops & film club. You will be able to practice your Dutch there too. I think it's such a great effort to keep their students to stay in touch with them even after they graduated.

Jurgita M

Are you looking for a school to study Dutch? Then Direct Dutch IS the school you want to go to! Why? Let me tell you why: teachers are fantastic, the teaching method is excellent, and if you stay with them from A1 till B2 (like I did), by the end of B2 course, you will be cracking jokes in Dutch language using inversions (the beauty of NL language!) and pronouncing words like "waarschijnlijk" easy-peasy. Of course, this does not come without homework! That one is your own responsibility. If you follow the teaching method they use - in less than 1 year you will get B2! Super experience!

Natasha N

Unorganized and unprofessional

I enrolled for an online course and received the confirmation saying that my spot was (temporarily) reserved. I was suggested, not asked, to take an online test and an interview in order to assess my level. As I was still finishing another Dutch course, I informed them that I would do the test and the interview after my course. They told me there wasn´t any problem, so that´s what I did. On the same day I was supposed to start the course in DirectDutch, I received an email with information about other courses (not the one I enrolled for). In the interview on that same day, they confirmed that the course where I had a spot reserved had been filled. Not only they did not inform me that I could lose my spot in any time (being the “temporarily reserved” just a fable), they even assured it would not be a problem to take the test and interview later. On top of that, I had to find out the course was full by casually deducing it from an email about other courses, and on the same day the course I enrolled for was starting. At this point, I cannot find any other course starting any time soon because they are obviously full. Therefore, I lost precious time to improve my Dutch which is an urgent necessity for me. Thank you DirectDutch!
However, what makes me even more disappointed and indignant is how they managed my situation. I expected them to assume their responsibility: attend my complains and hear my suggestions. They did not have time for that in the end of the interview, and avoided my calls afterwards. That is what I call unprofessional, unorganized and unreliable.

@DirectDutch So, in case you ever decide to self-reflect and be honest with yourselves and the others, here are the problems I experienced and that you could easily improve:
- Do not “suggest” but ask to do the test, as it is actually a requirement. Do not say it is not a problem to do the test and interview later, instead of informing me that I may lose my spot, because it is actually not reserved.
- In the enrolment confirmation email, do not say “We have - temporarily - reserved a place for you in course X”, but rather: “You are now on the list for the course X. Please be aware that you do not have a place in the course until you take both the test and the interview.”
- Include a list of the Grammar requirements for the course. That is the cherry on the top of the cake, but it is especially handy for new clients coming from a different Dutch School.
- Do not set the interview at times you are not available, then change it 4 times (literally). Also, do it as it is done in professional environments, sending a link to the meeting or at least informing with enough time about how and where it will take place. If you cannot do just an interview in a clear and simple way, it is likely that the classes will be a mess too.

You are welcome for my extensive, thorough and free feedback. I sincerely hope that you will take my comment in a constructive way so that you can improve.