Joost smiling for the camera

Teacher: Joost

About

Acquiring a foreign language opens a door to being home in a new world, culture and society. Ever since I became a student of foreign culture, I have encountered this myself and this adventure has fascinated me from day one. The joy one can get out of learning a language and culture abroad, getting ownership in it by becoming part of it is something I want to help others experience as well.

I believe in playful and activating lessons, functional learning objectives and having fun while learning. Each one learns in his/her own way, and by learning together and simulating real life events I like to make the gap between the classroom and the real world as small as possible. What does your Dutch world look like, and how will we expand it?

Brief CV

Joost has been interested in culture and foreign language since a young age, but it started blooming particularly while traveling frequently in Europe and learning modern Greek between 2014 and 2016 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. When he moved to Greece in 2016, the kick he got out of making a foreign environment and language his own triggered him to teach others. In Thessaloniki, Greece, he has worked as a Dutch teacher for language institute Lord Byron (2017-2018), My Lingo Trip (2017-2019), the NTC Dutch school of Thessaloniki “De Kikkertjes” (2018-2020) and Pleyade Eduployment (2018-2020). After returning permanently to the Netherlands in March 2020, he started his post-bachelor studies for NT2 teacher (teacher of Dutch as a second language). During this course, he has been interning and working as a Dutch teacher in a program for non-native speakers at an ROC (public vocational school). He is now a certified Dutch teacher and currently Joost works for several training courses.

 

Reviews

Passionate and patient teacher!

Really great intro to Dutch with a passionate and patient teacher! – Liam

Interesting and productive learning experience

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Kookoovaja. Small classes and a variety of learning methods resulted in an interesting and productive learning experience. – Kester

Excellent experience!

My experience with Kookoovaja has been excellent so far. Fun lessons that will definitely help you improve your Dutch language skills. Highly recommended! – Ilias

A fun, structured and innovative way to learn!

If you want to learn Dutch in a fun, structured and innovative way, this is the place to be! In a short amount of time I felt very comfortable with the language and the way of learning in Kookoovaja! – Christina

My Dutch has improved and my confidence also

Thank you Samantha for the wonderful semester class. I enjoyed our cosy, stimulating sessions. Thank you for supporting and encouraging us, and challenging us to learn a bit more each day. I definitely feel my Dutch has improved and my confidence also 🙂 – Yukari

Interesting course with really nice energy!

The energy during the class was really nice as well as the environment, making learning Dutch interesting and fun! – Nikos

Super fun and useful!

My beginner’s Dutch class at Kookoovaja was super fun and useful! I can now confidently order at a café or shop at the market and make small talk with Dutch colleagues at work. Totally recommend it! – Eva

Learn while having fun

After the course, I am able to introduce myself and make my orders at bars or restaurants. I can initiate small conversations with the locals. It feels great to learn while having fun. – Sofia

A sense of community

This is my second course with Kookoovaja and it has been just as worthwhile as the first! It was nice to see most of my class companions from the previous block, because then there was a sense of community and speaking and learning became more easy-going. – Julia

I would definitely recommend it!

I am very happy that I’ve chosen to learn Dutch with Kookoovaja! I enjoyed the exercises, the grammar was very well structured and being exposed to Dutch conversations developed considerably my ability to follow the people around me. The teacher made learning a difficult language very fun and I could see progress shortly after I started the course. I would definitely recommend Kookoovaja! – Luiza