Inburgering: DUO Project

In my last entry, I touched on some extra programs offered by the Gemeente to further your language study during your year in the inburgeringscursus. There's the internship for a Dutch company, a partner project, and reading, writing, and speaking groups. Mostly for those who do not have the luxury of being able to practice with a Dutch partner, students working on inburgering can chose any combination they wish. However, these programs are not mandatory. I have chosen to follow a speaking group and to do what is called the DUO Project. Here's how it works:

Once you have informed your contact person at the Gemeente that you wish to do this project, they will assign you a project leader who will call you in for an interview. You will be asked about your family life, your interests and hobbies, what sorts of things you like to do in your spare time, etc. Then they will try to find out what kinds of things you like in another person  and your preferences: age, profession, schooling, interests, hobbies, personality, and so on. Once that's been taken care of, they will look through their list of volunteers (vrijwilligers) and match you up with one based on what was uncovered during your interview. In all cases, the vrijwilliger will be a native Dutch speaker and, more than likely, one that lives nearby. You will then be called in to meet with your partner under supervision of your project leader, at which time you will plan your first meeting. At that point, you and your partner are on your own.

Over the course of six months, you will meet with your partner. The recommended amount of time spent is two hours every other week. However, you can certainly spend more time (or less) together if you wish. If, after a few meetings, you are unhappy with your match or would like someone else, it is just a matter of contacting your project leader, who will find someone else for you. At the end of the six months, you and your partner will meet again with your project leader to discuss how things went and do an evaluation of your progress and the program.

So what do you do during your meetings with your partner? Anything you want! You can go to a museum, a concert, a park, a movie, you can go out for a meal or cook in together, you can meet up for coffee or go shopping, or just hang out in one of your homes and talk. Of course, you can be creative and come up with other activities. Your project leader will give your partner a book of activity ideas as well. The idea is that, whatever you do, you speak to each other in Dutch.

Yesterday, I had my first meeting with my DUO Project partner, whom we'll call Jo. We met at Jo's home where we chatted with her roommate over coffee and freshly baked cake before heading off to a local cafe for a drink or two. Because of the holiday coming up, we have decided to meet again this Friday for lunch. I had a really great time and feel that, in this case, our project leader did an excellent job in matching us up. The one-on-one aspect really forces you to use your Dutch and your partner is always there to help you with vocabulary and grammar. As your partner's level of English can vary, it can sometimes become a fun game to convey an idea when you don't understand the Dutch, they don't understand the English, and there's no Dutch-English dictionary to rely on!

The DUO Project is yet another program offered to inburgering students that I must highly recommend!





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