Cursisten over Maaike

I attended two years of Dutch classes with Maaike organized by the university of Amsterdam in small groups. Maaike is an excellent teacher. She puts a lot of emphasis on practicing speaking during the lessons which was very useful for me (I found that this is one of the hardest barriers in learning Dutch) in addition to the more traditional reading and writing exercises. Maaike has a very well thought curriculum which is very interactive and so the lessons are a lot of fun. She includes some exposure to the Dutch culture/movies/books which really helps you understand the Netherlands better. I attended one of the terms during the Covid-19 pandemic where classes took place via Zoom. Here, Maaike adapted to the virtual features amazingly well, including the usage of all the secret options of Zoom that I didn't even know existed and online-quizzes etc which made the lessons interactive despite being online. In addition she is extremely kind and highly organized (we would get summaries of the words taught in each lesson). In short, I highly recommend her.

Maaike makes studying Dutch easy because she is passionate about teaching the language. She puts much time and energy into getting to know not only the (special) needs / skills of her students but also their individual interests. By bringing various texts / internet material / audiovisual aids that I find fascinating, Maaike keeps me motivated. This way even annoying grammatical practices can stimulating. And as a bonus, she has a great personality: she is very friendly, flexible, thorough, gives a lot of positive feedback and patient!

Maaike is a great teacher, and the perfect contact if you want to learn Dutch! Before starting my lessons with Maaike, I have had a few teachers, and I must say that Maaike is the best teacher I have ever had — and this, having learnt 4 languages to date. She is a professional teacher — not one of these teaching in their free-time — and has good, pleasant way of teaching. She adapts the program to one’s needs, preferences and time availability for homework. She always suggests new activities and topics for discussion that keep one engaged with learning the language in a very natural way. She is an extremely pleasant and reliable person, which makes the lesson fun and effective.

I can highly recommend Maaike to anyone brave enough to dive into the intricacies of the Dutch language. She is diligent and structured yet considerate and understanding teacher. Results are great (of course you have to work hard too). Maaike is not only a great language trainer but also a great source of cultural as well as everyday life insights.

"Maaike is the best Dutch teacher I have ever had. I had three Dutch courses before meeting her. She is professional and dedicated. She set up a plan for our lessons based on my current level and my personal objectives with the Dutch language (first improving my conversation skills, then to pass the NT2 StaatsExamen). After a couple of lessons she identified which aspects of my Dutch I had to work out, soon people around me recognized that my Dutch had improved. She was always flexible to (re)organize the lessons, which I appreciated due to my work load and family commitments. In sum, if you are looking for a personal teacher, she is an excellent choice."

Maaike provided me with good and interesting materials (books, listening exercises, grammar and vocabulary) for the lessons, she focused on the points where I really needed to develop my skills. She can see well where you need help and she is tailoring her lessons according to that. She is very reliable, she was always in time and prepared. Also she helped me prepare for my NT2 exam by providing material and hints & tips about the exam. Thanks to all this I have passed the whole exam at the first time. I can just recommend her to everyone!

Maaike is a great professor of Dutch. She sticks to an all-Dutch class, takes into account your learning needs and preferences when designing the class structure and is an incredible source of information regarding everything that is happening in Amsterdan and around, making the lessons interesting, fun and a great way to integrate into the city's culture beyond, of course, the language. I have taken many Dutch classes since I moved to Amsterdam and Maaike's are the best so far.

I took 30 hours of Dutch training from Maaike and made great progress! She great at listening and spotting the weakness in my language skills and used this understanding to create structured lessons to tackle my development needs. A great teacher that puts in a lot of effort to really help you improve. Thanks Maaike!

Maaike is a superb Dutch teacher, professional, reliable and personable. During the very first day she evaluated my needs, objectives and priorities and she would give a follow up in every single lesson with precise feedback and tips that helped me learning Dutch in a fast but easy and practical peace. It was a pleasure to have Maaike as personal Dutch trainer and I highly recommend her.

In order to prepare for my NT2 exam I took private lessons from Maaike. I can say it was very effective way for me to learn Dutch and I passed that exam easily. She is very professional, has a lot of patience and is able to find a personal approach to each student. Dutch is not the easiest language; however she can explain complicated rules in a simple, understandable way. As I wrote before, Maaike is a really professional teacher and linguist, after the intake test she knew immediately what my gaps are how to fill them in and help me to reach my target. She also helped my husband with his Inburgering exam guiding him and providing with the necessary materials. We both were very happy with her help and we keep recommending her to the friends which need to learn Dutch. So, to the question if I know a good teacher of Dutch I always say “Yes!” meaning her.