Maturity is the ability to think, speak and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity. The measure of your maturity is how spiritual you become during the midst of your frustrations. – Samuel Ullman
I just got mail from the TU Delft today informing that the Dutch course for which I registered will not push through because of lack of participants. I have prepared so well for this course by doing self-study for about two months and reviewing for the entrance exam. I was so excited and actually proud that I’m taking my NT2 (Dutch as 2nd language) course at a university. What more, I actually passed the high level course — the last level for Dutch that the university offers, a preparation for the state exam.
But now, I’m (again) facing a blank wall. I’m actually starting to think that while I am so motivated with learning dutch, the universe just do not agree with me. Integration is a problem in The Netherlands because so many people living here refuse to learn the language and live along with the society. Here I am, open to a new language, a new culture and a new society, but it just does not open so many possibilities for me.
While in other municipalities, integration courses are offered (free) for highly-educated people, we live in a municipality that only offers the lowest requirement for integration possible. Some municipalities even offer dutch education to a level where one can pass the state exam, but Vlaardingen only offers it to level A2. The state exam level is level B2. The European Common Framework for languages are as follows: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2.
That is why we decided to just do it ourselves. We chose a method that fits my education level, a total method of learning the language and knowing the society — the delftse methode. Finally, everything is ready, I passed the exam for the highest level of the course (they have three courses and the two first courses, you can do via self-study), paid the course (from our own pockets because the municipality will not shoulder it), bought the requirements, maar helaas, het gaat niet door! Ik kan alleen zeggen dat ik bijzonder teleurgesteld ben!
I stopped looking for work and devoted my time for self-study and reviewing because I wanted to get it over and done with before I look for work. One step at a time, we thought. If my dutch is good, that is also good for the kind of work I want to do. But the next course starts in November. That is three more months away. Now I feel stuck again. It’s like life can’t go on… and on… and on…#
