Taal aan Zee

About Taal aan Zee

Learn, meet and connect!
With the support of a small team of paid employees, more than 300 volunteers in The Hague provide customized Dutch lessons to vulnerable non-native speakers, refugees and asylum seekers.

The main goal is to strengthen their self-reliance and promote their participation in society.
Taal aan Zee reaches approximately 1200 non-native speakers who do not (yet) have access to regular education each year.

- Asylum seekers and refugees receive lessons centrally at our new address at Calandstraat 1 in The Hague. On the 5th floor, volunteers give Dutch lessons (NT2) to asylum seekers and refugees from Monday to Friday.

- Vulnerable non-native speakers receive Dutch lessons at home or in small groups at a location nearby. Language coaches from Taal aan Zee teach socially vulnerable non-native women and men in The Hague. They receive customized Dutch lessons at home, or - if possible - in a small group nearby in the neighborhood. The group lessons are for example in community centres or at schools or at organisations such as Kessler and SHOP. Due to circumstances, the non-native speakers cannot (yet) attend a regular course to learn Dutch.

- Language-at-Sea buddies
Language buddies help asylum seekers and refugees to practice daily language situations. The buddies meet (on average) once a week to borrow a book from the library, ask for information about a course at the community centre, ask for directions on the street, but also to practice for a job interview. In this way, the participant learns to cope better in the city and learns more about our customs and Dutch culture.

- As a language volunteer in the library, you supervise conversation meetings at one of the library locations, where non-native speakers practice the Dutch language with each other (immigrants, old-timers, refugees, expats). We ask for an availability of 2.5 hours per week. If you do not want to be deployed weekly, this is certainly negotiable.

At Taal aan Zee you can also find up-to-date information about the entire educational language offering for adults in The Hague.