Inburgeringscursus (Integration Course)

A friend of mine asked me yesterday while we were chatting, "are you enthusiastic about going to school?". I answered with the rhetorical question "what do you think?". It's not that I don't like learning dutch. I actually find it an achievement that I can remember what aansprakelijkheidsverzekering is (I just need to memorize how to spell it!) or what arbeidsovereenkomst means. I don't even know what aansprakelijkheidsverzekering means in English. It's more like a personal insurance where if one breaks something accidentally like an expensive vase from the neighbor or accidentally spilled wine on an expensive carpet then the insurance will shoulder most of the expenses incurred. As for arbeidsovereenkomst that is simply a work contract. Such unfamiliar name for something we know so well in English huh?

Anyway going back to my enthusiasm in going to school. I find it "vervelend" (annoying) that our school cannot meet my demands in learning more about the dutch grammar. Quoting what our docent said, "the integration course is not a language course". But for me everything falls in that gaping hole called "Learning the Language". I guess I'm still miffed that our gemeente (municipality) do not provide for staatsexamen traject that easily like in other gemeentes. If only I knew that my speaking or shall I say lack of speaking Nederlands during my assessment will get in the way of me having the chance to go for full grammar lessons (which is what they offer in the staatsexamen traject) then I would have really tried my best to put together as many words as I could -broken sentences and all. There are also other organizational factors that I find lacking in our school. I would not go on with what those are or else I would end up making a novel instead of a blog. They are enough to note that these factors pull my enthusiasm down and topping it off is the fact that going to school means spending less time with my family. But what more can I do rather than just learn the grammar part on my own? I can only sigh and hope I make a bit of headway somehow.

Tonight for the first time I texted my mother-in-law in dutch. I formed about 6 sentences with 4 sentences grammatically incorrect, 1 misspelled word, and 2 perfectly written sentences. My husband was proud that I was able to write something that may not be grammatically correct but at least was understandable in meaning. He reassured me that I am making good progress and that I only need to speak more to get into the hang of dutch intricate sentence formation. Hearing this I was comforted somehow. I may not have made leaps and bounds with learning the language from the time I came here two years ago but at least I can say I am getting there somehow.

Everytime my husband and kids pick me up from school, Boris asks me, "so how was school today?". Maybe I would refrain from saying my usual comment of "hetzelfde" (the same) and try sharing with him the new words I have learned for that day. That, and then end the conversation with "onveranderd" :D