# Hoi! How good does your Dutch have to be to survive then thrive in Holland?



## iloveallthingsfood (Nov 25, 2011)

Hello! / Hoi

I am wanting to move to the Netherlands from Britain in a year or two if possible. I love Holland, the Dutch and the Dutch way of life. (I am also sick of the anti-semitism I'm experiencing in Britain at the moment.) I speak little to no Dutch so I am doing a beginners evening class at my local uni. If I pass I get a certificate at the end from the uni. I think Dutch sounds wonderful and its a beautiful language but I find it really hard to learn (but fun at the same time) - but it is slowly starting to sink in. I tend to take longer to learn things than others and then when I get it finally I'm fine. I find being taught in a class very helpful.

My problem is work clashing with my studying. I am having a bit of a nightmare with shifts and working patterns. I am temping at the minute and the place where I'm temping won't let me have one evening shift a week off work to study - which I understand from their point of view as they need workers but it leaves me with the problem of how I learn Dutch. When I started on my course I was with another agency and the hours fitted round my course but then the work ran dry and so I jumped ship to another agency - but they give you work on the proviso that you're able to do the job (data entry so not hard) and don't mind travelling to rough areas and doing late shifts. I can't not work as I have a work ethic and could only qualify for benefits if I lost my job (which in recession times could happen anyway of course). 

I wouldn't personally feel confident to move until I could speak to Dutch reasonably and I would also feel very vulnerable without a good knowledge of it. So if I go to Holland in 2 years time looking for work do I need a valid language certificate? I could do a (mainly) distance learning GCSE and A-Level in Dutch. I know that as an EU citizen I don't need one legally but in order to get a job? Or is it just the ability to speak brilliant Dutch that I need? 

Dank u (is that formal or informal??!!!!) Thankyou


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