About Taal aan Zee

Learn, meet and connect!
With the support of a small team of paid employees, more than 330 volunteers in The Hague give tailor-made Dutch lessons to vulnerable non-native speakers, refugees and asylum seekers.

The main goal is to strengthen their self-reliance and to promote their participation in society.
On an annual basis, Taal aan Zee reaches about 1200 non-native speakers who do not (yet) have access to regular education.

- Asylum seekers and refugees receive central lessons 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 an invisible and hard-to-reach group: socially vulnerable non-native women and men in The Hague. They receive tailor-made Dutch lessons at home, or - if possible - in a small group close by in the neighbourhood. The group lessons are for example in community centers or schools or at organizations such as Kessler, Perspektief and SHOP. Due to circumstances, the non-native speakers cannot (yet) attend a regular course to learn Dutch.

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

- As a language volunteer in the library, you guide conversation meetings at 1 of the 18 locations of the library, where non-native speakers practice the Dutch language with each other (integrators, oldcomers, refugees, expats). We ask for an availability of 2.5 hours per week. If you don't want to be deployed weekly, this is certainly also negotiable.

You can also contact Taal aan Zee for up-to-date information about the entire educational language offer for adults in The Hague.