Language is more than grammar. It is the key to a doctor's appointment, a conversation at the school gate, a job application that lands. For people who have just arrived in the Netherlands — or who have lived here for years without ever truly connecting — language determines whether they are seen or stay on the sidelines.
What we do
- Practical language support in small groups, close to home in neighbourhoods like Feijenoord and Delfshaven
- One-to-one language buddies: volunteers who meet weekly for a walk, a coffee or help with homework
- Practising real-life situations: filling in forms, making appointments, talking to a teacher
- Bridging into formal integration programmes where that fits, without raising the threshold
Who we work with
Newcomers, status holders, parents who cannot fully follow the language their children speak at school, and people who have lived in Rotterdam for years but never dared to speak Dutch. No age limit, no entry-level requirement.
Our approach
We work in small groups with short lines of contact. Our volunteers are not teachers — they are neighbours with time and patience. We collaborate with Rotterdam-based welfare organisations, community centres, libraries and, where relevant, with the COA for people at reception locations in the region. We build on what already exists and step in where people risk falling through the cracks.
Examples
These are illustrative scenarios of what the work can look like:
- A mother from Eritrea who, after three months with a language buddy, attended a parent-teacher meeting on her own for the first time
- A man who avoided work for years because he was afraid of the telephone, and who completed his first job interview after practising through role-play
- A neighbourhood group where Polish, Arabic, Tigrinya and shaky Dutch flow through one another, and people help each other finish their sentences
Get involved
One hour a week is enough to make a real difference for someone. Become a language buddy or support our work so we can open more places in the neighbourhoods where the need is greatest.
“People become visible again the moment someone sees them — and keeps looking.”
